November 12-14, 2009 at 7:30 PM
With Intimate Seating on the Stage of the Jay Pritzker Pavilion
Millennium Park will round out its fall and winter theater season with Poland’s groundbreaking Teatr Zar and the U.S. premiere of Caesarean Section at the Jay Pritzker
Pavilion from November 12-14, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Audiences will have a chance to
experience this compelling production from intimate seating on the stage behind the Jay Pritzker Pavilion’s glass doors.
Tickets to Caesarean Section are $35 and are available by visiting www.millenniumpark.org or calling 312.742.TIXS (8497). Tickets for students and
seniors are $25. Tickets are $15 for groups of 10 or more.
Caesarean Section is supported by the Warsaw Committee of Chicago Sister Cities
International Program.
“We are proud to be able to introduce Teatr Zar to theater lovers in Chicago—they are
an international theater company, never before seen in Chicago, who are widely
recognized for fusing movement and music with haunting images,” said Ralph Flores,
Artistic Director of Millennium Park. “Teatr Zar will be a wonderful compliment to the
Park’s new theater lab series, In the Works, which kicks off in October.”
In the style of the late theater revolutionary Jerzy Grotowski, this extraordinary
multinational group of artists strives to create work that communicates on a primal, nonspoken level, leaving audiences emotionally and spiritually transformed. The company
emulates Grotowski’s belief in ensemble work, developing productions through a long
process of creating its own theatrical language, utilizing Eastern Orthodox music.
In Caesarean Section, Teatr Zar explores the question of freedom and its limitations,
and draws on the music of Corsica, with Bulgarian, Romanian, Icelandic and Chechen
songs interwoven. The cast includes Nini Julia Bang, Ditte Berkeley, Emma Claire
Bonnici, Tomasz Bojarski, Jean François Favreau, Kamila Klamut, Aleksandra
Kotecka, Matej Matejka, Ewa Pasikowska, Tomasz Maciej Wierzbowski with direction
by Jaroslaw Fret.
The work of Teatr Zar is an attempt to demonstrate that theater does not only pertain to
the “thea” (Greek for seeing), but above all, should be heard. Much of their work is
informed by extensive research in ancient religious music during annual investigative
expeditions to Georgia in the years 1999–2003. “Zar” is the name of the funeral songs
performed by the Svanti tribe who live in the high regions of the Caucasus, in northwest
Georgia.
Millennium Park is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. It is bordered by
Michigan Ave. to the west, Columbus Dr. to the east, Randolph St. to the north and
Monroe St. to the south. Convenient parking is located in the Millennium Park Garage
(entrance on Columbus at Monroe or Randolph) and at the Grant Park North and East
Monroe Garages, all located within a short walking distance of Millennium Park.
Millennium Park, managed and programmed by the Chicago Department of Cultural
Affairs, is an award-winning center for art, music, architecture and landscape design.
The result of a unique partnership between the City of Chicago and the philanthropic
community, the 24.5-acre park features the work of world-renowned architects,
planners, artists and designers. Among Millennium Park’s prominent features are the
Frank Gehry-designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, the most sophisticated outdoor concert
venue of its kind in the United States; the interactive Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa;
the contemporary Lurie Garden designed by the team of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Piet
Oudolf and Robert Israel; and Anish Kapoor’s hugely popular Cloud Gate sculpture.
Since its opening in July 2004, Millennium Park has welcomed more than 16 million
people, making it one of the most popular destinations in Chicago.
For more information about Teatr Zar, Caesarean Section and other theater
events in Millennium Park, visit www.millenniumpark.org or call 312.742.1168.
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Note to press: Electronic images upon request
