- This event has passed.
Keynote Talk “What’s Gonna Happen” by acclaimed theatre artist Taylor Mac
September 12, 2019 @ 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Keynote | September 12, 5:30 PM | Brown University Granoff Center for the Arts Martinos Auditorium | 154 Angell St. Providence | FREE | Registration required
What’s gonna happen? There is a calamity in the air. Every person I pass on the street has that look on their face. The look of, “What’s gonna happen?” No matter who you voted for. Everyone has an expression of, “Everybody hates me.” It’s palpable. Like you could scrap its coagulation off the faces and make a stir-fry with it. “What’s gonna happen?”
Post keynote Q&A moderated by Patti Ybarra, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University
Bedazzled shaman, searing social critic and radical Elizabethan fool, Mac is recognized as one of the most exciting artists of contemporary theatre, embracing diverse audiences.
FirstWorks and the Brown Arts Initiative are bringing Taylor Mac to Rhode Island for an artist residency featuring an evening performance of the rave-reviewed A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (Abridged). A finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the performance explores stories of history’s underdogs through the reimagining of historical popular music.
“Someone like me doesn’t normally get to represent America, especially in this time of Trump. It’s nice to say, ‘No, the crazy drag queen is the thing that represents America.’” – Taylor Mac in The Guardian
“One of the great experiences of my life” – Wesley Morris, The New York Times
“A necessary and great American epic for our time” – Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times