Kean University continues the Premiere Artists series as Academy Award-winning actor and Civics activist Richard Dreyfuss visits on Monday, March 5. Premiere Artists is a project of Premiere Stages, the professional Actors’ Equity Association theatre in residence at Kean University. Premiere Artists features high-profile actors, directors, producers, designers, playwrights and other theatre professionals who conduct master classes with Kean University students. These guest artists engage in question and answer sessions with the campus community and local patrons.
Mr. Dreyfuss begins the day at 2:00 PM with an hour-long lecture focusing on the importance of civics education in public schools. The Department of History and the Kean University Center for History, Politics, and Policy sponsor this portion of the day.
From 3:20 to 4:20 PM Mr. Dreyfuss will lead a discussion with Kean Department of Theatre students and will also take questions concerning the evolution of acting. Produced in partnership with the Kean Department of Theatre, the session is moderated by John Wooten, Premiere Stages Producing Artistic Director.
The day culminates in a staged reading of the play, The Commandant by Frederic Morton, starring Mr. Dreyfuss at 7pm. Set in the final months of WWII, the piece follows the harrowing story of a famous Austrian Jewish Actor who is offered the role of a lifetime by a concentration camp commandant.
“The life and death stakes of the play explore the fine line between art and reality and question what a man is willing to do to survive,” explains Wooten. The reading features a professional equity cast and is followed by a question and answer session with the playwright. The reading is produced in partnership with the Department of Jewish Studies and World Affairs, the Kean Masters Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Holocaust Resource Center.
Donations will be accepted at the reading for the Hannah Senesh Annual Humanitarian Fellowship, which lends support to students earning a Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Kean University.
Richard Dreyfuss is an Activist American Citizen. He is a spokesperson on the issue of media informing policy, legislation, and public opinion, both speaking and writing to express his sentiments in favor of privacy, freedom of speech, democracy, and individual accountability. With an entertainment career spanning more than four decades, Academy Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss has been one of America’s most versatile and individualistic actors.
As a Community Leader, Dreyfuss’ current focus and passion is to encourage, revive, elevate and enhance the teaching of civics in American Schools. He is the Founder of the non-profit organization, www.TheDreyfussInitiative.org and is leading a nation wide effort to bring back civics to our American youth: "All people have a right to know who they are and why they are who they are. Clarity of thought and honesty in self-reflection are more than needed utilities - they are the building blocks of our national moral character." (From: Why I Love My Country).
Richard Dreyfuss serves on the committee for Education with the American Bar Association, 12 years on the Board of the National Constitution Center, a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served as Senior Research Advisory Member of St. Antony's College, Oxford University.
Admission is free, but seating is limited and reservations are required for each segment of the event. Call 908-737-4092. All events are held in the University Center Little Theatre, located at Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, N.J.
Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible, air conditioned and offer ample parking. A list of sign-interpreted, audio-described or open-captioned performances can be obtained by calling the theatre. Large print programs are available at all times. Publications in alternate formats and other assistive services are available with advanced notice. For further information call 908-737-4092, email premiere@kean.edu or visit www.kean.edu/premierestages.
Premiere Stages is generously funded by The New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, The Westfield Foundation and through donations of individual patrons.
