The Handmaid’s Tale premieres at University of Colorado at Denver
UC DENVER’S DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE, FILM & VIDEO PRODUCTION ANNOUNCES ITS NATIONAL PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF WILLIAM LEIREN’S STAGE ADAPTATION OF THE NOVEL BY MARGARET ATWOOD, THE HANDMAID’S TALE.
DENVER (February 11, 2010)— The University of Colorado Denver’s Department of Theatre, Film & Video Production is pleased to present its national premiere production of William Leiren’s stage adaptation of the novel by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale on February 25-27 & March 3-6, 2010.
Imagine a society where ultra-conservative religious fanatics control everything and keep everyone under constant surveillance—even those responsible for conducting the surveillance. Imagine a time when women have lost all rights, can’t even have their own money, and are valued only for their ability to do housework and get pregnant. Imagine a place where living in fear and suspicion is the only thing common to everyone.
And now imagine this is not a foreign society unfamiliar to us, not another time but now, not a place halfway around the globe. Imagine all of this in your house, your neighborhood, your town. Award-winning author Margaret Atwood imagined all of that and created a stunning and compelling picture for us in her 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale. And now, for the first time, this brilliant work has been adapted for the stage. Denver playwright William Leiren, with Ms. Atwood’s blessing, has dramatized this story and UC Denver’s TFVP Dept. is presenting an exciting and hard-hitting production in a transformed Eugenia Rawls Theatre from February 25-27 and March 3-6. Featuring a multi-faceted cast of 26 students, faculty, and alumni, as well as dynamic and innovative design elements, this promises to be one of the high points of the theatre season.
Celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2008-09, the College of Arts & Media (CAM) at the University of Colorado Denver embraces the influence of modern trends on traditional art forms. Located on UC Denver’s downtown campus, CAM is at the heart of Denver’s thriving, dynamic arts community. The college encourages its students to discover new artistic forms, explore creative applications of technology, and prepare themselves for careers in the current and emergent culture industry. CAM is one of 13 schools and colleges at UC Denver. The University offers more than 100 degrees and serves more than 28,000 students in Metro Denver and online. For additional news and information, please visit the UC Denver newsroom.
(In)Habitation CD
Centaur Records is releasing a CD by Eileen Strempel (soprano) of Syracuse University and Sylvie Beaudette (piano) of the University of Rochester. The duo recorded musical settings of the poems of Margaret Atwood, as part of the Atwood Project and to celebrate Women’s History Month. Please click here for more details.
Exciting News
You can now follow Margaret Atwood on Twitter!
Or read her blog, which has a number of wonderful posts, such as “Ten Gifts to Give Beginning Novelists.”
The Year of the Flood buzz
Some links of interest:
Margaret Atwood’s Tour Blog from The Globe and Mail
A review by Jeanette Winterson in The New York Times
A review by Ursula K. Le Guin in The Guardian
A review by Jane Shilling in Telegraph
2009 Awards
Please encourage your colleagues and students to submit to the 2009 Margaret Atwood Society Awards — or submit your own work! More information is available here.
Forthcoming in September
Margaret Atwood’s New Novel!
Birthday Readathon
Happy Birthday to Margaret Atwood
Let’s celebrate! Pick up a short story, novel, poem, or nonfiction piece in honor of this esteemed author, and then tell us what you read.
Laurentian University Hosts Atwood Birthday Celebration
Four years ago in November the Department of English at Laurentian University held the first Margaret Atwood Birthday Dinner to celebrate the life and work of Canada’s premier writer. This year, on November 13th, Margaret Atwood herself attended to the delight of a sold out hall of 240 dinner guests. Reading from her newest work, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth (Toronto: Anansi, 2008), Ms. Atwood also treated guests to some impromptu joking and a concluding comment that events such as the dinner at Laurentian U, in its uniqueness, provide real assurance that Canadian culture is thriving.
With proceeds going to a proposed Indigenous Sharing and Learning Centre on campus, the evening’s program included a welcome and blessing of the food by a Native elder, and an honour song by a Native women’s drumming group. Such traditional food as venison stew and wild rice was served. Before Ms. Atwood spoke, well-known Sudbury actor Pandora Topp performed a monologue by Canada’s foremost indigenous playwright, Tomson Highway. Following dinner and the program, Ms. Atwood signed copies of fans’ books for approximately an hour.
The original purpose of the Margaret Atwood Birthday dinners was to create an occasion for fans throughout the world to meet on or near the date of her birth, November 18th, to celebrate together by eating appropriate foods, drinking appropriate drinks, sharing stories, reading favourite passages, and toasting her life and work. Considering the impact Ms. Atwood’s writing has had on so many people in so many countries, we in the English Department at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada believe that these dinners are and will continue to be a fitting tribute. For posting on our website, we welcome news of yours.
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