UPCOMING
Shakespeare’s Shadow w/ Fay Simpson & Cecilia Rubino
Instructor: Fay Simpson & Cecilia Rubino
Dates: April 7, 14, 21, 28 (Monday nights)
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Registration fee: $400
Location: LUCID BODY House – 230 Lexington Ave NYC
“Shakespeare’s Shadow: an exploration of the underbelly inherent in the rich characters of Shakespeare’s Canon. This workshop will focus on utilizing the lucid body tools for embodiment while understanding the content of Shakespeare’s text, while exploring from both angles, the shadow hovering under these characters will be excavated and brought forth into the language.
Fay will partner with Cecilia Rubino: Cecilia Rubino is an award-winning writer, theater director, filmmaker, and educator based in New York City. She wrote and directed the documentary play Gage County NE with community members in Beatrice, Nebraska which is featured in each episode of HBO’s Mind Over Murder true-crime series directed by filmmaker Nanfu Wang (director of Night is Not Eternal opening on MAX Nov 19, 2024). HBO’s Mind Over Murder series, currently screening on MAX, has been nominated for multiple awards and the play Gage County NE is highlighted in numerous reviews including the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and American Theater Magazine. Rubino directed the documentary film “Remembering Shakespeare” which explores new ways of thinking about memory and Shakespeare’s words in our digital age, where memory itself is at risk. The film currently screens on Vimeo on Demand. www.rememberingshakespearefilm.com
Rubino has also created theater pieces that have performed at Lincoln Center’s Walter Reade Theater, The New Victory @ 42nd Street, Jefferson Market Playhouse, and the New York and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and is an Associate Professor of Theater at Eugene Lang College, The New School for Liberal Arts. She is a Yale School of Drama graduate and works with writers and makers professionally on creative projects and with actors on audition challenges.
INTERVIEWS
GAGE COUNTRY NE - NEBRASKA TV COVERAGE
It was one of the most dramatic cases of exoneration in U.S history, six people wrongly convicted of murder, freed, pardoned and then awarded millions of dollars.
Now a new documentary-style play will bring the story of the Beatrice Six to the stage.
Its debut will be in a theater just two blocks from where the case started 36 years ago.
"Gage County" is the latest work by award-winning New York director/playwright Cecilia Rubino.
Read the full interview here.
NEBRASKA PUBLIC RADIO Interview:
(17:08-31:38: GAGE COUNTY NE)
The Dramatic Workshop: Women, Art, and Politics
The New School’s Dramatic Workshop spanned from 1940 to 1951, and, in that time, was known as a meeting place where creatives and intellects who did not fit the regular academic box could come together to create political theater. The women behind the Dramatic Workshop, including its co-founder Maria Ley Piscator, faculty member Stella Adler, and students like Judith Malina, played a key role in its success and legacy.
In partnership with the Women’s Legacy Project, we’re sharing the stories of numerous little-known but leading women, each of whom helped craft The New School’s rich history. In this episode, we highlight the women behind the Dramatic Workshop at The New School.
Voiceover: Celeste Sena (BA Theater '20)
Music: Stefania deKennessey (Professor of Music)
Faculty (in order of appearance)
Cecilia Rubino (Professor of Theater)
Stefania deKenessey (Professor of Music)
REVIEWS
GAGE COUNTY —
— “The wild card in the astonishing, enthralling “Mind Over Murder”—which deserved a more distinctive title—is the play being staged in Beatrice while Ms. Wang is in town shooting. …. Titled “Gage County, NE” and cast largely with townspeople, it was put on in collaboration with playwright/director Cecilia Rubino and is based on trial testimony and interview transcripts.”
MIND OVER MURDER—
— “Mind Over Murder” is the must-see true crime series of 2022.”
https://mashable.com/article/mind-over-murder-hbo
https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/06/20/bhr-l-mind-0620/
— “…landed on the play as the best way to hear from the people of Beatrice.”
— “The play takes center stage in the show’s final episode—a re-enactment that is also an act of communal catharsis.”
https://slate.com/culture/2022/07/mind-over-murder-review-nanfu-wang-interview.html
— “How to Bring Together a Small Town Divided by Murder: Put on a Show:”
— “‘Mind Over Murder’ is the must-see true crime series of 2022.”
https://mashable.com/article/mind-over-murder-hbo
https://www.bostonherald.com/2022/06/20/bhr-l-mind-0620/
— The play takes center stage in the show’s final episode—a re-enactment that is also an act of communal catharsis.
https://slate.com/culture/2022/07/mind-over-murder-review-nanfu-wang-interview.html
—“(Nanfu Wang)- I was talking to the play director the other day, and she said, ‘In theater history, I can’t think of another play that was being performed by the local people, for the local people, about the local people, that eventually had an impact on the local people.”
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/06/mind-over-murder-hbo-true-crime-docuseries
— “My goal has always been to help the already divided community find mutual understanding, closure, healing, and reconciliation.”
https://filmmakermagazine.com/115175-interview-nanfu-wang-mind-over-murder/#.Yrch5ezMJ24
— Wang is not just interested in the crime itself, but in the broader societal forces that surround it. This is made explicit when we learn what the results of the investigation were, shifting the focus to be about profiling a place and a people.
https://collider.com/mind-over-murder-true-crime-nanfu-wang-hbo/
— “…vital, gripping, immersive, and profound… “Mind Over Murder” is everything a true-crime series should be.”—
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mind-over-murder-movie-review-2022
From the Fire-Edinburgh
"★★★★ [From the Fire] brims over with talent and feeling... the musical's triumph lies in its structure, giving us ... the chance to connect to tragedy ... in a truly human way."
Ashleigh Wheeler, Broadway Baby
"The company are stunning singers... characters are full of nuances, but also driven by strong narratives concerned with ideas like education or immigration." Read More...
"★★★★ Talented cast comes together beautifully with soaring harmonies and clever musical arrangements."
Kelly Apter, Scotsman Musical
"A powerful and touching new musical... re-live[s] that fateful day in Manhattan, and the impact the deaths had on the social and political landscape." Read More...
"Formidable talent in this tightly directed show."
Anna Millar, Edinburgh Festival List
"Although set 100 years ago, [From the Fire]'s themes resonate today." Read More...
"★★★★ Catch [From the Fire] while you can.”
Julie Dawson, Edinburgh Spotlight
"The ensemble cast are young but extraordinarily talented: their voices strong and soaring, their performances assured and mature." Read More...
"From the Fire is deeply powerful... innovative projections, clever choreography and tight direction from Cecilia Rubino."
Scots Gay Fringe
"The show has lots of compassion... the cast work cohesively together as an ensemble... I assure you that it's a production which will live long in the memory."
"From the Fire... a dignified performance ... generously conveyed the hopes, dreams, and losses of the 146 people who perished"
Art Values Education
"...Evoked a range of feelings--anger, humor, and sadness among them, but it avoided the maudlin, and as a result celebrated the lives of these immigrant workers, who placed their faith in becoming Americans." Read More...
"[From the Fire is] a blueprint for the modern American oratorio... precise and confident direction."
Stephanie Palewski, 60 Minutes
"The voices, along with the beauty and movement of the actors, the meticulouness of the staging, wistful lighting, bold sound, church setting... held me to an emotionally riveting experience. Read More...
"Rubino['s] ... powerful libretto... allows for a balance between individual stories and a sense of collective destiny "
Sarah Montague, WNYC
"Rubino and Swados focus as much on the vibrant lives of the women and how they acted as a catalyst for change." Read More...
