pascal rambert's race

04/27/99

CONTACT:
Margie Yu
Public Affairs Asst.
(323) 343-3047

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Cal State L.A. Students Join with
Skid Row Actors from L.A. Poverty Dept.
in L.A. Première of RACE

What & Who:
Actors from the Los Angeles Poverty Department-a skid row theater company-and Cal State L.A. theatre arts students will perform in the Los Angeles première of RACE by French playwright Pascal Rambert. Drawn from interviews done in France and the United States, RACE explores how a nation's history of cultural exploitation continues to affect the lives and actions of its inhabitants. "RACE is a love poem, suggesting the ache of what might have been if the West had embraced, rather than exploited others," says Susan Mason, Cal State L.A. chair of Theatre Arts and Dance. The play includes imagery as diverse as Nazi concentration camps, slave ships and the ancient creation myths of Judeo-Christian culture. Conceived and directed by Pascal Rambert, currently artist in residence in the Department of Theatre Arts and Dance at Cal State L.A.

When:
Thursday, June 3-Sunday, June 6, 1999.
Performances are set to begin at sunset (8:01 p.m.)

Where:
Parking structure rooftop, 333 S. Spring Street, downtown Los Angeles. Pay parking is available one level below the roof.

Director:
Pascal Rambert, one of France's noted young writer/directors, has been selected to direct his multilingual production of The Epic of Gilgamesh for the Avignon Theatre Festival 2000, with actors from the United States, Syria and France.

More:
This is the first English adaptation of the French original, which premiered in 1997 at the October Festival in Normandy and was performed most recently at Paris' Théâtre Gérard Philippe de Saint-Denis (January 1999). The Los Angeles version, with 16 actors, is co-produced by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Association Française d'Action Artistique; French Cultural Services, Consulate General of France, Los Angeles; Los Angeles Poverty Department; California State University, Los Angeles; and the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department.

Info:
Admission is free, but seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. For photos or more information, call the Public Affairs Office at Cal State L.A., (323) 343-3050.

**This site-specific theater piece was previously scheduled for May 26 & 27 at the campus' all-purpose field.

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