Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
An original play created and directed by Katie Van Winkle ’07 will be showcased on December 11 and 12 at 7:00 p.m., with an extra showing at 10 p.m. on the 12th, in the Frear Ensemble in LPAC. This play is the result of a Directing II: Advanced Directing Workshops assignment and is inspired by an early twentieth century avant-garde group known as the Italian Futurists.
The title, “Serata Futurista,” means “futurist evening”. These were, according to a press release by Van Winkle, “cabarets at which the Futurists performed plays, declaimed manifestos, exhibited art, and, more often than not, got into fistfights with each other and the audience, often leading to their arrests”. What adds even more to what proves to be a very exciting play is the fact that the audience will be seated cabaret style, complete with dinner and drinks.
The project, as mentioned before, was an assignment for Directing II: Advance Directing Workshop. “The assignment is to create an original piece of theater through collaboration with the cast and designers,” says Van Winkle. The script is a mix between old texts found from the Futurists original work and new text generated through rehearsal. The show also features original music by Steph Duncan ’08 and Dan Perelstein ’09.
Come and see the show and “Glorify speed, noise, lust, and anti-neutral fashion! Denounce the worship of the past, traditional art, and pasta! Exalt war… Join the Futurists as they struggle to drag Italy, kicking and screaming, into the twentieth century, the machine age, and World War I.” This promises to be a very entertaining and interesting show!
