An Orpheus Descending

How has American racism been inherited, learned and weaponized by tribe against tribe to build the vast and violent heartland individuals live in today? An Orpheus Descending is a performance piece: a culturally diverse, female dominant, laterally directed adaptation of a masterpiece by Tennessee Williams. Intercultural relationships are re-examined in the innovative treatment of a classic theater text, revealing questions for people’s globally interconnected time. This workshop features a cast of New York theater luminaries with an invited audience of artists and scholars to explore such questions as the project moves towards a production.

“I, too, am beginning to feel an immense need to become a savage and create a new world.” - Tennessee Williams

Convened by

• Aysan Celik, Assistant Arts Professor of Theater, NYUAD
• Nick Westrate, Assistant Arts Professor of Theater, Theater Artist