A woman in the foreground sits on a couch facing right and sings. A man in the background on a couch faces left.

2022-23 Performing Arts Series Events

Algorithmic Theater: A Piece of Work

Fri | Sept. 9, 2022  | 8 PM | McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall

A billow of smoke is coming out of a wood table on a dark stage, and the words "revenge" and "ghost" are projected in white in the background.

Mixing live performance with algorithms and interfaces, A Piece of Work (2013) flips the switch between human and technology. It’s a machine-made Hamlet for a post-humanist age.

Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Free for Tri-Co: Reserve online
Off-campus guests: Purchase tickets online or by phone at 610-526-5300.

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Algorithmic Theater: Hello Hi There

Sat | Sept. 10, 2022  | 8 PM 

Two laptops perch on a grassy hill on a dark stage. Behind them, there are two black screens with the words "typing and talking, I am not a chatterbot" in white text.

Sun | Sept. 11, 2022  | 8 PM

Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart Hall

Hello Hi There (2010) uses the famous 1970s television debate between philosopher Michel Foucault and linguist/activist Noam Chomsky as inspiration and material for a dialogue between two custom-designed chatbots. Additional source material has been drawn from YouTube, the Bible, Shakespeare, and big hits of western philosophy.

Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Free for Tri-Co: Reserve online
Off-campus guests: Purchase tickets online or by phone at 610-526-5300.

Learn More

Algorithmic Theater: Spokaoke

A person in profile is speaking into a microphone in a crowded room.

Sat | Sept. 11, 2022  | 10 PM | Campus Center

Spokaoke (2012) invites the audience to perform speeches as they would ordinarily perform songs in a karaoke bar. This participatory event plays with the legacy of spoken artifacts, treating snippets and snatches of public address like a Top 40 radio of collective discourse

Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Free! No advance registration required.

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Algorithmic Theater: Yesterday Tomorrow

Thurs | Sept. 15, 2022  | 8 PM

Fri | Sept. 16, 2022  | 6 PM

Three people sit on the floor across from three green couches on a dark stage. Four large projections of sheet music hang above the couches.

Sat | Sept. 17, 2022  | 8 PM

McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall

A new kind of musical, Yesterday Tomorrow (2015) is a collaboration between human artists and evolutionary algorithms. In this work, a chorus of live singers are fed a real-time algorithmically-generated score to create an environmental concert of song, machines, gestures, light and space.

Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Free for Tri-Co: Reserve online
Off-campus guests: Purchase tickets online or by phone at 610-526-5300.

Learn More

About the Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series

Since 1984 the Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series has presented great artists and performances to Philadelphia-area audiences, creating an environment in which the value of the arts is recognized and celebrated. Providing talks and workshops free to the public to develop arts awareness and literacy, the Bryn Mawr College Performing Arts Series has partnered in recent seasons with such organizations as the Barnes Foundation, Pennsylvania Ballet, Bryn Mawr Film Institute, and FringeArts. The Series has presented performances by such diverse luminaries as Trisha Brown Dance Company, Meredith Monk, John Waters, Jennifer Koh, the Khmer Arts Ensemble of Cambodia, and Urban Bush Women.

Contact the Arts Office at reservations@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-5300 for more information.