"Copenhagen," a play to benefit FOCCUS (Friends
of Chernobyl Centers U.S.)."
Theatre Benefiting Ukraine
Date and Time:
Opening Night Gala: November 3rd, 4th, and 5th 2011
Location: Marquis Ballroom, 6220 Nesbitt Road, Fitchburg, WI
About the performance:
This play, by playwright Michael Frayn, features two physicists who meet in Copenhagen in 1941,
where, among other things, they debate the ethics of the atomic bomb and nuclear energy use.
The theme of the play is fitting to FOCCUS, which provides support to five Community Centers
that are located in areas of Ukraine that remain contaminated 25 years after the accident at the
Chernobyl nuclear reactor. “Copenhagen” won the Tony award for the best play in 2000.
FOCCUS is partnering with the Colleen Burns Benefit Theatre to put on "Copenhagen" for the
2011 FOCCUS fundraiser.
For more information, check FOCCUS's website here: http://www.friendsofchernobylcenters.org/copenhagen.html
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"Black in Ukraine"
Terrell Starr, Freelance Journalist (Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine, 2009-2010)
Date and Time: November 3 at 4:00 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall
Sponsors: Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia, African Studies Program, and with funding from the University Lecture Committee
About the speaker:Terrell J. Starr was a Fulbright Scholar in Ukraine (2009-10). He is working on a project that explores the cultural nuances of and societal impacts on interracial marriage between Ukrainians and immigrants to the country. He earned his Bachelor's degree in English from Philander Smith College, a historically black college in Little Rock, Arkansas. After graduating from Philander Smith in 2002, Terrell was accepted into the Peace Corps and served as a English teacher volunteer in the Republic of Georgia. After that, he earned masters degrees in Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and in Journalism from the University of Illinois. An active freelance journalist, Starr's work has appeared in Crisis Magazine, The Grio, and on Illinois public radio.
About the lecture: Terrell Starr will speak about the research into the African immigrant and African-Ukrainian community in Kyiv, Ukraine that he conducted as a Fulbright scholar and affiliate of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology in 2009 and 2010. His presentation will incorporate video and audio clips of personal stories from African-Ukrainians and interracial couples about their self-perceptions in a Slavic society. Starr will also include a historical overview of the former USSR’s efforts to pull Africa into its geopolitical sphere of influence as well as a personal account of his own experiences with racism in Ukraine as an African-American Fulbright researcher. As such, this lecture will present a rarely-seen view of contemporary Ukrainian society.
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Madison Opera Performance:
Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
Dates and Times:
November 4 at 8:00 PM
November 6 at 2:30 PM
Location: Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State Street, Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 238-8085
Tickets: Price depends on selected seats. Click here for a seating chart.
About the performance: In a fit of youthful passion, Tatiana bares her soul to the mysterious Eugene Onegin, setting in motion an epic drama of love and regret. Featuring Tchaikovsky's trademark dances and irresistible melodies, Eugene Onegin is the composer's operatic masterpiece.
Baritone Hyung Yun (Carmen, 2009) stars in the title role, having won over critics and audiences alike in recent Madison appearances. Soprano Maria Kanyova, unforgettable in Madison Opera's Madama Butterfly (2008), sings the role of Tatiana, and tenor Scott Ramsay debuts as Vladimir Lenski. Candace Evans (Carmen, 2009) directs, and Madison Opera Artistic Director John DeMain leads the full forces of the Madison Opera Chorus and Madison Symphony Orchestra in this company premiere.
For more information, check the Madison Opera's website here:
www.madisonopera.org/performances/eugene_onegin
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"Flying in Translation: Interpreting
Olga Mukhina's Play for Performance in Austin, TX"
Date and Time: November 10 at 4:00 PM
Location: 206 Ingraham Hall
Sponsor: Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia
About the speaker: Graham Schmidt received his M.A. in Slavic and Eurasian Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. His course of study closely followed Russian and European dramatic literature. He has lectured on Chekhov, Beckett and Shakespeare in performance, and on translating The Cherry Orchard for performance. Schmidt has directed a number of plays, including Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen, Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, and The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Flying by Olga Mukhina, and Cinzano by Lyudmila Petrushevskaya. In 2001, Schmidt became a founding member of the ED32 Improvisational Theater Troupe and in 2007 co-founded Breaking String Theater in Austin, TX. In spring 2011 he was an American delegate for Moscow's Golden Mask Theater Festival.
About the lecture: Graham Schmidt will discuss how Breaking String Theater in Austin, Texas translated Olga Mukhina's vision for the stage at the New Russian Drama Festival in 2011.
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Concert:
UW-Madison's Russian Folk Orchestra
Date and Time: November 11 at 7:30 PM
Location: Stoughton Opera House, 381 East Main Street, Stoughton, WI 53589-1724
Phone: (608) 877-4400
Tickets: $15
About the orchestra: The Russian Folk Orchestra, now in its 14th season, is a unique ensemble performing Russian and other East-European folk music on authentic Russian instruments, balalaikas and domras. The orchestra was founded and is directed by Victor Gorodinsky.
More about the Russian Folk Orchestra can be found on their website at russorch.wisc.edu.
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Bronze and Early Iron Age Archaeological Sites of Mongolia
Bayarsaikhan Jamsranjav, Head of Research and Exhibition at the National Museum of Mongolia
Date and Time: November 11 at 12:00 p.m.
Location: 5230 Sewell Social Sciences
About the lecture: Bayarsaikhan (Bayaraa) Jamsranjav will be coming to Madison on Nov. 9 through 12. He is an archaeologist from Mongolia and works on a wide variety of materials. He will present a lecture on Bronze and Early Iron Age Archaeological sites of Mongolia at the Friday Brown Bag on Nov 11.
Click here for a link to the event poster!
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Cinematheque Film
"Essential Killing"
(Poland/Norway/Ireland/Hungary, 2010, 35mm, 83 minutes, English subtitles)
Date and time: November 12 at 7:00 P.M.
Location: 4070 Vilas Hall, 821 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706
Sponsor: Cinematheque
Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Starring: Vincent Gallo, Emmanuelle Seigner, Zach Cohen
About the film: Vincent Gallo gives a mesmerizing performance as a hunted jihadist in this visceral survival
adventure by Polish master Skolimowski. Captured after a deadly firefight in what resembles
the Afghan outback, he manages an escape while being shipped to Europe. Alone in the harsh,
snowbound wilderness and surrounded by potential enemies, his flight to nowhere takes on an
existential significance. Rather than indulge in the politics of his loaded premise, Skolimowski
strips them away, along with language - though Gallo is present in nearly every frame, he never
speaks a word - instead crafting an elemental thriller that combines gripping action and the universal
drama of survival.
For more about this film, check out Cinematheque's Web site at cinema.wisc.edu.
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21st Annual Polish Film Festival
Joanna & Black Thursday
Saturday November 19th, 2011
4070 Vilas Hall
1:00 pm
Joanna
directed by Feliks Falk (2010)
105 min. Polish with English subtitles
The eponymous heroine of this World War II drama is a bright and wary young Pole who is struggling to survive in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. As she awaits her soldier-husband’s return from the front, Joanna's world is turned inside out upon discovering a seven-year-old Jewish girl hiding in a church.
3:30 pm
Black Thursday
directed by Antoni Krauze (2011)
100 min, Polish with English subtitles
Still a painfully remembered event, the brutally suppressed shipyard strikes of December 1970 get a stirring, street-level dramatization from Antoni Krauze that focuses on the tragic story of Brunon Drywa and family. When protests spread among coastal towns, troops in Gdynia responded by firing on people on their way to work; the victims would include Drywa, who was shot in the back. Filming on historic locations in Gdynia, Krauze forcefully brings to the screen a rarely depicted yet pivotal chapter in Polish history.
Sponsors: ASM, WI Experience Grant, CREECA, Anonymous Fund, Lapinski Fund
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21st Annual Polish Film Festival
The Officer's Wife
Sunday, November 20th, 2011
Wisconsin Union Theater
Memorial Union 800 Langdon
2:00 pm
The Officer’s Wife
directed by Piotr Uzarowicz (2010)
80 min, documentary, English
The movie follows a son who makes a startling discovery. After the death of his father, a forgotten bank safe deposit box reveals his grandmother's autobiography, old photos of an army officer and a mysterious postcard that all link to a concealed crime: the Katyn Forest massacre. Weaving dramatic interviews with bold animation, The Officer’s wife probes the collision of truth, justice and memory in a shrouded family tragedy. http://theofficerswifemovie.com/
Sponsors: ASM, WI Experience Grant, CREECA, Anonymous Fund, Lapinski Fund
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10th Annual International Children's and Young Adult's Literature Celebration
Date and time: November 19 at 8:30A.M.-5:00P.M.
Location: Tripp Commons, Memorial Union
Featuring: Atinuke, Kathleen Horning, Anne Pellowski, and Mitali Perkins
About the event: This event, now in its 10th year, brings together award-winning international authors
and dedicated educators, librarians, students, and children’s literature enthusiasts to share
insights into stories from around the world. During this day-long workshop, each author
will speak about her writing, highlighting the cultural nuances and universal themes.
Among this year's speakers will be Anne Pellowski, author of books about a Polish-American
family in 19th century Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin International Outreach Consortium (WIOC) sponsors this annual event in observance
of International Education Week. International Education Week is a joint initiative of the U.S.
Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education to promote programs that prepare
Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and
exchange experiences in the United States
Website: http://www.wioc.wisc.edu/events/childlit/index.html
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