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INSPIRED BY...

A CONVERSATION ABOUT THE CLASSICS THAT SPARK THE PLAYWRIGHTS OF TODAY

SAT JUL 27, 2019 at 5PM

The Newman Mills Theater at the
THE ROBERT W. WILSON MCC THEATER SPACE
511 W 52 ST

“Do you see that tree? It is dead but it still sways in the wind with the others. I think it would be like that with me. That if I died I would still be part of life in one way or another.”

–Anton Chekhov, Three Sisters

 

Who knew in the late 19th century that the last few years would bring a second chapter for Nora in A DOLL’S HOUSE PART TWOor a radical examination of Jo’s gender identity in LITTLE WOMEN? Or that over thirty years after the Public’s COLORED MUSEUMwe’d be at the same theater watching the spectacular journey that is AIN’T NO MO’? The NYC theater scene is rife with adaptations, re-imaginings, and spin-offs of the classics, so join us in a deep dive into the what motivates playwrights to pay homage to their predecessors. Moderated by playwright/director ROBERT O’HARA, with playwrights JORDAN E. COOPER, HALLEY FEIFFER, KATE HAMILL & LUCAS HNATH in conversation with MCC’s MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW.

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MODERATED BY

ROBERT O'HARA

ROBERT O'HARA

Robert O’Hara has received the NAACP Best Director Award, the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play, two Obies and the Oppenheimer Award. He directed the world premieres of Nikkole Salter and Dania Guiria’s In the Continuum, Tarell McCraney’s The Brother/ Sister Plays (Part 2), Colman Domingo’s Wild with Happy, Kirsten Childs’ Bella: An American Tall Tale, as well as his own plays, Mankind, Bootycandy and Insurrection: Holding History. His recent plays Zombie: The American andBarbecue world premiered at Woolly Mammoth Theater and New York Shakespeare Festival, respectively. His recent directing projects include, Kirsten Child’s BubblyBlack Girl at City Center/Encores Off Center, the Universes’ Uni/Son, inspired by the poetry of August Wilson at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Shakespeare’s Macbeth at Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He holds a Directing MFA from Columbia University.

THE PANELISTS

JORDAN E. COOPER

JORDAN E. COOPER

Jordan E. Cooper is a playwright and performer who resides in Brooklyn, New York by way of Hurst, TX. Jordan was most recently nominated for a Drama League Award for his performance in his play Ain’t No Mo’, which just completed a sold-out world premiere run at The Public Theater. He is currently developing a television project with HULU and his other works have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop’s Summer Residency at Dartmouth, 48 Hours In Harlem, and The Fire This Time Festival. Jordan has also been featured in issues of The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, and V Magazine. He received his BFA from The New School For Drama.

HALLEY FEIFFER

HALLEY FEIFFER

Halley Feiffer is a writer and actor. Her plays include I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic, OCC Nom.), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City (MCC), How To Make Friends and Then Kill Them (Rattlestick), this play (originally produced at Williamstown Theater Festival) and The Pain of My Belligerence, which she recently starred in at Playwrights Horizons. Other acting credits include A Funny Thing Happened… at the Geffen, the Broadway revivals of The Front Page and The House of Blue Leaves (Theater World Award), off-Broadway shows like Tigers Be Still (Roundabout, Drama League Nom.) and film / TV projects like The Squid and the Whale and He’s Way More Famous Than You, which she co-wrote with Ryan Spahn. TV writing includes Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon), Kidding, SMILF (Showtime) and original pilots for FX and TNT.

KATE HAMILL

KATE HAMILL

Kate Hamill is an actor/playwright. Wall Street Journal Playwright of the Year, 2017. Her work includes her play Pride & Prejudice at Primary Stages / HVSF (in which she originated role of Lizzy; Nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Sense & Sensibility at Bedlam (originated role of Marianne. Winner, Off-Broadway Alliance Award; Nominee, Drama League Award); Vanity Fair at the Pearl Theatre (originated the role of Becky Sharp; Nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Award), Mansfield Park at Northlight (originated role of Mary Crawford), Little Women at Primary Stages (role of Meg March). Her plays have been produced off-Broadway, and at A.R.T., OSF, Guthrie, Seattle Rep, PlayMaker’s, Folger, Jungle Theater, Trinity Rep, Pittsburgh Public, Dorset Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Kansas City Rep, A.C.T. & others; upcoming at the Alley, DTC, the Old Globe, Long Wharf, & more. She is currently developing a new adaptation of The Odyssey, a Christmas play called Scrooge for Senate; and several original plays (Prostitute Play, In the Mines  [with music by The Bengsons], The Piper). Her newest original play, The Piper, is a PlayPenn selection and a 2019 O’Neill NPC Finalist. Kate was one of the 10 most-produced playwrights nationwide in both 2017-2018 and 2018-2019. Upcoming world premieres up in 19/20: Dracula at Classic Stage Company, Emma at the Guthrie, The Scarlet Letter at South Coast Rep.

LUCAS HNATH

LUCAS HNATH

Lucas Hnath received a 2017 Tony Award nomination for Best Play with A Doll’s House, Part 2. Hnath’s other plays include Hillary and Clinton, The Thin Place, Red SpeedoThe ChristiansA Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay About the Death of Walt DisneyIsaac’s Eye, and Death Tax. He has been produced on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre, Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. His plays have also been premiered at the Humana Festival of New Plays, Victory Gardens, and South Coast Repertory. He is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect, a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, and an alumnus of New Dramatists. Awards: Whiting Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Kesselring Prize, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, Obie Award for Playwriting, Steinberg Playwright Award, and the Windham-Campbell Literary Prize.

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