14th Annual Fringe Festival – Paul and Jane Bowles: Two Stars in the Desert
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: September 22, 2010
Press Contacts:
Jean Connaughton: 617.353.7293 / jeanconn@bu.edu
Ellen Carr: 617.353.8783 / emcarr@bu.edu
Boston University College of Fine Arts presents
BU School of Music and School of Theatre with the BU Opera Institute in the
14th Annual Fringe Festival
Paul and Jane Bowles: Two Stars in the Desert
October 7-30, 2010
Boston, MA – The Boston University College of Fine Arts’ 14th Annual Fringe Festival will celebrate the work of Paul and Jane Bowles, in honor of Paul Bowles’ 100th birthday. The festival runs October 7-30 and will feature In the Summer House, a play by Jane Bowles; Yerma, an unpublished opera by Paul Bowles after the play by Lorca; Art Song Meets Theatre, a recital of Bowles songs staged as scenes; and the Bowles Centennial Celebration, which will feature chamber music performances and theatrical readings to conclude the festival on October 30.
This is a rare opportunity to experience the rich and vast creative output of writer and composer Paul Bowles, and his extraordinarily talented wife and life-long friend Jane Bowles. Bowles expert and BU Opera Institute faculty member Allison Voth explains, “Although Paul wrote from a very young age, he was first and foremost a composer in his young years. Already well-established as a composer, it was Jane who inspired him to write his first novel. In contrast to his light and charming compositional style, Paul turned to writing dark and disturbing prose told from a distance.” She continues, “As Paul became an artist with two creative minds, Jane’s desire to write forged on, despite writer’s block and an early stroke. Jane’s writing was relentlessly up close and personal, and came straight from the heart – a heart that knew laughter and untold pain.”
A celebration of unconventional opera and theatre repertoire, the Boston University Fringe Festival brings together artists and audiences for a unique performance experience. Sharon Daniels, Director of Opera Programs at Boston University, founded the BU Fringe Festival with the goal of cultivating a broader audience for opera. By presenting operas with minimal sets and costumes, bringing artists and audience members together in an intimate performance space, and setting affordable ticket prices, the Fringe Festival has been a highlight of the Boston arts scene since its early days; when the School of Theatre began presenting plays under the Fringe umbrella in 2003, the Festival began attracting ever-larger and frequently sold-out audiences.
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
In the Summer House
Thursday, October 7, 7:30pm
Friday, October 8, 8:00pm
Saturday, October 9, 8:00pm
Friday, October 15, 8:00pm
Saturday, October 16, 2:00pm
Sunday, October 17, 7:00pm
Thursday, October 21, 7:30pm
Saturday, October, 23, 2:00pm
Playwright Jane Bowles paints the portraits of two starkly different mothers in this uniquely perceptive dramatic work. Directed by Ellie Heyman.
Tickets: $7, General Admission. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Venue: Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
(264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop; T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop)
Yerma
Saturday, October 16, 8:00pm
Sunday, October 17, 2:00pm
Friday, October 22, 8:00pm
Saturday, October 23, 8:00pm
An opera based on the play by Federico Garcia Lorca
Music, libretto, and translation by Paul Bowles
Allison Voth, music director
David Gately, guest stage director
Composer Bowles stages the tragic story of a Spanish woman victimized by societal pressure to bear a child.
Tickets: $7, General Admission. BU community: One free ticket with BU ID at the door, day of performance, subject to availability. Box Office: www.BostonTheatreScene.com or 617.933.8600.
Venue: Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
(264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop; T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop)
Art Song Meets Theatre
Sunday, October 24, 2:00pm
The songs of Paul Bowles are lifted out of the traditional recital format and brought to the stage as dramatic realizations.
Tickets: Free and open to the public. Call 617.353.5201 for information.
Venue: Boston University Theatre, Lane-Comley Studio 210
(264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop; T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop)
Bowles Centennial Celebration
Saturday, October 30, 8:00pm
Chamber music, songs, solo works, and dramatic readings of works by Paul and Jane Bowles, performed by faculty and students on the main stage of the BU Theatre. Allison Voth, Jim Petosa, artistic directors.
Tickets: Free and open to the public. Call 617.933.8600 for information.
Venue: Boston University Theatre, Mainstage
(264 Huntington Avenue, Boston. T Green Line, E line, Symphony stop; T Orange Line, Mass Ave stop)
Documentaries and Panel Discussions
Night Waltz, an award winning documentary on Bowles’s music; Mapas de Agua Y Arena (Traces of Sand and Water: The Lives of Jane and Paul Bowles), by Javier Martín Domínguez; panel discussions and talk backs will be held with certain performances of In the Summer House, Yerma, and the Centennial Celebration, with BU Theater and Opera faculty, student artists, and guest specialists including heir to the Paul Bowles estate, Irene Herrmann.
Visit www.bu.edu/cfa/fringe for schedules.
All artists and programs are subject to change; please visit www.bu.edu/cfa for the most up to date schedules and program information.
INSTITUTIONAL BIOGRAPHY
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized private research university with more than 30,000 students participating in undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs. BU consists of 17 colleges and schools along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes which are central to the school’s research and teaching mission. The Boston University College of Fine Arts was created in 1954 to bring together the School of Music, the School of Theatre, and the School of Visual Arts. The University’s vision was to create a community of artists in a conservatory-style school offering professional training in the arts to both undergraduate and graduate students, complemented by a liberal arts curriculum for undergraduate students. Since those early days, education at the College of Fine Arts has begun on the BU campus and extended into the city of Boston, a rich center of cultural, artistic and intellectual activity.
MEDIA ONLY
To request press tickets, high resolution photos, or additional information, please contact either:
Jean Connaughton at 617.353.7293 or jeanconn@bu.edu
Ellen Carr at 617.353.8783 or emcarr@bu.edu