Lang Theater Productions
Lang theater productions are as varied as our students. During one semester, students may focus on a classic play, the next they'll be studying avant-garde styles or working with guest directors to produce original contemporary work. They also have opportunities to mount their own productions through student-organized groups.
Fall 2012: One Will Speak/The Other is Dead
One Will Speak/The Other is Dead is a new work written, directed, and designed by Kenneth Sean Collins, the artistic director of Temporary Distortion. Inspired by August Strindberg’s Damascus Trilogy, the nonlinear, looping performance featured installation, video art, and live music.
Spring 2012: The Judith of Shimoda
The Judith of Shimoda draws on historical events that occurred after Commodore Perry compelled Japan to open to the West in 1854. The play was first performed in 2008 and has been performed sparingly since. The piece examines the ways society create and tear down its heroes.
Fall 2011: Our Town
Our Town by Thorton Wilder, directed by Leon Ingulsrud and performed by Eugene Lang College students, asks what can Thorton Wilder's classic about life in a small New England town have to say to us in New York City in 2011? Is New York City Our Town? Ultimately it is a play about the unchanging nature of life and death and how the true beauty of life is in its smallest moments.
Spring 2011: From the Fire
From the Fire is a dramatic oratorio created by the Tony-nominated composer Elizabeth Swados, writer and director Cecilia Rubino, and poet Paula Finn, and designed by Bonnie Roche-Bronfman. It recalls the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire and explores its relevance in the 21st century. The piece was mounted and performed by Lang theater students at the historic Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square (two blocks from the former factory site) during the week of the fire's 100th anniversary, March 23-27, 2011. The production was then selected for performances at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it won awards for Best Musical, Best Music, and Best New Production. The work continues to receive awards and critical acclaim.
Fall 2010: Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land
This is the story of two theater groups mistakenly booked into the same theater for rehearsal, one is performing Secret Love, a serious contemporary drama; the other is performing the farce In Peach Blossom Land. The two groups fight for the stage, and eventually resign to sharing it. In between, chaos ensues, and a mysterious woman roams about the theater searching for a man who may or may not exist. The action takes place at the meeting point of modern Chinese politics, ancient visions, tragedy, and rollicking comedy.
Dance Productions
Lang Dance productions are a combination of professional choreographed pieces and historic works staged with students and original student choreography. Current artists in the field are invited each semester to create or renew classic works with Lang students. Exceptional student work developed in class is selected for performances at both formal and informal events, open to family, friends and the general public.
Dance Performances at New York Live Arts
Twice each year, the department produces a student performance at New York Live Arts. The performance is a culmination of a semester's work and showcases choreography by faculty, students, and guest artists, in spring including a new original work created by students or by a modern dance luminary as part of our annual dance residency.
College Partnership Program: In Progress Showing and Performance Lab
Every semester two exceptional examples of student choreography are chosen to be exhibited at an evening of student performances as part of the College Partnership Program. Besides being able to publicly debut their work, selected students receive valuable feedback from dance professionals. College Partnership performances take place in leading institutions that promote contemporary dance, such as Dance New Amsterdam or Live Arts NYC.
Visual Arts Exhibits
The Skybridge Art and Sound Space
The Skybridge space is central to Lang's visual arts program as a showcase for student and faculty work, visiting artists' projects, and site-specific installations. This wall of a third-floor walkway between buildings overlooks the lovely Vera List courtyard. The space physically and conceptually links Eugene Lang College with the rest of The New School.
The Skybridge Art and Sound Space is curated by students in the the Skybridge Curatorial Project (SCP), a workshop/seminar class offered each semester and a vibrant and exciting workshop for visual arts and critical thinking. In this course, students work in several distinct aspects of management of the gallery space: developing exhibition concepts, producing informational materials, public relations, installation, and archiving. Field trips to museums and art galleries and readings in curatorial practices enrich the class and provide background knowledge for exhibition projects.
For more information about the Skybridge Curatorial Project, contact langarts@newschool.edu.
