The Art Center at NYU Abu Dhabi is celebrating Earth Day today (April 22) by hosting a virtual version of its popular show, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower – The Concert Version.
Performed by American singer/songwriter Toshi Reagon and her mother, civil rights artistic leader Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, the concert will be streamed at 8pm through The Arts Center’s Facebook page and will be followed by live Q&A where Toshi and Bill Bragin, Executive Artistic Director of The Arts Center at NYUAD will answer all of your burning questions.
Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower was the very first show performed at The Arts Center on September 2, 2015. It is based on the late Afro-futurist and science fiction author Octavia Butler’s post-apocalyptic 1993 novel of the same name, a story that delves into life in a society ravaged by the consequence of corporate greed and climate change.
“I cannot think of a more relevant or resonant experience to bring to our audiences on Earth Day,” said Bill Bragin. “The deeply prophetic narrative is a cautionary tale about the environment, exploring communities born of adversity, the central role of empathy in human relationships, and the building of new societies – Earthseed – during a time of great change. This concert version of the work-in-progress, which The Arts Center later co-commissioned and premiered, was foundational to the creation of our own artistic birth and an inspiration to the NYUAD community back in 2015.”
The virtual stream is part of The Art Center’s ‘Reconnect’ series which was launched to inspire and connect people around the world through arts whilst we practise social distancing. The initiative is a team effort brought together alongside by UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance (CAP UCLA), UNC Chapel Hill’s Carolina Performing Arts, and Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA).
For more information and to tune into the live stream, visit The Arts Center’s Facebook page at 8pm.
