LETTER FROM THE PRODUCERS
Welcome to the 2023 Cohen New Works Festival.
If you are reading this, you are likely about to witness one of the most important events in someone’s life.
The Cohen New Works Festival brings more than 30 unique works of dance, theatre and performance of all kind to life, over the course of a single week.
For many of the artists, this week is important because they’re seeing their own work produced for the first time. So many artists start by participating in someone else’s show, a production at school, work selected by faculty; this festival is comprised solely of work made by and for students, selected by students and produced by students.
For many of the student producers, this week is important because it is the culmination of two years of labor, countless meetings, lots of hard work, negotiating and good old fashioned finagling. It feels good to know that students themselves can be trusted to take the helm and guide the world’s largest festival of student work.
For much of the faculty, this week is important because it is a crucible for our teaching. Faculty get to witness what students do outside of the classroom, which lessons are now embodied in their student’s practice. It is a challenge and a provocation.
And audiences get a glimpse into the future of theatre. We know from experience that what we’re seeing here, this week, will be on stages around the world in the next decade. The performers, designers, writers, directors, choreographers and creators of every stripe will soon be the professionals shaping our culture.
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And that gives us great hope. These new works speak to our political and cultural moment. The student creators of these pieces are engaging with many of the most pressing issues in our society, including race, gender, sexuality and the role of the artist in society.
These pieces are historical, personal and fantastical. They are diverse in form and content, but unified in their boldness.
The Cohen New Works Festival is named in honor of former UT playwriting faculty member David Mark Cohen, who our community lost too soon in 1997.
His passion for new work lives on through an endowment that has enabled student and faculty leaders at UT to put on a new play festival in the years following in his memory.
Thanks to the leadership and drive of Suzan Zeder, another former faculty member of UT, The Cohen New Works Festival flourished into the massive interdisciplinary art festival that you see today. David loved everything this festival embodies: dynamic plays, wild performance, original dance, new music, invigorating design and visionary direction. And Suzan embodied the outrageous scope of the festival, letting it grow and take shape under a banner of “Why not?!”
We, as producers, are proud to keep the legacy of David Mark Cohen and the power of the festival alive in 2023. This is one of the most important weeks of our lives.
A huge shout of gratitude to you, our supporters; to you advocates of the arts, who know the meaning of community, who embrace the change we seek, who are here with us at the moment of impact.
In Solidarity, Corey Allen, Rusty Cloyes, Erica Gionfriddo, Kirk Lynn, Dorothy Overbey and Patrick Shaw - Faculty Producers Braxton Rae - Artistic Producer
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EQUITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
This is The Cohen New Work Festivalʼs first ever Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) committee.
As EDI Co-Chairs, we believe that theatre and dance are for everyone. We also believe that artists, as collaborative imagination workers, are vital in building a more equitable world.
Our goals for this festival were threefold:
First, to create a community that interrogated its relationship to existing power structures. EDI has sought to be present in all phases of festival production including selection committee, project facilitation and events. Our goal is to help folks start conversations by asking: what might we need for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to be possible in this space, right now? What can we tangibly do?
Second, to create a system where folks felt safe naming harm with confidence that it would not fall through bureaucratic cracks. This was implemented through our EDI Liaison team - a group of students and faculty who served as “first responders” and aided those impacted by harm to find a supported way forward.
Finally, we aim to lay a foundation for a robust future in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programming in UTʼs Department of Theatre and Dance. The challenge of university based work is that itʼs temporary. The students running this festival will graduate and leave only documents of their labor behind. But shifting systems of power by acknowledging centuries of harm takes time. Despite Greg Abbotʼs sincere efforts to disband EDI efforts across Texas, we believe this is a necessary step in creating robust programming within the department for years to come.
We hope you enjoy this week of thought provoking work and take the opportunity to engage in dialogue with fellow artists and audience members.
As this festival is free, we encourage you to make a charitable donation to our partners at Creative Action, creating arts experiences for underserved youth, and to the Austin Mutual Aid Fund, providing necessary resources to neighbors experiencing crisis.
Renita James and Malena Pennycook4
DRAMATURGICAL NOTE
Performance offers the opportunity to step into realms that disrupt our expectations, to expand how we understand the world around us and to find connection in, perhaps, unexpected places. The 2023 Festival features over 40 new works from art-makers who are re-shaping the world in which we live through a breadth of forms and styles, showcasing the rich variety of artistic voices across the UT campus and Austin community. These pieces actively challenge expectations in order to push toward a future that champions community connection, equity and rigorous investigation of the world in which we live. We welcome you to these provocative works and invite you to enter with curiosity.
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Rachel Green, Karina Enriquez, Emily Green
GUEST ARTISTS
One of our favorite aspects of The Cohen New Works Festival at The University of Texas at Austin is the group of guest artists that join us for this process of artmaking. Students get paired with professionals in the field who travel from all over the country and, in some cases, around the world. They work creatively with students, provide constructive feedback to student work, participate in panel discussions and network with the student body through Festival events.
It is part of our mission to help bridge the gap between the educational and professional fields of art-making, so we open the Festivalʼs doors to working artists we admire. This opportunity for mentorship, feedback and exchange has a lasting impact on the students at The University of Texas at Austin.
THE 2023 COHEN NEW WORKS FESTIVAL GUEST ARTISTS:
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: IDRIS GOODWIN
Idris Goodwin is an award-winning storyteller for multiple generations. An accomplished playwright, breakbeat poet, content creator and arts champion, Goodwin is recognized as a culture bearer who celebrates community values and cultivates histories with care. Goodwin is the author of over 60 original plays ranging from his Hip Hop inspired breakbeat series to historical dramas to works for young audiences. Goodwin currently serves as Artistic Director of Seattle Childrenʼs Theater. Prior to this he was Executive Director of The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, where he also taught as a professor in The Department of Theater and Dance. Previous to this Goodwin led StageOne Family Theatre in Louisville, Kentucky as Producing Artistic Director. Goodwin is Board President of Theater For Young Audiences/USA and also serves on the board at Childrenʼs Theater Foundation Association. In addition to Goodwinʼs work in theater heʼs created original content for and/ or appeared on Nickelodeon, HBO Def Poetry, Sesame Street, NPR, BBC Radio and the Discovery Channel. , his first picture book, will be published by Harper Collins in 2024.
SUPPORT FOR THE 2023 COHEN NEW WORKS FESTIVAL KEYNOTE SPEAKER COMES IN PART FROM OUR PARTNERS:
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ALEXA CAPAREDA
Alexa Capareda is a sugar-powered dancing noodle robot who engages in unaffected virtuosity, versatility and earnest and playful. She trained in her native Philippines, Austin and Montreal before joining Balet Bratislava in Slovakia.
victor cervantes jr.
victor cervantes jr. is a theatermaker, educator and community organizer from Phoenix who aims to support and uplift BIPOC+ Queer and Trans artists and stories to more visible platforms, and to reach communities that have been pushed to the margins.
MICHELLE N. GIBSON
Michelle N. Gibson is a consummate storyteller, employing body and mind to build a bridge between the arts and academia. Gibson’s dance evokes the social, political, economic and spiritual understandings central to building bonds within and across cultures.
JOSEPHINE KEARNS
Josephine Kearns (she/her) is a dramaturg, theatre creative and gender consultant. She tells stories of queer and trans affirmation and joy.
ZAVÉ MARTOHARDJONO
Zavé Martohardjono is a 2022 Bessie-nominated performer and multidisciplinary artist working primarily in performance. A queer, trans, Indonesian-American artist who dwells in their ancestors’ mythologies, zavé contends with the political histories our bodies carry and dreams up more just futures.
MARCUS E. MCQUIRTER
Marcus E. McQuirter M.A., Ph.D., Professor of Drama, received his B.F.A. in Theatre Arts from Howard University in Washington, DC, an M.A. in Theatre from the University of North Texas and Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UT Austin.
CHRIS MOSES
Chris Moses (Dan Reardon Director of Education and Associate Artistic Director) has been working in professional theatre for 20 years and was awarded the Governor’s Award for Arts in Humanities. Chris works through the Alliance Theatre Education department to advance the civic agenda of Atlanta.
KJ SANCHEZ
KJ is an Associate Professor at UT Austin and head of the M.F.A. in Theatre (Playwriting/Directing) area. She is also the founder and CEO of American Records, dedicated to making theatre that chronicles our time, theatre that serves as a bridge between people.
IZZY SAZAK
Izzy Sazak is a turkish-colombianamerican transdisciplinary artist, theater-maker, educator and emergent facilitator in Philadelphia as well as a queer, genderful, ecofeminist-abolitionist, whose art is an investigation of joy, magic and belonging as radical forms of resistance.
ROSE YAGER
Rose is trained in all styles of dance and performed for 15 years in many events, conventions and competitions. Now in her 13th year as a company member at Justin Giles’ contemporary company, she continues to grow as a performer, storyteller and educator.
GUEST ARTIST PANELS
There will be a series of panels discussing various works that feature the voices of our guest artists. Visit utnewworksfestival.org for more information.
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TALKBACK SESSIONS
Feedback is an important part of the creative process and an essential skill that all artists must develop in order to grow. Join select creative teams to participate in an exchange about their work.
More information will be available at
PERFORMANCE SERIES
As part of a larger celebration of new work at the 2023 Cohen New Works Festival, there will be a series of public showcases, readings and performances in tandem with the projects of the festival. Continue to experience new, innovative, student-driven work!
THE COHEN NEW WORKS FILM FESTIVAL
The 2023 Cohen New Works Festival is pleased to feature a series of new films, made by students at The University of Texas at Austin.
DATE/TIME April 5 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
LOCATION WIN 2.112
COHEN NEW WORKS FESTIVAL ART GALLERY
Throughout the week of the festival, guests are invited to explore the second floor of Winship to experience a gallery presentation of new works by student visual artists.
LOCATION
Second floor of the F. Loren Winship Drama Building above the atrium space.
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DANCE IN PROGRESS
New to the festival this year, The Cohen New Works Festival presents a showcase of dance performance that provides student choreographers and movement artists the opportunity to share their works in progress.
Dance in Progress is made possible through a collaboration between The Cohen New Works Festival and Dance Action, a student run dance organization.
DATE/TIME
April 4 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
LOCATION
WIN 1.172
PLAYS IN PROGRESS
Presenting a reading series of work by student playwrights, The Cohen New Works Festival lineup will also provide students the opportunity to have their pieces read through informal readings.
Plays in Progress is made possible through a collaboration between The Cohen New Works Festival and Take the Wheel, a student run theatre organization.
DATE/TIME April 3 1:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
LOCATION
WIN 1.148
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SPECIAL EVENTS
OPENING CEREMONY
Join us in a celebration of the art we have created together. The Opening Ceremony will include words from the festival producers and our keynote speaker, Idris Goodwin Food and drink provided.
MONDAY, APRIL 3 AT 10:00 A.M. WINSHIP ATRIUM
CLOSING CEREMONY
Celebrate another wonderful New Works Festival at the closing ceremony sendoff. We’ll toast the projects and discuss audience experiences before looking ahead to The Cohen New Works Festival 2025.
FRIDAY, APRIL 7 AT 3:00 P.M. WINSHIP ATRIUM
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THE AARDVARK Film
NEW WORK
Please consult our website ( ) or informational signs in the F. Loren Winship Drama Building for updates and changes to the schedule. Many venues have limited seating, so guests are advised to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to scheduled performance times if a ticket was not secured in advance. Information about ticket reservations can be found at . See the venue key for map of locations.
Learn more about the 2023 Cohen New Works Festival:
Contains mature content and themes including language, sexual themes and partial nudity.
A hilarious mockumentary that follows one socially-nebulous, hopelessly-romantic man, a.k.a. The Aardvark. Have you ever looked at someone and thought “There is no way they are real.” That is who Jamie is. Jamie has never found where he belongs. He bounces around different friend groups, can never seem to find that special someone and belongs to that mental gray area between total self-confidence and complete ego death. While he may seem like an “NPC” to some, this mockumentary follows Jamie as he figures out what is blocking him from becoming the person he wants to be.
Through failed auditions, awry kisses and pathetic attempts at casual stand-up, Jamie confronts his fears and rediscovers the boundaries that are keeping him from forming meaningful relationships.
PROJECT LEAD
Dominic Gross
BABY RAVE
Performance
LOCATION
WIN 2.112
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
45 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 3:30 p.m.
April 6 at 10:30 a.m.
Audiences of all ages welcome. Project is best suited for the very young, but can be enjoyed by all ages.
Part lullaby, part puppet show part immersive experience! A one-of-a-kind experience specially made for babies 0-18 months. Based on empathy development research and theatre ideology, Baby Rave is a nurturing theatrical adventure full of wonders and surprises. Captivating lights, original music and tactile experiences, Baby Rave is a theatrical experience for the wee-est among us.
PROJECT LEAD
Jenny Lavery
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Performance will be accessible at any time from 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
PERFORMANCES
April 5 at 10:30 a.m.
April 7 at 10:30 a.m.
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BENEATH THE MELANIN Dance/Film
A visual dance film that depicts the various realities of Black women navigating the journey of adulthood. The film will touch on the struggles, resilience and persistence in finding joy in a life filled with trials and tribulations we continue to endure. We will show how to find our sense of purpose and sense of self while living in a society where we are the most unprotected.
PROJECT LEADS
Evan Beek
Jannah Colins
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 5:30 p.m.
April 4 at 10:30 a.m.
April 6 at 3:30 p.m.
April 7 at 10:30 a.m.
CONTRAPPOSTO Dance
Contains mature content and themes.
An experimental dance piece that investigates preserving memories and/or conscious renderings of materialized space through gesture and scenic play. Using a 3D scanning program called Lidar, the artist has been able to preserve 3D renderings of herself in motion in a way that has abstracted the body and taken new forms. Using the weaknesses of the program to convey movement as both artifact and notation, this is a truly hybrid exploration as both digital and live performance to be viewed in real time.
PROJECT LEAD Venese Alcantar
LOCATION
North-East lawn behind Winship along Waller
EL CORRIDO DE LA SOLDADERA: A MARIACHI MUSICAL Play/Musical
PERFORMANCES
April 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Contains mature content including language, death and stylized depictions of warfare including simulated gunfire.
Why do we tell the stories of revolutionary women? Who gets to tell their stories? What power do we have over such stories? Drawing from both Mexican history and a rich folk music tradition, El Corrido de la Soldadera tells the story of Elena, a young girl living in Chihuahua at the outset of the Revolution who follows the call to arms to fight for a better Mexico, in spite of the resistance she meets from her family, faith, and even her fellow soldiers.
PROJECT LEAD
Demian Chavez
LOCATION
B. Iden Payne Theatre
There will be a 20-minute talkback following the performance on April 6 at 3:30 p.m.
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
April 5 at 8:30 p.m.
April 6 at 3:30 p.m. (talkback to follow)
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APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 15 minutes APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 55
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 30
LOCATION WIN
minutes
minutes
2.112
FALLING INTO STRUCTURED MEANINGLESSNESS Performance
In a typical performance, an audience member is able to come into the space and sit down and do as they should: watch and perceive. The dancers will come out onto the stage for the allotted time of the work and dance. Frankly, we do this in life. Existing in most of the institutionalized standards that have been ingrained in us. Only fighting against the ones that are unjust. We were raised to always be right and perfect. Go to college after high school and, after college, get a salaried job. During this, find love, get married and have kids. It’s time to end all of this.
PROJECT LEAD
Anna Valdman
LOCATION
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
FISHING FOR STARS Play
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
45 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 9:30 p.m.
April 5 at 10:30 a.m.
April 6 at 2:30 p.m.
Best suited for ages 0-5 and their adults. Audiences of all ages welcome.
Travel into the magical world of the night sky! In this interactive play for ages 0-5, young people and their families follow two curious characters who seek to capture the moon and stars. With multi-sensory experiences and an original music score played live, this 25-minute performance will enchant even the wiggliest of audience members! Created in collaboration with Paper Boats.
PROJECT LEAD
Claire Derriennic
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
45 minutes
FOR DINNER, WE HAD RECIPROCITY Installation
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 10:30 a.m.
April 6 at 10:30 a.m.
Contains mature content including language, death and stylized depictions of warfare.
An exhibition of queerness, the grotesque beauty of being and sharing meals. It is a collision of queer poetry and media - a nebulous cloud of self discovery and the art of being beautiful. The project consists of a collection of short film vignettes and photo collections of queer students in Austin. Some will be more mundane, slice-of-life sequences. Other vignettes and photo series will lean more towards the avant-garde using themes, costumes and short stories as interpretations of classic queer poetry (both contemporary and modern).
PROJECT LEAD
Chloe Whitehead
LOCATION
WIN 1.134
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Installation will be available for the duration of the festival
April 3-7, 2023.
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GENDTENT Installation
GendTent is an interactive installation exploring the presentation, perception and negotiations of one’s own gender through their clothing style and fashion. The actual GendTent is a tent built from thrifted, recycled, donated clothes/ garments wherein folks can enter and engage in the colorful space of the tent at any time during the festival. Inside the tent, audiences are invited to try on and play with racks and bins of clothes. Definitions of gender, gender identity, gender expression and perception are found throughout the space as well as other gender resources on campus and from the Austin community. Audiences can also engage with prompts written on mirrors throughout the space.
The idea of the tent is borrowed from activist and protest spaces where a medical tent is usually found to offer medical assistance, water/food, mental health resources, etc. GendTent offers a space for folks to safely explore their own ideas of gender, the way they interact with gender and how/if their clothing/style play a role in that conversation.
PROJECT LEAD
Mateo Hernandez
LOCATION
WIN 2.121
A GREEN MOMENT TO SHARE Play
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Installation will be available for the duration of the festival
April 3-7, 2023.
Contains mature content including language and themes of environmental justice which include discussions of racial trauma, climate anxiety, climate grief and mental health.
Environmental change represents a crucial issue for many University of Texas at Austin students, as this topic intertwines with culture, well-being and aspirations. However, mainstream environmental narratives often ignore young people’s voices and rely on buzzwords (ex. recycling), blame the individual (ex. plastic straws), or propose solutions that exclude vulnerable communities (ex. technofixes). While scholars and practitioners increasingly recognize the importance of processing environmental change intellectually and emotionally, the body and the arts are often overlooked.
This project addresses the sustainability aspects of environment and equity using arts-based research.
PROJECT LEAD
Nic Bennett
LOCATION
Winship Patio (East entrance to Winship Building near Waller Creek)
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
One hour and 20 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 5 at 5:30 p.m.
April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
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I CAN’T TELL YOU Performance/Interactive Experience
Taking up the outline of Reggie Watts’ 2015 piece Audio Abramovic, this piece is interested in exploring what happens when one artist revisions another artist’s revisioning of one of the greatest pieces of performance art ever devised. I can’t tell You is a musical performance for one - the audience member will join Daphne at an audio work station, don a pair of headphones and listen as she improvises a wholly original piece of music for them using a drum machine, a sample sequencer and a loop station.
PROJECT LEAD
Daphne Silbiger
LOCATION
WIN B.118
LA LIGA DE LA DECENCIA Performance
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Determined by each audience member. Audience members will receive a ticket voucher and will be notified when it is their time to view the performance.
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 6:00 p.m.
April 4 at 6:00 p.m.
April 5 at 6:00 p.m.
April 6 at 6:00 p.m.
Contains mature content including language, partial nudity and strobe effects. Suitable for ages 17+.
La Liga de la Decencia combines live performance (cabaret) and video art to explore the following question: How do WWII era politics continue to affect the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico today? Through their whimsical costumes, irreverent jokes and sensuous dances, La Liga de la Decencia‘s entertainers invite the audience to come, sit down and relax in this atmosphere of social and gender transgression.
How revealing will the vendette’s costumes be? Who will the comedians target in their jokes? Will the latest political events be discussed? Or will they try to distract the audience with dance, lights and spectacle? Moreover, what are the entertainers trying to distract the audience from? And what exactly is going on beyond the walls of the cabaret during a time of political instability for two neighboring countries?
PROJECT LEAD
Jessica Peña
Torres
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 60 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
April 4 at 5:30 p.m.
April 5 at 9:00 p.m.
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THE LATINX VARIETY SHOW Play
Contains mature content including partial nudity, erotic movement, profanity, mention of racial violence and forced disappearances in Latin America.
In this project, we take a “Latinx” spin on the variety show that today takes different forms in Latin American and United States television. With the pretense of doing “entertainment,” we use the show as a platform for International Students to talk about relevant issues related to their countries of origin in Latin America and the practices that bring them joy and help them thrive. The multimedia piece combines a live host and a video component. The host invites their collaborators to take the screen while cheering the audience and asking some people on stage to rehearse practices of joy. Because many of us did not use the words “Latino/a/x/e” until we migrated to the States, an underline conversation will be around our opinions on the label.
PROJECT LEAD
siri gurudev
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
machine organ50 Performance
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
45 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 5 at 6:30 p.m.
April 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Contains mature content including language, simulated nudity and themes of sexuality.
An immersive art installation and multimedia performance centering queer exploration and an inquisition into why we embrace and abstract feminine presentations of ourselves. Viewers are invited to witness and experience the installation in a gallery-like structure. One side of the room hosts a large canvas to collaboratively paint and draw on, while the other side of the room displays a pole dance short film playing on loop for spectators to enjoy at their own pace. At various scheduled times throughout the festival, the installation will be activated by live performance. These scenes of live performance operate in the center of the room while the installation remains in place.
PROJECT LEADS
Micah Senter
Aida Hernandez Reyes
LOCATION
WIN B.202
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Installation is accessible throughout the week from 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. with periodic performances lasting between 30 and 60 minutes.
PERFORMANCES
April 5 at 6:00 p.m.
April 5 at 8:00 p.m.
April 7 at 10:00 a.m.
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MORE BLACKBERRIES, PLEASE Play
Contains mature content and themes including language and themes of sexual/familial violence.
More Blackberries, Please is a restaging of Crystal Wilkinson’s novel Blackberries, Blackberries through a Black Feminist lens. Infused with humor, sadness and honesty, this collection of performance vignettes features stories reminiscent of blackberries-–-small, succulent morsels of Black Appalachian life that are inviting and sweet, yet sometimes bitter. More Blackberries, Please offers a voyeuristic glimpse into the richness that abounds in Appalachia and in Black family life, including the gift of girlhood, the complexity of community belonging, the fluid dichotomy between rural and urban Appalachian experiences and strong awareness of spirituality linked to environment. There are many Black country folks who have lived and are living in small towns, up hollers and across knobs. They are all over America, in the South, in Appalachia, even in Texas. This adaptation will demonstrate Black community life over a course of 3040 years in Appalachia, Kentucky. In line with the legacies of Affrilachian Artistry, Jazz Aesthetics and Black Feminist Performance, this process of staging Dr. Rita Abell’s stage adaptation of Blackberries, Blackberries as a chore poem alongside a radio drama explores the joys and pain of the women of “Affrilachia,” a group whose identity is located at the intersections of race, place, class and gender.
PROJECT LEAD
LOCATION
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
One hour and 15 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 5:30 p.m.
April 5 at 4:30 p.m.
April 6 at 8:30 p.m.
OH, BUDDY
Play
Contains mature language and themes including transphobic language and themes of sexuality and the body.
It’s hard to be the New Guy in the world’s most generic office. It’s even harder to be the New Guy when you’re the New Guy because you came out as transgender. How are your Male coworkers supposed to act around you? What about your Female ones? And has anybody noticed that the boss is a Big Furry Monster? OH, BUDDY is a dark absurdist comedy about how the bizarre demands of binary gender affect the way we take on roles in the workplace and beyond.
PROJECT LEAD
Hal Cosentino
LOCATION Lab Theatre
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
One hour and 25 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 6:30 p.m.
April 5 at 7:30 p.m.
April 6 at 3:30 p.m.
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Yunina BarbourPayne
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
PAPER FANGS: A STOP-MOTION FILM Film
Contains mature content including dark/crude humor.
A short, stop-motion film that endeavors collaboration between the Department of Theatre and Dance and RadioTelevision-Film, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. The film will be followed by a short behind-the-scenes documentary that aims to highlight the skills and talents of the designers, technicians, fabricators and filmmakers it takes to bring stop-motion to life.
PROJECT LEAD California Thorson
LOCATION WIN 2.112
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
45 minutes
There will be a 20-minute talkback following the screening on April 6 at 5:00 p.m.
PETRIFICATIONOLOGY
Site-Specific Performance
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 9:00 p.m.
April 4 at 12:00 p.m.
April 6 at 5:00 p.m. (talkback to follow)
Contains mature content including language, themes of environmental justice including racial trauma, climate anxiety, climate grief and discussions of mental health.
Petrificationology is a site-specific immersive performance staged in the Texas Memorial Museum. Nestled between the disciplines of Geology and Biology is the small and perpetually underfunded subfield of Petrificationology: the study of those who have been turned to stone. In a moment in which the Texas Memorial Museum is closed to the public due to a lack of funding, we are welcoming audiences behind the scenes into our study of stillness, cycles, and stone. A museum-wide performance led by Rebecca Fitton, Max Franko, Gabrielle Lewis, Dylan McLaughlin, Whitney Mosery, and Emma Watkins.
Emma Watkins LOCATION Texas Memorial Museum
PROJECT LEAD
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
60 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
April 5 at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
April 6 at 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
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RAISED ON ESTRANGEMENT
Dance/Film
This dance film will utilize the power of filmmaking and movement composition in order to tell the artist’s story and the story of many other first- generation Asian Americans growing up in predominantly white communities. This film touches on the internal conflict of wanting to honor ones heritage and the people who came before but also longing to fit in and feeling like an outsider. It explores the struggle with internalized racism as an adolescent and how it heavily influences the development of one’s character as well as how the model minority myth can influence how one experiences theirself.
April 3 at 6:30
April 4 at 2:30 p.m.
April 6 at 8:30 p.m.
RED,BLUE,YELLOW: MAGENTA,TEAL,AMBER: VIOLET,GREEN,ORANGE
Dance
Red,Blue,Yellow: Magenta,Teal,Amber: Violet,Green,Orange is a dance work that provides a study on the interpersonal dynamics between people in groups of threes. In various literature/media from various cultures there are connections made between trios of people and the three primary colors (Red,Blue,Yellow), imbuing common characteristics to each color that pair and contrast with the other two. In this piece there are nine dancers, each one is an ethereal embodiment of a color on the color wheel and each with distinct personalities. When the three trios of color are aligned on the wheel they create a perfectly balanced triangle.
Brock Gayaut
April 4 at 12:30
April 5 at 1:30 p.m.
April 6 at 5:30 p.m.
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LOCATION WIN 2.112 Contains mature content and themes. APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 10 minutes
PROJECT LEAD Ava Tran
PERFORMANCES
p.m.
PROJECT LEAD
LOCATION
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 20 minutes PERFORMANCES
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
p.m.
RESOURCED: PORTALS OF POSSIBILITY
Dance
Contains mature content and themes.
ReSourced: Portals of Possibility is a durational dance experience that explores the pulls between oppression and liberation and the tensions that fall between the two. It is a journey of acknowledgement confrontation, shedding and expansion through the body. This experience uses dance performance, embodied facilitation, projection and sound to take the performer and audience on a journey to reconnect to their physical body and expand the possibilities of our future world. ReSourced: Portals of Possibility asks: what are we holding that is not ours to carry? What does it feel like to be in a liberated body? What practices can we create to make a liberated body sustainable?
PROJECT LEAD
Love Muwwakkil
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
RITE OF PASSAGE
Performance
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
40 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 5 at 2:00 p.m.
April 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Contains mature content including partial nudity and themes of depression and trauma. Suitable for ages 17+.
A live performance piece that pushes the limits of experimental trance music to examine the dynamics of the relationship between society and their traditions.
PROJECT LEAD
Ben Randall
RITUAL Installation
LOCATION
B. Iden Payne Theatre
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
1 hour
PERFORMANCES
April 6 at 8:30 p.m
Contains mature content and themes.
An installation - at the center is a baptismal font with a speaker underneath the water. It reflects back. On the outskirts are invitations. Pick up an iPad. Choose a projection. Record your voice. Will it play out loud? Decide alone. Decide with a friend. Do nothing. These are all choices we make. You can turn back. Can you forget? Radiating inward are translucent fabrics, on which different projections are played at different times. On which poetry is digitally written.
See them and see through them. Walk through them if you like. Through audience participation and multimedia; through live music and spoken word; through archival home video footage ands self portraiture, this project explores cycles of consent, shame and silence that young people face in community theatre spaces.
PROJECT LEAD
Lily Odekirk
LOCATION
B. Iden Payne Lobby
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
Installation will be available from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
April 3-6, 2023.
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THE SCHOLARSHIP OR ALMOST IS NEVER ENOUGH Play
A devised docu-theatre piece focusing on first-generation university students and the experiences that inspire their drive to attend a respected institution. This show follows eight 18-year-old students that are being called in for a final interview at a prestigious university. What these kids don’t know is that the institution’s psychology department is conducting an experiment on them, evaluating to what extent they’ll go in order to earn something that most firstgenerations students dream of: a full ride scholarship. Once they all arrive, they are told they will be competing for a singular full scholarship. But in order to earn it, the group must unanimously decide on ONE person among them to receive it.
PROJECT LEAD
Yobany Pizano
2.180
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 5:00 p.m.
April 4 at 8:00 p.m.
April 6 at 2:00 p.m.
SCOPE OF US
Special Guest Performance by the Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble
When you know it’s time to go, why is it so hard to leave? The Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble, a collaboration between Creative Action and Expect Respect (a program of SAFE), excitedly returns with their 2023 school tour of Scope of Us. This new play is written and performed by the ensemble and follows two siblings, Alia and Ayden, who begin the play separated by abusive relationships and ultimately find their way back to each other.
Siblings Alia and Ayden have always been close despite their different interests in school but when bookworm Alia starts dating football player Xander, the siblings start to feel distant. Ayden is spending all their time with their new girlfriend Beth and Alia spends more and more time locked up in her room. What exactly happened with Alia’s ex, and is Ayden’s relationship with Beth as exciting as it once seemed?
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 12:30
April 5 at 1:30 p.m.
April 6 at 5:30 p.m.
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LOCATION WIN
LOCATION Lab Theatre APPROXIMATE RUN TIME One hour and 40 minutes
p.m.
THE SECLUSION
Audio Exhibition/Podcast
Contains mature language, auditorial gore, sudden loud noises and depictions of struggles with mental health.
A devised audio drama centered around the themes of seclusion and artistry. This horror anthology follows an artist who has isolated themselves from the outside world. A story told through an audio tour of their new exhibit, narrated by a museum curator, The Seclusion features a diverse cast of characters that work for the museum. As the listener “moves” through the exhibit, a darker perspective begins to make its way into the world of this seclusion.
Inspired by Eldritch horrors, queerness, old paintings with golden frames and artists, The Seclusion is an exploration of the darkness and the growing fear that your art may never be enough, and how to dive deeper into that for your own sake.
PROJECT LEAD
Avery Brooks
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
20 minutes
PERFORMANCES
The Seclusion is an episodic podcast, with digital episodes released each day of the festival. Episodes released daily on demand. More information will be made available soon.
SLAY WITH US Dance
Contains strobe effects.
A representation of belonging and found community based on queer experiences, a love for fashion and slaying. We explore the feeling of being in a new space and finding your true self through kindness of your chosen community. We define “slay” as someone who is confident in their style, energy and place in the world; they are not afraid to have fun, be silly, be seen and be friendly.
PROJECT LEADS
Joylin Wei
Mia Castillo
LOCATION
WIN 2.180
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
10 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 9:30 p.m.
April 4 at 2:30 p.m.
April 6 at 6:00 p.m.
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SONG OF THE DAMNED: AN INFERNAL MUSICAL Play/Musical
Contains mature content including language, references to racial trauma and themes of violence.
In a world increasingly divided along arbitrary lines, more of us have started to question who sets those lines, and who is forced to live with those divisions. Is there a way out, or are we doomed to be forever pitted against each other instead of confronting our faceless system head on?
Inspired by Dante’s Inferno, Song of the Damned explores the ideas of classism, justice, and morality through a venture into the most merciless of settings: Hell itself.
Through a rich score drawing from New Orleans jazz, spirituals, gospel blues, and more, Song of the Damned follows a recently deceased sinner’s descent into the underworld and their attempts to reckon with a system they both perpetuate and question.
PROJECT LEAD
Ethan Lao
LOCATION
B. Iden Payne
Two hours
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 7:30 p.m.
April 4 at 2:30 p.m.
April 5 at 3:30 p.m.
SPOONS
Theatrical Art Exhibition
Contains mature content including discussions of mental illness.
SPOONS is an interactive installation exploring the concept of “The Spoon Theory” and its relation to invisible illness. The terminology surrounding SPOONS expresses the daily struggles of energy budgeting necessary for disabled, chronically, physically, or mentally ill people. Every day, you wake up with a randomized amount of energy, or spoons, and are faced with the choice of how you will spend them, knowing that it will never be enough. Spoon budgeting forces us to monitor our choices very carefully, because when our spoons are spent, so are we.
SPOONS is a multi-day, varying experience challenging participants to complete required and elective tasks all while managing their spoon (energy) budgets for each day throughout the whole week.
PROJECT LEAD
Ezra Rose
WIN 1.108
PERFORMANCES
Performances occur daily April 3-7, 2023.
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Theatre LOCATION
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
SQUID KID
Play
Contains strobe effects and mature content including depictions of bullying and physical violence.
Squid Kid is a surreal coming-of-age horror play that is inspired by the playwright’s experiences of growing up neurodivergent. The story follows Loris, an odd fifth-grader who has a peculiar fixation on Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah and The Catcher in the Rye, as well as an irrational phobia of giant squid. Squid Kid is an extreme send-up of the coming-of-age genre. Not only does Loris deal with bullies and self-esteem issues, he must also fight for his life with the ultimate manifestation of adolescent dread: the Squid.
PROJECT LEAD
Benjamin Cervantes
LOCATION Lab Theatre
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 60 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 1:30 p.m. (talkback to follow)
April 4 at 10:30 a.m.
April 6 at 8:30 p.m.
April 7 at 10:30 a.m.
There will be a 20-minute talkback following the performance on April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
THEN WE’LL REST Play
Contains mature language and themes.
Penny and Polly are best friends and gymnastics rivals. They like to make up stories and eat donuts in the car. They get in a big fight, grow up, join a cult. They’re lonely and in love and still competing over something neither of them can name. Penny gets sad and Polly gets sick. So does a king living elsewhere. Have you read Uncle Vanya? This isn’t like that. This is a play about getting lost at sea and seduced by power; about two friends and how each informs the other; and about beauty, grief, love, and ambition.
PROJECT LEADS
Caley Chase
Eliya Smith
LOCATION
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
[UNTITLED MEMORY PROJECT]
Performance
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
One hour and 30 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 1:30 p.m.
April 4 at 8:30 p.m.
April 7 at 10:00 a.m.
Contains strobe effects and mature content including language.
[untitled memory project] is a live event with music, movement and story, formally inspired by the Berlin DANSTHEATRE style. The story explores the chemically erosive qualities of memory, modern gaslighting and the challenges feminine people face in trying to hold on to their own narratives.
PROJECT LEAD
Malena
Pennycook
LOCATION WIN 1.172
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME
25 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 3 at 8:30 p.m.
April 4 at 8:30 p.m.
April 6 at 8:30 p.m.
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THE USHER Performance
Contains mature language and strobe effects.
The perfect attendant. The perfect assistant. The perfect usher. This robot servant will answer your questions and guide you to your destination. It will help you find your seat, as well as entertain you as you wait for shows to begin. After all, that’s its job.
A performance art piece that merges reality and the digital in an improvisational, audience interaction-based experience, this work questions how reliant we have become on technology to aid us in and distract us from our monotonous daily lives.
Find The Usher ready to help all around the New Works Festival! Whether it likes it or not.
PROJECT LEAD
Fedor Aglyamov LOCATION
F. Loren Winship Building (moves throughout the building during the course of the festival)
WOMANHOOD
Dance
A contemporary dance piece that elaborates on the highs and lows of being a woman. It features different characteristics and experiences to highlight the real-life duality of womanhood.
PROJECT LEAD
Payge Garcia
ZAZ: THE BIG EASY
Play
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 10 minutes
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 1:30 p.m.
April 6 at 9:30 p.m.
April 7 at 1:30 p.m.
Contains strong historic visual imagery and strobe effects.
Zaz: The Big Easy is a kinetic and sonic synthesis of African Diasporic Percussive Dance and Music exploring the realities of Hurricane Katrina as a physical storm and metaphor of storms humans experience when silenced, marginalized, and oppressed, yet still preserver through community, spirit, and traditions. This work focuses on bringing awareness to the realities of the worst natural disaster to hit North America, serves as a living archive of Black history through embodied storytelling and celebrates the resilience of those Ryan has spent the past ten+ years of his life knowing. This black cultural experience utilizes tap dance, stepping, body percussion, original music, audience participation, vocal arrangements, and digital media to create an immersive sensory performance shifting traditional audience viewing practices.
PROJECT LEAD
Ryan K. Johnson
LOCATION WIN 2.120 LOCATION
Oscar G. Brockett Theatre
APPROXIMATE RUN TIME 60 minutes
There will be a 20-minute talkback following the performance on April 4 at 4:00 p.m.
PERFORMANCES
April 4 at 4:00 p.m. (talkback to follow)
April 5 at 8:00 p.m.
April 7 at 1:00 p.m.
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FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
MONDAY, APRIL 3
CEREMONY
We welcome another year of Cohen New Works Festival celebrations, featuring guest speakers and a reception as we begin a week-long festival of new and exciting works.
Keynote speaker: IDRIS GOODWIN
1:00-10:00 p.m. Plays in Progress (WIN 1.148)
1:30-2:30 p.m. La Liga de la Decencia (WIN 2.180)
1:30-2:25 p.m. El Corrido de la Soldadera (BIP)
1:30-3:00 p.m.
5:00-6:40 p.m.
5:30-5:45 p.m.
5:30-6:45 p.m.
Then We’ll Rest (OBT)
The Scholarship or Almost is Never Enough (WIN 2.180)
Beneath the Melanin (WIN 2.112)
More Blackberries Please (OBT)
6:30-7:55 p.m. OH, BUDDY (LAB)
6:30-6:40 p.m.
7:30-9:30 p.m.
Raised on Estrangement (WIN 2.112)
Song of the Damned: An Infernal Musical (BIP)
8:30-8:55 p.m. [untitled memory project] (WIN 1.172)
9:00-9:45 p.m.
9:00-9:45 p.m.
9:30-9:40 p.m.
Paper Fangs: A Stop Motion Film (WIN 2.112)
Falling Into Structured Meaninglessness (OBT)
slay with us (WIN 2.180)
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10:00 – 11:00 a.m. OPENING
TUESDAY, APRIL 4
10:30-11:15 a.m. Fishing for Stars (WIN 2.180)
10:30-11:30 a.m. Squid Kid (LAB)
10:30-10:45 a.m.
Beneath the Melanin (WIN 2.112)
10:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m. Dance in Progress (WIN 1.172)
12:00-12:45 p.m.
12:30-12:50 p.m.
1:30-1:40 p.m.
2:30-2:40 p.m.
2:30-2:40 p.m.
2:30-4:30 p.m.
3:30-4:15 p.m.
4:00-5:00 p.m.
5:30-6:30 p.m.
6:00-7:00 p.m.
7:00-8:00 p.m.
8:00-9:30 p.m.
8:00-9:40 p.m.
8:30-10:00 p.m.
8:30-8:55 p.m.
Paper Fangs: A Stop Motion Film (WIN 2.112)
Red,Blue,Yellow: Magenta,Teal,Amber: Violet,Green,Orange (OBT)
womanhood (WIN 2.120)
Raised on Estrangement (WIN 2.112)
slay with us (WIN 2.180)
Song of the Damned: An Infernal Musical (BIP)
The Aardvark (WIN 2.112)
ZAZ: The Big Easy (OBT)
La Liga de la Decencia (WIN 2.180)
Petrificationology (Texas Memorial Museum)
Petrificationology (Texas Memorial Museum)
Scope of Us (presented by Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble) (LAB)
The Scholarship or Almost is Never Enough (WIN 2.180)
Then We’ll Rest (OBT)
[untitled memory project] (WIN 1.172)
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FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Baby Rave (WIN 2.180)
10:30-11:15 a.m. Falling Into Structured Meaninglessness (OBT)
10:30 a.m.-10:00 p.m Cohen New Works Film Festival (WIN 2.112)
12:30-2:00 p.m. Equity, Diversity, Inclusion Committee Lunch Hour (WIN 1.164)
EDI Lunch is an affinity group meal and dialogue facilitated by Renita James and Malena Pennycook in collaboration with affinity group leaders.
1:30-1:50 p.m.
2:00-2:40 p.m.
3:30-5:30 p.m.
Red,Blue,Yellow: Magenta,Teal,Amber: Violet,Green,Orange (OBT)
ReSourced: Portals of Possibility (WIN 2.180)
Song of the Damned: An Infernal Musical (BIP)
4:30-5:15 p.m. More Blackberries, Please (OBT)
5:30-6:50 p.m. A Green Moment to Share (WIN Patio)
6:00-7:00 p.m. Petrificationology (Texas Memorial Museum)
6:00-6:45 p.m.
6:30-7:15 p.m.
7:00-8:00 p.m.
7:30-8:55 p.m.
organ50 (WIN B.202)
Latinx Variety Show (WIN 2.180)
(Texas Memorial Museum)
BUDDY (LAB)
The Big Easy (OBT) 8:00-8:45 p.m.
8:00-9:00 p.m.
organ50 (WIN B.202) 8:30-9:25 p.m.
Corrido de la Soldadera (BIP) 9:00-10:00 p.m.
Liga de la Decencia (WIN 2.180)
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machine
The
Petrificationology
OH,
machine
La
ZAZ:
El
THURSDAY, APRIL 6
10:30-11:15 a.m. The Aardvark (WIN 2.112)
10:30-11:15 a.m.
for Stars (WIN 2.180)
2:00-3:40 p.m. The Scholarship or Almost is Never Enough (WIN 2.180)
2:30-3:15 p.m. Falling Into Structured Meaninglessness (OBT)
3:30-3:45 p.m. Beneath the Melanin (WIN 2.112)
3:30-4:25 p.m. El Corrido de la Soldadera (BIP)
3:30-4:55 p.m.
BUDDY (LAB)
5:00-5:45 p.m. Paper Fangs: A Stop Motion Film (WIN 2.112)
5:30-5:50 p.m. Red,Blue,Yellow: Magenta,Teal,Amber: Violet,Green,Orange (OBT)
6:00-6:10
with us (WIN 2.180)
Portals of Possibility (WIN 2.180)
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Fishing
OH,
p.m.
6:00-7:00 p.m. Petrificationology
6:30-7:50 p.m. A
7:00-8:00 p.m. Petrificationology
Museum) 8:00-8:30 p.m. Contrapposto
Lawn)
p.m. ReSourced:
p.m. More
8:30-8:40 p.m. Raised on Estrangement
8:30-9:30 p.m. Rite of Passage (BIP) 8:30-9:30 p.m. Squid Kid (LAB) 8:30-8:55 p.m. [untitled memory project] (WIN
p.m. womanhood
slay
(Texas Memorial Museum)
Green Moment to Share (WIN Patio)
(Texas Memorial
(WIN
8:00-8:40
8:30-9:15
Blackberries, Please (OBT)
(WIN 2.112)
1.172) 9:30-9:40
(WIN 2.120)
FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE
FRIDAY, APRIL 7
10:00-10:45 a.m. machine organ50 (WIN B.202)
10:00-11:30 a.m. Then We’ll Rest (OBT)
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Baby Rave (WIN 2.180)
10:30-10:45 a.m. Beneath the Melanin (WIN 2.112)
10:30-11:30 a.m. Squid Kid (LAB)
1:00-2:00 p.m. ZAZ: The Big Easy (OBT)
1:30-1:40 p.m. womanhood (WIN 2.120)
2:00-2:45 p.m. The Latinx Variety Show (WIN 2.180)
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Celebrate another wonderful New Works Festival at the Closing Ceremony sendoff. We’ll toast the projects and discuss audience experiences before looking ahead to Cohen New Works Festival 2025.
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CLOSING CEREMONY
ONGOING INSTALLATIONS
Cohen New Works Festival Art Gallery (Second floor Winship)
For Dinner, We Had Reciprocity (WIN 1.134)
GendTent (WIN 2.121)
I can’t tell you (WIN B.118 - starting at 6:00 p.m. Monday-Thursday)
machine organ50 (WIN B.202)
• April 5 – 6:00 p.m. Activation Time
• April 5 – 8:00 p.m. Activation Time
• April 7 – 10:00 a.m. Activation Time
Ritual (Payne Lobby - Monday-Thursday)
SPOONS (WIN 1.108)
The Usher (Throughout Winship)
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INFORMATION
TICKETS AND SEATING
Tickets will be made available online in advance of the festival (April 3-7). Ticket-holders must check in at least 10 minutes prior to curtain. Tickets that are not claimed when a show begins will be released to walk-up patrons.
For the week of the festival, New Works Festival ticketing ensures that a percentage of tickets are set aside for walk-up entry. We encourage you to embrace the unexpected, make new discoveries and join a walk-up line as you explore the festival.
Installations and exhibitions do not require a ticket unless specified. Please enjoy these projects at any time during the week.
PARKING
The university requires all faculty, staff, students and visitors to pay for parking on campus. All parking on campus, including ADA parking, requires a permit or payment of fees. Please read parking signs carefully.
For more information about parking options on campus, please visit theatredance.utexas.edu/about/location-directions-parking
INCLEMENT WEATHER
In case of inclement weather, any performances occurring outdoors will either be delayed, relocated or canceled. Updates will be posted on the New Works Festival and Department of Theatre and Dance social media pages.
CONTACT US:
512-471-5793
utnewworksfestival.org
@utnewworks
utnewworks
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33 MAP W lla e r Ckeer Robert Dedman Dr. San Jacint o Blvd . San Jacinto Blvd. Robert Dedman Dr. ClydeLittlefieldDr. E. 23rd St. E. 24th St. E. 21st St. Trinity St. T rinity St. VET BEL East Plaza Texas Memorial Museum Winship Lawn WCW OBT Atrium BRH San Jacinto Garage Manor Garage LAB BIP Lobby Wla l re Ckeer
THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
The Cohen New Works Festival is entirely student-run, making it unique and empowering. The Executive Committee (EXCOMM) is comprised of graduate students, undergraduate students and faculty producers who are responsible for planning and implementing The Cohen New Works Festival.
FACULTY PRODUCERS
Kirk Lynn
Patrick Shaw
Dorothy O’Shea Overbey
Erica “EG” Gionfriddo
Corey Allen
Rusty Cloyes
ARTISTIC PRODUCER
Braxton Rae (Directing)
EQUITY, DIVERSITY, INCLUSION COMMITTEE
Malena Pennycook (Playwriting)
Renita James (Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities)
APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE
Zach Ezer (Playwriting)
Victoria Vargas (Performer’s Process)
Heaven Wilburn (Dance)
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Madeleine Berckley (Stage Management, Communications Studies)
Emma Winder (Playwriting and Directing)
IT COORDINATOR
Clare Meyer (Dance, Arts and Entertainment Technologies)
GUEST ARTIST COMMITTEE
Jenny Lavery (Directing)
Ellie Newton (Dance, Psychology, Women and Gender Studies)
Jillian Risberg
DRAMATURGY COMMITTEE
Rachel Green (Costume Design)
Karina Enriquez (Dance)
Emily Green (Performance as Public Practice)
EVENTS COMMITTEE
Ashleigh Taylor (Dance, Applied Movement Sciences)
Grant Gilker (Playwriting/Directing)
TECHNICAL CO-DIRECTORS
William Kauffman (Dance)
Sarah “Selliot” Elliott (Lighting Design)
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Morgan Randall (Stage Management)
ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kat Clark (Stage Management, Communications)
SUPER CREW
This Festival would not be possible without the students working behind-thescenes. The Festival crew ensures everything runs smoothly.
Jonah Caldwell
Bridgette Clifford
Catherine Dishington
Melissa Elkins
Maya Kiezman
Victoria Lopez
Siddhanth Menon
Faith Mitchell
Kolby Tate
Mack Thornton
Nelson Wachukwu
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SPECIAL THANKS
Dr. Megan Alrutz
Mark-Anthony Zuniga
KJ Sanchez
DeCarlos Roberson
Megan Bommarito
Dana McLaughlin
Michelle Belisle
Sydney Pattillo
Liliana Zapatero
Gabrielle Lewis
Texas Memorial Museum
Earnest Mazique
Michelle Habeck
Phillip Owen
Jeff Grapko
Tori Marshall
Andy Grapko
Chris Braudt
Cassie Gholston
Nanette Acosta
Desireé Humphries
Carolyn Hardin
David Tolin
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The Cohen New Works Festival would like to extend a special thanks to:
utnewworksfestival.org
@utnewworks
utnewworks
#NWF2023
The Department of Theatre and Dance is a world-class educational environment that serves as the ultimate creative incubator for the next generation of artists, thinkers and leaders in theatre and performance.
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