The Department of Theatre will host Chicago-based theatre artist Sean Graney for a residency March 13-18. While at UNC Charlotte, Graney will visit classes during the day and lead an intensive new play development workshop in the evenings. The residency will culminate in a public reading of The Aristophanesathon on Saturday, March 18, featuring students from the Department of Theatre.
Graney is the founder and artistic director of The Hypocrites, an award-winning experimental theatre company in Chicago. His work has been seen at American Repertory Theater, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley Rep, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Court Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Steppenwolf for Young Audiences, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.
In 2015, The Hypocrites's production of Graney’s All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation that combines all 32 surviving Greek tragedies, won six Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards (Jeff Awards). Similar in concept, The Aristophanesathon presents a synthesis of the 11 plays by Aristophanes in a five-hour marathon production.
The free public reading of The Aristophanesathon will take place from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. on March 18 in the Black Box Theater.