Photo by Gaia Squarci

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center presents World Voices: International Play Festival 2015. As part of the 2015 PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature, the Segal Center will showcase play readings by nine of the world’s most respected dramatists representing Afghanistan, Argentina, Cuba, France, Germany, Indonesia, Kenya, and Uganda.

The International Play Festival generates conversations on art, politics, dreams, war, and philosophy, and is meant to give American audiences a rich awareness of the greater global dialogue.

Monday, May 11

FREE + Open to public. First come, first served.

Picnic
Written by Joned Suryatmoko (Indonesia) & Translated by Barbara Hatley
Directed by Eric Ting
2:00pm | Segal Theatre

Hilmar, Sobirin and Wid have come to Bali to be happy. Hilmar wants to see Tanah Lot with a pretty woman on his arm, like the cigarette ad he saw on a billboard. Wid wants to cure the pain of never having visited any beautiful places in his whole life. Sobirin has come to Bali because if his friend Hilmar is happy, he will be happy too. However, when they end up working as bathroom attendants in the lobby of a luxury hotel in Bali, they struggle to find what they’re looking for. Followed by a conversation with Joned Suryatmoko, Gillitt Cobina, Peter Eckersall, and Ugoran Prasad.

Joned Suryatmoko was born in Solo, Indonesia in 1976. His educational background is in International Relations Studies (Bachelor’s degree) and Media and Cultural Studies (Master’s degree), both from the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He has run his theatre group, Gardanalla Theatre, since 1997 and produced various performances. Known as a theatre-maker and playwright, he also works as a media consultant for community-based media programs with various international, as well as local, NGOs in Indonesia. Currently he is the Festival Director of the Indonesian Dramatic Reading Festival (IDRF), and as a Theatre Specialist for the Creative Community Program, initiated by the Kelola Foundation and the World Bank.

The 11th Annual PEN World Voices of International Literature, “On Africa,” New York City, May 4-10, 2015. More than 100 Writers from 30 countries celebrate the transformative power of the written word. This year’s program, co-curated by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, takes you beyond the news by providing a rare chance to hear voices and perspectives from contemporary Africa and its diaspora. www.penworldvoices.org

The PEN World Voices: International Play Festival was conceived, created, and curated by Frank Hentschker in 2005.
2015 Festival produced by Christine Scarfuto (New York) in collaboration with Frank Hentschker.

*If you are interested in helping with PEN World Voices, please contact Yu Chien Liu at [email protected].