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Event Program
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27
A Telephonic Conversation by Mark Twain
Performed by Madeline Cohen, Philip Estrera, Crystal Dickinson
Evacuation Order No. 19 by Julie Otsuka
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Wrong Channel by Roberto Fernández
Performed by Philip Estrera
Fiction Versus Nonfiction by Lois Beardslee
Performed by Dawn Akemi Saito
Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things by Naomi Shihab Nye
Performed by Crystal Dickinson
How to Eat a Poem by Eve Merriam
Performed by Philip Estrera
Crystal Dickinson won the Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2012 production of Clybourne Park. She subsequently appeared in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway in 2014, A Raisin in the Sun at the Two River Theater, and The Low Road at the Public Theater. Her film and television credits include I Origins, The Good Wife, Feed the Beast, New Amsterdam, and recurring roles on The Chi and For Life. Dickinson has taught at Stella Adler Studio, Spelman College, Pace University, Princeton University, the Juilliard School, NYU, and both of her alma maters, University of Illinois and Seton Hall. Dickinson was recently featured in Lessons in Survival at the Vineyard Theatre and starred in Cullud Wattah at the Public.
Crystal Dickinson won the Theatre World Award for her Broadway debut in the 2012 production of Clybourne Park. She subsequently appeared in You Can’t Take It With You on Broadway in 2014, A Raisin in the Sun at the Two River Theater, and The Low Road at the Public Theater. Her film and television credits include I Origins, The Good Wife, Feed the Beast, New Amsterdam, and recurring roles on The Chi and For Life. Dickinson has taught at Stella Adler Studio, Spelman College, Pace University, Princeton University, the Juilliard School, NYU, and both of her alma maters, University of Illinois and Seton Hall. Dickinson was recently featured in Lessons in Survival at the Vineyard Theatre and starred in Cullud Wattah at the Public.
Philip Estrera is a NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Strangers in the Night with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Monstress with the American Conservatory Theater, and Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse. He was recently in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He also narrated the short story “The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere” for Macmillan Publishing, and can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and the web series Characteristically. You can see him in NYC this spring as the god Apollo in the new play, Discus. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Philip Estrera is a NYC-based actor whose theater credits include Strangers in the Night with Hunger & Thirst Theatre, Monstress with the American Conservatory Theater, and Orphan of Zhao at La Jolla Playhouse. He was recently in the Sesame Street Thanksgiving special as Anton the bus driver, which introduced the first Asian American puppet to the series. He also narrated the short story “The Water That Falls on You From Nowhere” for Macmillan Publishing, and can be seen in episodes of Blue Bloods and the web series Characteristically. You can see him in NYC this spring as the god Apollo in the new play, Discus. Estrera is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater’s MFA program.
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director and teacher. Her performance credits include: Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. She has also performed at St. Ann’s Warehouse, BAM, Japan Society, and New York Theater Workshop. Her own multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Dawn is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
Dawn Akemi Saito is an actor, writer, director and teacher. Her performance credits include: Insects in Heat, Suns Are Suns, Blood Cherries, HA, Knock on the Sky, Suicide Forest, Hiroshima Maiden, Arden/Ardennes, My House Is Collapsing Toward One Side, and Deshima. She has also performed at St. Ann’s Warehouse, BAM, Japan Society, and New York Theater Workshop. Her own multi-disciplinary works have been performed at the Walker Art Center, Flynn Center for the Performing Arts, Orpheum Theatre in Austria, the Whitney Museum, Dance Theater Workshop, New York Theater Workshop, LaMaMa, New World Theater, the Public Theater, and Aaron Davis Hall. Dawn is an Associate Clinical Professor at Fordham University/Lincoln Center, is on the movement faculty at Juilliard, and serves as co-director of the Summer Theatre Devising Intensive at Bard College in Berlin, Germany.
Madeline Cohen is the Education Director for Symphony Space’s Arts Education and Adult Literacy programs, as well as the director of Symphony Space’s Thalia Kids Book Club Camp. She has been working in arts education for over thirty years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, and consultant at the Lincoln Center Institute, the United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
Madeline Cohen is the Education Director for Symphony Space’s Arts Education and Adult Literacy programs, as well as the director of Symphony Space’s Thalia Kids Book Club Camp. She has been working in arts education for over thirty years as a teaching artist, staff development leader, and consultant at the Lincoln Center Institute, the United Federation of Teachers, and Teachers College, among others. In addition, she is a costume designer.
Lois Beardslee is a Native American storyteller and the author of several books, including Words Like Thunder, The Women’s Warrior Society, Lies to Live By, and Leelanau Earth Stories. She performs, teaches, and demonstrates traditional arts to thousands of people each year at museums, schools, and universities. Beardslee’s paintings and limited edition prints exemplify contemporary Woodland Indian style while embracing traditional lifestyles and symbolism. Her work is exhibited in public and private collections worldwide. She is one of the “Sisters of the Great Lakes” and a member of the Great Lakes Indian Artists’ Association. Her father is Lacandon and her maternal grandmother is Ojibwa. Raised in northern Michigan, Beardslee is a cherry farmer in Leelanau County.
Lois Beardslee is a Native American storyteller and the author of several books, including Words Like Thunder, The Women’s Warrior Society, Lies to Live By, and Leelanau Earth Stories. She performs, teaches, and demonstrates traditional arts to thousands of people each year at museums, schools, and universities. Beardslee’s paintings and limited edition prints exemplify contemporary Woodland Indian style while embracing traditional lifestyles and symbolism. Her work is exhibited in public and private collections worldwide. She is one of the “Sisters of the Great Lakes” and a member of the Great Lakes Indian Artists’ Association. Her father is Lacandon and her maternal grandmother is Ojibwa. Raised in northern Michigan, Beardslee is a cherry farmer in Leelanau County.
Roberto Fernández is a Cuban-American writer and scholar. He is the author of many novels in English and in Spanish, including La vida es un special, Raining Backwards, Holy Radishes!, En la ocho y la doce, Entre dos aguas, El Príncipe y la bella cubana, and the short story collections Cuentos sin rumbo and La montaña rusa. Fernández’s short stories have appeared widely in magazines and anthologies. He teaches Spanish and literature at Florida State University, where he is the Dorothy Lois Breen Hoffman Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics.
Roberto Fernández is a Cuban-American writer and scholar. He is the author of many novels in English and in Spanish, including La vida es un special, Raining Backwards, Holy Radishes!, En la ocho y la doce, Entre dos aguas, El Príncipe y la bella cubana, and the short story collections Cuentos sin rumbo and La montaña rusa. Fernández’s short stories have appeared widely in magazines and anthologies. He teaches Spanish and literature at Florida State University, where he is the Dorothy Lois Breen Hoffman Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics.
Eve Merriam (1916–1992) was a poet and playwright. Her first book, Family Circle, was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Her children’s poetry books include There Is No Rhyme for Silver, It Doesn't Always Have to Rhyme, The Inner City Mother Goose, Catch a Little Rhyme, Finding a Poem, Out Loud, and Rainbow Writing. The controversial Inner City Mother Goose, which Merriam named "just about the most banned book in the country," was the basis for a 1971 Broadway musical, and a second musical production, Street Dreams, in 1982. In 1981, she was named the winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
Eve Merriam (1916–1992) was a poet and playwright. Her first book, Family Circle, was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Her children’s poetry books include There Is No Rhyme for Silver, It Doesn't Always Have to Rhyme, The Inner City Mother Goose, Catch a Little Rhyme, Finding a Poem, Out Loud, and Rainbow Writing. The controversial Inner City Mother Goose, which Merriam named "just about the most banned book in the country," was the basis for a 1971 Broadway musical, and a second musical production, Street Dreams, in 1982. In 1981, she was named the winner of the NCTE Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. Her works include the novels Habibi; The Turtle of Oman; and Going, Going; and the poetry collections Hugging the Jukebox, Red Suitcase, Fuel, You and Yours, Transfer, Words Under the Words, and The Tiny Journalist, among others. She has edited numerous poetry anthologies, including This Same Sky. Her work has been awarded four Pushcart Prizes, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Texas Institute of Letters, among other honors. Nye is currently the Poetry Foundation's Young People's Poet Laureate. Her most recent work is the easy collection Never in a Hurry.
Naomi Shihab Nye is a poet, songwriter, and novelist. Her works include the novels Habibi; The Turtle of Oman; and Going, Going; and the poetry collections Hugging the Jukebox, Red Suitcase, Fuel, You and Yours, Transfer, Words Under the Words, and The Tiny Journalist, among others. She has edited numerous poetry anthologies, including This Same Sky. Her work has been awarded four Pushcart Prizes, the Jane Addams Children's Book Award, the Paterson Poetry Prize, the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Texas Institute of Letters, among other honors. Nye is currently the Poetry Foundation's Young People's Poet Laureate. Her most recent work is the easy collection Never in a Hurry.
Julie Otsuka is the author of When the Emperor Was Divine, a New York Times Notable Book, and The Buddha in the Attic, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and France’s Prix Femina Etranger and a finalist for the National Book Award. The Buddha in the Attic was also selected as a New York Times Notable Book, a San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, and was named in the top ten books of the year in both Library Journal and Vogue. Her fiction has been published in Granta, Harper’s, The Best American Short Stories 2012, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012. Her latest novel, The Swimmers, will be published in February 2022.
Julie Otsuka is the author of When the Emperor Was Divine, a New York Times Notable Book, and The Buddha in the Attic, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and France’s Prix Femina Etranger and a finalist for the National Book Award. The Buddha in the Attic was also selected as a New York Times Notable Book, a San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe Best Book of the Year, and was named in the top ten books of the year in both Library Journal and Vogue. Her fiction has been published in Granta, Harper’s, The Best American Short Stories 2012, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2012. Her latest novel, The Swimmers, will be published in February 2022.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain (1835–1910), published more than 30 books, hundreds of short stories and essays, and gave lecture tours around the world. His books include The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, The Mysterious Stranger, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Renowned for his wit and satire, Twain has been lauded as the first great American humorist.
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known by his pen name Mark Twain (1835–1910), published more than 30 books, hundreds of short stories and essays, and gave lecture tours around the world. His books include The Innocents Abroad, Roughing It, The Mysterious Stranger, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Renowned for his wit and satire, Twain has been lauded as the first great American humorist.
"Wrong Channel" by Roberto Fernandez. Collected in Micro Fiction (Norton). Copyright © by Roberto G. Fernandez.
"A Telephonic Conversation" by Mark Twain. In the public domain.
"Because of Libraries We Can Say These Things" by Naomi Shihab Nye, from Everything Comes Next (Greenwillow Books, September 2020). Copyright © by Naomi Shihab Nye. Used by permission of HarperCollins.
"Evacuation Order No. 19" from When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, copyright © 2002 by Julie Otsuka, Inc. Used by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
"Fiction Versus Nonfiction" by Lois Beardslee, from Words Like Thunder: New and Used Anishinaabe Prayers. Copyright © 2020, Wayne State University Press. Used by permission of Wayne State University Press.
“How to Eat a Poem” by Eve Merriam Used by permission of Curtis Brown, Ltd. Copyright © 1964. All Rights reserved.
The All Write! adult literacy program is generously supported by the NYC COVID-19 Response and Impact Fund in The New York Community Trust, the Howard Gilman Foundation, The Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, the Charina Endowment Fund, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund, The Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Henry Nias Foundation, the Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the Michael Tuch Foundation, the Vidda Foundation, the Lemberg Foundation, and The Grodzins Fund. This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. All Write! also receives support from an endowment established by the Steven Aresty Foundation. Symphony Space thanks our generous supporters, including our Board of Directors, Producers Circle, and members, who make our programs possible with their annual support.
It’s a truly extraordinary moment to be here for the 21/22 Symphony Space season! We are so grateful to the independent venue operators who banded together to initiate the Save Our Stages campaign, which became the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. Through the leadership of Senator Chuck Schumer, and with bipartisan support from many Senators and Representatives, the creative community was bolstered by this special funding. All of us at Symphony Space extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every individual who recognized the unmistakable power and importance of the arts in this most critical moment.
Kathy Landau Executive Director
Peg Wreen Managing Director
Isaiah Sheffer*
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Artistic Director (1988-2010)
Founding Artistic Director (2010-2012)
Allan Miller
Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director (1978-1988)
Madeline Cohen Education Director
Regina Larkin Manager for Education
Jennifer Brennan Director of Literary Programs
Drew Richardson Lead Producer of Literary Programs
Vivienne Woodward Producer of Literary Programs
Magdalene Wrobleski Program Assistant, Literature and Education
Antonio Brown Intern
Mollie Gordon Intern
*In Memoriam