PROPAGANDA: A Festival Celebrating Russian Voices

Sat, Jan 18, 7pm - Sun, Jan 19, 2014 8pm

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Propaganda: A Festival Celebrating Russian Voices

Propaganda: A Festival Celebrating Russian Voices will spotlight Russia’s recent anti-propaganda law in relation to sport, performance, and LGBT and Olympic history in a two-day series of events. The festival of staged readings and panels will be co-sponsored the Lark Play Development Center and The Cooper Union, on Saturday, January 18th and Sunday, January 19th. It is free for all current students, faculty and staff of The Cooper Union. Other participants should purchase tickets at Eventbrite.

On January 18th at 3pm in Cooper Union’s Rose Auditorium, Propaganda will feature the first ever presentation of Daria Wilke’s acclaimed 2013 LGBT Young Adult Novel The Jester’s Cap, in a new theatrical adaptation.

On January 18th at 7pm, the first English translation of celebrated playwright Oleg Mikhailov’s drama Pelmeni, as well as a reading of Vladimir Nabakov’s seminal work on sport, Breitenstrater-Paolino, will be presented. Both readings will be followed by panel discussions.

On January 19th at 5pm in Cooper Union’s Great Hall, Tess Berry-Hart’s acclaimed docu-drama SOCHI 2014 will be presented for the first time in the US, and read simultaneously in cities around the globe. Following the reading, at 6:30pm, Masha Gessen, journalist and NY Times International Opinion contributor, will make her first public appearance since expatriating from Russia, speaking in a panel discussion. The online theater journal HowlRound will air a live stream of this panel on HowlRound TV, as well as publish a series of articles by and about Propaganda’s artists and participants in the week leading up to the festival.

All proceeds from Propaganda will benefit the Spectrum Human Rights Alliance. Spectrum is a leading international organization devoted to human rights advancement on behalf of people who experience discrimination or abuse on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or expression in Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and former Soviet Union Countries.

Propaganda partnered with The Lark Play Development Center to support the development of these newly translated works in preparation for their presentation at Cooper Union.

Located in The Great Hall, in the Foundation Building, 7 East 7th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues

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  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

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  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.