Dr. Ed. Simone, professor of theater and director of the theater program, was in Kuwait City, Kuwait, from Feb. 4-11, as an Arts Envoy for the U.S. State Department. Simone was invited to Kuwait by Zennia Paganini, Ph.D., Cultural Attaché for the United States Embassy in Kuwait. At LOYAC-LAPA, the Academy of Performing Arts in Kuwait that opened in 2010, Simone led a workshop in character voice production, as well as a two-day master class in mask acting. Simone also taught an abbreviated version of the mask workshop to theater students at The American University of Kuwait. In addition to his theater workshops and classes, Simone was interviewed on the Kuwait radio and television, and conducted a roundtable discussion involving radio and TV broadcasters at the Kuwait Ministry of Information. Later in the week, Simone met with several Kuwaiti film-makers and held a workshop and roundtable in directing dialogue in film. Simone coached dialogue scenes and monologues and exchanged ideas about writing and lensing dialogue. While in Kuwait, Simone also performed readings of verse by American poets including Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, John Crowe Ransom, William Carlos Williams, and Kahlil Gibran. Audiences included students at two secondary schools and a gathering at the Divan at Surdab Lab, an arts collective in the Kuwait City. The Surdab Lab reading was sponsored by the Kuwait Poets Society. Simone and his wife, Leigh, assistant professor of modern languages, were also guests at the U.S. Embassy National Day celebrations and at the Shukran Festival, an annual “thank you” to the global allies who liberated Kuwait after the 1990 Iraq War.
| Ed. Simone, professor of theater and director of the theater program at St. Bonaventure, was in Kuwait City, Kuwait, from Feb. 4-11, as an Arts Envoy for the U. S. State Department. Simone was invited to Kuwait by Zennia Paganini, Ph.D., Cultural Attaché for the United States Embassy in Kuwait. At LOYAC-LAPA, the Academy of Performing Arts in Kuwait that opened in 2010, Simone led a workshop in character voice production, as well as a two-day master class in mask acting. Simone also taught an abbreviated version of the mask workshop to theater students at The American University of Kuwait. In addition to his theater workshops and classes, Simone was interviewed on the Kuwait radio and television, and conducted a roundtable discussion involving radio and TV broadcasters at the Kuwait Ministry of Information. Later in the week, Simone met with several Kuwaiti film-makers and held a workshop and roundtable in directing dialogue in film. Simone coached dialogue scenes and monologues and exchanged ideas about writing and lensing dialogue. While in Kuwait, Simone also performed readings of verse by American poets including Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, John Crowe Ransom, William Carlos Williams, and Kahlil Gibran. Audiences included students at two secondary schools and a gathering at the Divan at Surdab Lab, an arts collective in the Kuwait City. The Surdab Lab reading was sponsored by the Kuwait Poets Society. Simone and his wife, Leigh, assistant professor of modern languages, were also guests at the U.S. Embassy National Day celebrations and at the Shukran Festival, an annual “thank you” to the global allies who liberated Kuwait after the 1990 Iraq War. |
| Ed. Simone, professor of theater and director of the theater program at St. Bonaventure, was in Kuwait City, Kuwait, from Feb. 4-11, as an Arts Envoy for the U. S. State Department. Simone was invited to Kuwait by Zennia Paganini, Ph.D., Cultural Attaché for the United States Embassy in Kuwait. At LOYAC-LAPA, the Academy of Performing Arts in Kuwait that opened in 2010, Simone led a workshop in character voice production, as well as a two-day master class in mask acting. Simone also taught an abbreviated version of the mask workshop to theater students at The American University of Kuwait. In addition to his theater workshops and classes, Simone was interviewed on the Kuwait radio and television, and conducted a roundtable discussion involving radio and TV broadcasters at the Kuwait Ministry of Information. Later in the week, Simone met with several Kuwaiti film-makers and held a workshop and roundtable in directing dialogue in film. Simone coached dialogue scenes and monologues and exchanged ideas about writing and lensing dialogue. While in Kuwait, Simone also performed readings of verse by American poets including Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Marianne Moore, Wallace Stevens, John Crowe Ransom, William Carlos Williams, and Kahlil Gibran. Audiences included students at two secondary schools and a gathering at the Divan at Surdab Lab, an arts collective in the Kuwait City. The Surdab Lab reading was sponsored by the Kuwait Poets Society. Simone and his wife, Leigh, assistant professor of modern languages, were also guests at the U.S. Embassy National Day celebrations and at the Shukran Festival, an annual “thank you” to the global allies who liberated Kuwait after the 1990 Iraq War. |