Department of Theatre and Dance prepare for Prague Quadrennial

Students preparing for the Prague Quadrennial.

The UB Department of Theatre and Dance has been selected to engineer and fabricate two exhibits—a professional designers exhibit and an emerging designers exhibit—that will represent the United States at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space (PQ). Held once every four years since 1967, the Prague Quadrennial is the world's largest event in the field of scenography, and offers a competitive presentation of contemporary performance design — including costume, stage, lighting, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site-specific, multi-media performances, and performance art. The 2019 PQ will highlight the expertise of UB faculty and students in the Department of Theatre and Dance.

This opportunity to engineer and fabric the U.S. entry to the PQ was granted by The United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT). Jonathan Shimon, assistant professor of theatre technology in the UB Department of Theatre and Dance was selected to lead the UB team comprised of faculty, staff and students charged with engineering, fabricating, transporting and installing the multimedia exhibits at UB, at the USITT National Conference in Kentucky, and in Prague. This prestigious honor is made possible by the incredible expertise of Shimon, as well as the strength of the UB Department of Theatre and Dance’s Design and Technology program.

Joining Shimon will be Dyan Burlingame, clinical assistant professor and director of the Design and Technology program, Eric Burlingame, theatrical technician from the Department of Theatre and Dance, Rick Haug, scene shop supervisor from the Department of Theatre and Dance and John Rickus, head carpenter from the UB Production Group. Nine students were selected to be members of the student team and are from departments and programs across the University:

  • Gina Boccolucci, BFA Theatre Design and Technology ’19
  • Joe Crumlish, BFA Theatre Design and Technology ’19
  • Katherine Metzler, BA Theatre ’19, BS Mechanical Engineering ’19*
  • Alex Poulin, BS Mechanical Engineering, Theatre Minor ’20*
  • Emily Powrie, BA Theatre ’17, MA Theatre and Performance ’19, MFA Studio Art ’20
  • Aliza Schneider, BA Theatre, Management minor ’19*
  • Becca Stock, BFA Theatre Design and Technology ‘21
  • Madison Sullivan, BFA Theatre Design and Technology ’19
  • Luke Tarnow-Bulatowicz, BA Theatre ’21, BS Computer Engineering ’21  

*member of the UB Honors College

The student team, along with their faculty mentors, are participating in an unique interdisciplinary opportunity where their design and technical skills will result in an international exhibit. Their participation in the PQ is a once in a lifetime project that will benefit and inform their future careers in the entertainment industry.

The exhibits will hold their world premiere at the University at Buffalo in the Department of Theatre and Dance in the Center for the Arts Drama Theatre January 26, 2019, as part of the Upstate New York Regional Section USITT Frank Willard Winter Session Meeting and Jobs Fair. An event for the university community, alumni and local industry professionals is scheduled for January 28, 2019. The exhibits will then be presented in Louisville, Kentucky in March 2019 at the USITT National Conference, installed by the UB Team. Then finally, travel to Prague, Czech Republic in June 2019 where the UB Team will install the exhibits for the Prague Quadrennial.

The most recent Quadrennial held in in 2015 featured attractions in more than 60 locations in the center of Prague, including 600 live events and over 150 expositions of performance design from 78 countries. The event attracted 180,000 visitors, with 6,000 accredited professionals and more than 1,300 students from all over the world actively participating. The New York Times said the Prague Quadrennial is “the most important meeting of theater people in the whole world.”

Dates:

  • January 26, 2019: Upstate New York Regional Section USITT Frank Willard Winter Session Meeting and Jobs Fair, UB Center for the Arts
  • January 28, 2019: World Premiere Reception, UB Center for the Arts
  • March 20-23, 2019: USITT National Conference, Louisville, Kentucky
  • June 6-16, 2019: Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space, Prague, Czech Republic
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