2022-23 Performing Arts Series Events
Algorithmic Theater: Prometheus (working title)
Thurs | Jan. 26, 2023 | 8 PM followed by a reception
Fri | Jan. 27, 2023 | 8 PM
Sat | Jan. 28, 2023 | 8 PM
Hepburn Teaching Theater, Goodhart Hall
Is artificial intelligence a “gift from the gods” or a fraught technology with unknown implications? Join us for the world premiere of Prometheus (working title) by theater artist Annie Dorsen. Each performance is unique, as A.I.-generated masks produce new dialogues and songs in real-time. We’re asked to consider: What does it mean for a machine to create theater?
Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Limited tickets available! Walk-ins are not guaranteed entry. Reserve your ticket today!
FREE for Tri-Co: Reserve online
Off-campus guests: Purchase tickets online
Algorithmic Theater: A Piece of Work
Fri | Sept. 9, 2022 | 8 PM | McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall
With post-performance reception!
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.
Algorithmic Theater: Hello Hi There
Sat | Sept. 10, 2022 | 8 PM
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.
Algorithmic Theater: Spokaoke
Sat | Sept. 10, 2022 | 10 PM | Campus Center
With food provided by Algorithm Food Truck! And featuring special guest emcee Martha Graham Cracker!
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.
Algorithmic Theater: 2012-2022 | Annie Dorsen and Authors in Conversation
Sun | Sept. 11, 2022 | 2 PM | Music Room, Goodhart Hall
Followed by a reception to celebrate the publication.
This discussion celebrates Annie Dorsen: Algorithmic Theater, 2012-2022, the first collection of writing by and about Dorsen. Join us for a conversation with some of the publication’s authors, as they reflect on these writings, the significance of Bryn Mawr’s performance retrospective, and the radical implications of Dorsen’s work.
Support for Algorithmic Theater has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.
Free! No advance registration required.
Algorithmic Theater: Yesterday Tomorrow
Thurs | Sept. 15, 2022 | 8 PM followed by a reception!
Fri | Sept. 16, 2022 | 6 PM
Sat | Sept. 17, 2022 | 8 PM with Q&A!
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.
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.