Performance Space 122

A surprise reading for New York by Jim Fletcher (Saturday) and Okwui Okpokwasili (Sunday), followed by a selection of Mroué's video works.

"Mr. Mroué belongs to a tight-knit generation of artists, writers and filmmakers that has put Beirut back on the cultural map since the end of the civil war in 1990...With a string of formally inventive, astringent performance pieces to their credit, they are to Beirut what the Wooster Group is to New York: a blend of avant-garde innovation, conceptual complexity and political urgency, all grounded in earthy humor." - Kaelen Wilson-Goldie, The New York Times

Rabih Mroué is an actor, director, and playwright. Continuously searching for new and contemporary relations among all the different elements and languages of the theatre art forms, Mroue questions the definitions of theatre and the relationship between space and form of the performance and, consequently, questions how the performer relates with the audience. His works deal with issues that have been swept under the table in the current political climate of Lebanon and he draws much-needed attention to the broader political and economic contexts by means of a semi-documentary theatre.

Co-organized by Defne Ayas of Performa, as part of Performa09, third visual art performance biennial.

Performa 09 (November 1 - 22, 2009) is the third edition of the internationally acclaimed biennial of new visual art performance presented by Performa, a non-profit multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century. www.performa-arts.org

Sat, Nov 7 8pm
Sun, Nov 8 6pm
$10

Help PS122 Go Green by viewing your Rabih Mroué program online!