https://www.jayscheib.org/projects daily 1.0 2026-02-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1500766576518-Q5YFBAX8ICBW5GLL3CEO/Persona-Jayphoto2_edited.jpg Projects - PERSONA, OPERA BY KEERIL MAKAN AND JAY SCHEIB AFTER THE FILM BY INGMAR BERGMAN LA Opera Based on Ingmar Bergman's classic film, Persona is a provocative and artistically complex depiction of human frailty, cruelty and identity. In an isolated summer house, a young nurse becomes caretaker of a stage actress who has suddenly lost the ability to speak. The deepening layers of their unsettling relationship unfold in a taut psychological drama, revealed through a unique aural landscape and a richly layered production. Composer, Keeril Makan; Librettist, Jay Scheib; Conductor, Evan Ziporyn; Set Design, Caleb Wertenbaker; Costumes, Oana Botez; Video and Lighting, Joshua Higgason; Creative Producer, Beth Morrison With Amanda Crider, Lacey Dorn, Peabody Southwell and Joshua Jeremiah Directed by Jay Scheib For Tickets: LA Opera Thursday November 09, 2017 08:00 PM Friday November 10, 2017 08:00 PM Saturday November 11, 2017 08:00 PM Sunday November 12, 2017 02:00 PM   Commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects and National Sawdust. Developed and produced by Beth Morrison Projects with support from the Center for Art Science and Technology, MIT. LA Opera Off Grand is made possible by a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506539941947-Z8DUCFSLKWF0M4NXWUNZ/powder_her_face_ades_scheib_1.jpg Projects - POWDER HER FACE Opera by Thomas Adès directed by Jay Scheib Produced by New York CIty Opera, February 15, 2013 - February 23, 2013 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) Howard Gilman Opera House Conducted by Jonathan Stockhammer, Associate Director Laine Rettmer, Stage Design by Marsha Ginsberg, Costumes by Alba Clemente, Lighting by Thomas Dunn, Projections by Josh Higgason; playing the Duchess Allison Cook, Maid Nili Riemer, Electrician William Ferguson, Hotel Manager Matt Boehler, Waiter Jon Morris, Nurse Kaneza Schaal Inspired by a sex scandal that rocked Britain in the early 60s, Powder Her Face (1995) is a chamber opera composed by England’s Thomas Adès to a libretto by Philip Hensher. The new NYC Opera production marks the work’s return to BAM 15 years after its New York premiere at the venue, when it was presented at the BAM Majestic (now Harvey) Theater during the 1998 Next Wave Festival. Through the prism of Campbell’s life story, Powder Her Face explores the intersection of gender, politics, and power. Scheib brings his genre-defying vision, deep integration of new technologies, and daring physicality to this modern opera. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506542296426-2WGMVKC50PM2DU7SQNAK/Unknown.jpeg Projects - Surrogate Cities/Götterdämmerung Opernhaus Wuppertal Premiere Musiktheater nach Heiner Goebbels und Richard Wagner, Conducted by Johannes Pell, Stage Design by Kattrin Wittig, Costume Design by Doey Luethi, Dramaturgy by Jana Beckmann, Camera by Hannah, Assistant Director Karin Kotzbauer Directed by Jay Scheib With RONALD SAMM, Siegfried; ANNEMARIE KREMER, Brünnhilde; LUCIA LUCAS; Hagen; SEBASTIAN CAMPIONE, Gunther; JENNA SILADIE; Gutrune; RALITSA RALINOVA; Woglinde; LILIANA DE SOUSA; Wellgunde; ARIANA LUCAS; Floßhilde; ELIZABETH KING, Soul-Sängerin For More Information: PERFORMANCES: Sun, Oct 1; Sat, Oct 14; Wed, Nov 15   But he who speaks of his guilt at one time and at other times speaks of his merit Differently speaking with one mouth at different times Or differently to different ears His tongue shall be torn from his mouth. Since the words must be kept pure. Because A sword may be broken and also a man May be broken, but words They fall into the wheels of the world, irretrievably Making things known to us, or unknown. Heiner Müller, Der Horatier, Berlin 1977   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506544609715-GWH474V0T3QUI7A6T49Y/IMG_7016s.jpg Projects - Pylades & Josasta Composed by Giorgos Kouroupou Athens Epidarus Festival 2015 Giorgos Kouroupou’s two ‘tragic’ chamber operas, turning points in both the modern Greek approach to the tragic and in contemporary Greek music theatre, are to be performed in a joint programme by the Armonia Atenea. Both works are underlain by new approaches to the ‘dark side’ of the tragic by important writers (Giorgos Cheimonas and Ioulita Iliopoulou), focusing on two characters, Pylades and Jocasta, who play a supporting role in the myths of Electra and Oedipus respectively. At the same time, the works are intensely emotional hymns to the expressive range of the female voice and fine examples of the unique balance between the intellectual, the lyric and the immediate which Kouroupos achieves in his compositions. Conducted by George Petrou Directed by Jay Scheib Sets, Paris Mexis Costumes, Laine Rettmer Lighting, Giorgos Tellos, Stella Kaltsou Assistant Director, Giorgina Germanou PYLADES With vocal ensemble Irini Karaianni, Christos Kehris, Mina Polychronou, Eleni Stamidou; Musitians: Thanasis Apostolopoulos - piano, Dimitris Desyllas - percussion; Coach, Kalliopi Germanou JOCASTA With vocal ensemble Myrto Papathanassiou, Tasos Apostolou; Coach Nikos Vasileiou https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506549008273-PQJRKIBYYOCGEQAEP9CK/aaa_monteverdi_jay_scheib_0008.jpeg Projects - ODYSSEE Monteverdi’s Il Ritorno d’Ullisse with Luigi Nono’s No hay Camino hay que Caminar as overture Conducted by George Petrou; Directed by Jay Scheib Associate Conductors Joachim Enders / Elias Grandy; Stage Design by Philip Bussmann; Costume Design by Meentje Nielsen; Choreinstudierung Thomas Eitler / Hans Joachim Enders; Cembalo und Musikalische Assistenz Joachim Enders; Regieassistenz Paulo Montoya / Michael Shoukry; Soufflage Gan Heffetz / N.N.; Dramaturgie Berthold Schneider Staatstheater Darmstadt, Darmstadt Germany Premiere October 2014 with performances in repertory through 2015 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1529239800392-O3X4COTLOJDNP33I7LHM/jay_scheib_mamzer_bastard_roh_royaloperahouse.jpg Projects - Mamzer/Bastard The past returns to throw the future into question in Na’ama Zisser’s anguished drama about family secrets and lost love — a constantly shifting soundscape of darkening harmonies and subtle textural gradations that create continuously evolving patterns of tension and release — It’s effectively done — Jay Scheib’s production evokes the threatening atmosphere of the darkened city. Even in the blackout, there is nowhere to hide. Tim Ashley, The Guardian Mamzer/Bastard 14–17 June 2018 at the Hackney Empire The Royal Opera presents the world premiere of a new work by exciting young composer Na’ama Zisser, directed by Jay Scheib in a soundworld that unites contemporary opera idioms with the music of Orthodox Hasidic Judaism. Performed by Gundula Hintz, Collin Shay, Robert Burt, Steven Page, Netanel Hershtik and Ed; Libretto by Samantha Newton and Rachel C. Zisser; Stage Design by Madeleine Boyd; Lighting designed by D.M. Wood; Video design and Live Camera by Paulina Jurzec; Soundtrack design Yair Elazar Glotman; Video Engineer Dominic Baker; Associate Designer Anna Bonomelli; Associate Director John Wilkie; Stage managed by Adam Lawley; Music performed by the Aurora Orchestra; Produced by the Royal Opera House, Senior Producer Sarah Crabtree, Producer Rachel Lerman Composed by Na'ama Zisser / Conducted by Jessica Cottis / Directed by Jay Scheib https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1587062929226-BVPP8RS8K7SB5C5GHQWJ/Scheib+545.jpg Projects - Platonov, or the Disinherited adapted and directed by Jay Scheib after the play by Chekhov Premiere: October 3, 2013 La Jolla Playhouse; January at The Kitchen in New York City with simultaneous broadcast to the BAM Rose Cinema and the Empire 25 Times Square Cinema. Platonov, or The Disinherited, Stage design by Josh Higgason and Caleb Wertenbaker, sound design by Anouschka Trocker, video design by
Josh Higgason, live camera by Jay Scheib and Laine Rettmer, and costumes by Laine Rettmer and Alba Clemente; with performances by Judy Bauerlein, Sarita Choudhury, Mikeah Jennings, Rosalie Lowe, Jon Morris, Ayesha Ngaujah, Laine Rettmer, Natalie Thomas and Tony Torn. ——————— “Platonov, or The Disinherited builds upon stagecast initiatives such as National Theatre Live and the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD. Rather than shooting from the back of the theater at The Kitchen, Scheib—as he has done in past productions such as World of Wires at The Kitchen operates the cameras himself on stage, visible to the audience. The footage is projected onto screens integrated into the set, and, in the case of Platonov, or The Disinherited, is also live-edited and broadcast to cinemas as a stand-alone feature film generated in real time. This worksample represents only what is filmed by Scheib's camera.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1590518872393-E1JNZG11FHTYED8QAMFD/01_carmen_scheib_youngarts.jpg Projects - Carmen Carmen is currently airing as part of the Theater Times International Online Theater Festival May 16 - 31 — check it out here. For a discussion with performer India Carney, director Jay Scheib and festival artistic director Magda Romanska — May 28, 2 pm EST (NYC), 8 pm CET (Berlin) – Zoom Room Also livestream on Facebook June 4, 2016, The National YoungArts Foundation presents Outside the Box: Jay Scheib’s Carmen — based on the opera of Bizet, with a nod to the adaptations of Godard and Preminger, through the lens of Hemingway. Jealousy and poverty and love-at-first-sight madness drive this environmental live cinema opera conceived for amplified voices, solo piano and two roving cameras mixed live to the side of a building in Miami.. FEATURING CARMEN | India Carney JOSE | Aaron Casey ESCAMILLO | D’Angelo Lacy MICHAELA | Asia Stewart MORELOS | ROBBER Wes Goodrich SOLO PIANO | Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner SUPPORTING CAST MUSIMELANGE | Anne Chicheportiche, violin and founder; Daniel Andai, violin; Chauncey Patterson, viola; Angela Maleh, cello; SINGER | Amanda Crider CHORUS DONNA LANE DOWNEY | Soprano C.J. BAIK | Soprano KAREN LOUISE FELLER | Soprano LINDA ANN DEIGHAN | Mezzo Soprano VERONICA FINK-MENVIELLE | Mezzo Soprano JULIA DEAN MCGUIRE | Mezzo Soprano LIEVENS CASTILLO | Tenor KUNYA K. ROWLEY | Tenor THOMAS BALL | Bass GIBSON DORCE | Bass CREATIVE TEAM MUSIC DIRECTOR | Myra Huang SCENIC DESIGNER | Sara Brown PROJECTION DESIGNER | CAMERA Josh Higgason COSTUME DESIGNER | Rachel Dainer-Best DIRECTION | Jay Scheib PRODUCTION TEAM PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER/YOUNGARTS PRODUCTION MANAGER | Jane Rosenbaum PRODUCTION COMPANY | SRX Events / Mark Underwood COMPANY MANAGER/YOUNGARTS PROGRAMS COORDINATOR | Joey Butler VIDEO PRODUCTION COMPANY | Corner of the Cave/Brad Bernstein CAMERA HANDLERS | Brandon Dumlao , Daniel Kaplan VIDEO MIXER | Victoria Pike SOUND MIXER | Erick Aldrey SUBTITLES | Daniel Yankiver ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS | Amanda Ortega, Gonzalo Garcia-Castro YOUNGARTS TEAM DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS | Esther Park COMMUNITY MANAGER | Lauren Winston YOUNGARTS FACILITIES | Ozzie Ortega, Gary Blake, Antonio Rivera YOUNGARTS IT TEAM | Holdrado Garcia, Claudio Sampaio, Michael Rahaman https://www.youngarts.org/outside-box https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1587051368586-Q8TQ4SPGJNBD13PA4Z27/0_TheSilenceMIT_Scheib.JPG Projects - The Silence Work-in-Progress/Prototype Performance December 12-14, 2019 / 7:30-9:00pm MIT Theater Building, W97 345 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA Two sisters on the run from massive human failure hole up in a hotel where dream worlds collide with real worlds in an endless spiral down. adapted and directed by Jay Scheib Featuring Ayesha Jordan, Lacey Dorn, Anna Kohler, Brandon Sanchez ’18, Rionna Flynn ’21, Sualeh Asif ’22, and Kyleigh DeSilva. With stage design by Afsoon Pajoufar, live camera by Paulina Jurzec and Rionna Flynn, clothes by Shanise DeSilva, lighting by Kevin Fulton, sound design by Christian Frederickson, and projection by Joshua Higgason, stage managed by Kristina Furey, production manager Miguel Flores, technical direction Stephanie Rodemann and associate director Benita DeWit As an MIT CAST Mellon Faculty Fellow, Jay Scheib reinvents Ingmar Bergman’s The Silence (1963). The film, described both as a “landmark of modernist cinema” (Lloyd Michaels) and a “tangle of brooding confusions and despairs” (The New York Times), exposes the tense and uncomfortable relationship of two sisters at a hotel in an unfriendly, unknown city. — Over a half-century after the release of The Silence, Scheib draws inspiration from the meteoric film to “[trace] Bergman’s own obsession with the excavation of the most beguiling of emotional transformations.” This project marks a continuation of Scheib’s exploration of live cinema and multiplatform approaches to performance, as well as his engagement with Bergman’s work—previously, he co-created Persona, a chamber opera based on Bergman’s 1966 film of the same name, with music by composer and professor of music Keeril Makan. Scheib’s new live theater imagining of The Silence brings together a cast and crew of theater professionals and MIT students for production development and performances in MIT Building W97. The Silence is presented as part of the 2019–20 MIT Performing series, a prototyping and presenting series programmed by Scheib and presented by the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology. The series is supported in part by the Council for the Arts at MIT. MIT Performing promotes a research- based artistic practice and serves as a new platform for contemporary performance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1610473329295-PI9VLG83MBLZR8SOS3X0/dance_fefu_scheib.jpg Projects - Fefu and Her Friends by María Irene Fornés November 2020 Starring Rian Flynn as Fefu, Montserrat Garza as Cecilia, Adelynn Paik as Paula, Ishita Bhimavarapu as Sue, Molly Peterson as Cindy, Jacqueline Montante as Herself, Haruka Ueda as Julia, Elaheh Ahmadi as Christina, and Opalina Vetrichelvan as Emma. Directed by Jay Scheib Several old friends and friends of friends gather at Fefu’s New England country home in the late 1930’s to prepare a gala performance. For a theater meant to reflect life itself their conversations, their actions, their dances accelerate into an evening of dialogue at the heart of their experience of gender, intimacy, sex, trauma, class and joy. Rifleshots, water balloons, and hallucinations ensue in this meteoric work of environmental theater. Fefu and Her Friends is an at times unsettling laugh-until-you-cry-comedy and an all-the-time thought provoking tour de force. Fefu and Her Friends is presented as a 90 minute live cinema-streaming-performance for eight performers via remote cameras and real-time effects processing, live-streamed for a remote audience—pressing the promise that performances from afar have never felt more intimate, never more close. Their conversations draw us to the kitchen, into the bath, through the bedroom and into the garden, we snuggle up to Julia, walk hand in hand with Paula to the patio, have words in the living room, dance in the study and race up the stairs of Fefu’s home in New England—the luxurious Gropius Haus in Lincoln MA. In the final act, after the rifle shots and the arguments we’ll find ourselves once again in no real place, but witness to one another. Having made a difference, having heard, and having seen one another. Speaking freely and compassionately at last. Eschewing distance in the name of expression, and anyway, as Cecilia says, “We cannot survive in a vacuum. We must be part of a community...” CREATIVES With Virtual Environment Design by Afsoon Pajoufar, Video Design by Josh Higgason, Costume Design by Shanise DeSilva, Lighting by Kevin Fulton, Sound Design by Christian Frederickson, Technical Direction by Stephanie Rodemann, Production Coordination by Miguel Flores, Choreography by Dan Safer, Graphic Design by Dan Pecci, this stage is managed by Margaret Kosten and Directed by Jay Scheib. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1633449461229-T8909L4ZTHU19M9LDPQ5/sei_siegfried_jayscheib_v1.jpg Projects - Sei Siegfried Richard Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen Zweiter Tag: Siegfried (Ausschnitt aus dem Zweiten Aufzug) Sei Siegfried BAYREUTH FESTIVAL 2021 with visual designer Joshua Higgason and featuring Marcus Thompson as der Dirigent Sei Siegfried is a co-creation with NightLight Labs in Los Angeles. Technical director Jesse Garrison, Lead developer Kathleen Fox, Sound designer Davy Sumner, and Producers Trey Gilmore and Jackie Aldern. Festspielhaus modeling by Ryan Metcalfe and his team at Preevue, UK/NY. LiDAR scanning by LoooM in Berlin. With special thanks to the students, staff and faculty of the program for Music and Theater Arts and especially the NCSOFT/MIT.nano Immersion Lab Gaming Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Directed by Jay Scheib Eine Momentaufnahme aus Richard Wagners „Siegfried“ wird zur Erfahrung in einer virtuellen Welt: Jay Scheib, Regisseur und Professor am legendären Forschungsinstitut MIT in Massachusetts, verwandelt das Festspielhaus in einen Erlebnisraum der besonderen Art. Der Drachenkampf als interaktives Kunstwerk findet in der erweiterten Realität statt, der „Virtuellen Reality“. Seit es die Theaterkunst gibt, geht es um Illusionen, um künstliche Räume, in denen die Fantasie des Zuschauers die erzählten Geschichten erleben kann. Dies entwickelt Jay Scheib mit neuen Technologien weiter. Richard Wagners mythische Erzählung im Ring des Nibelungen lädt dazu ein. „Wagner erfand das unsichtbare Orchester, nun greifen wir seine Vision vom unsichtbaren Theater auf. Die Arbeit mit der Technik der sogenannten ‚Extended‘ oder ,Virtual Reality‘ oder ‚Augmented Reality‘ sehen wir als Fortsetzung von Wagners Mission, die vollständige Bühnenillusion zu ermöglichen“, so Jay Scheib. „Uns ist wichtig, letztlich alle technischen Möglichkeiten auszuschöpfen, um das expressive Potential der Oper weiterzuentwickeln, und dazu erschaffen wir mit Computertechnologien eine Art virtuelles Universum. Das Ziel ist ein noch direkteres Eintauchen in die Fiktion, die Geschichte, die Erfahrung der Oper. Die visuellen Aspekte einer Aufführung werden sozusagen für den Zuschauer vergrößert und intensiviert - ähnlich wie Mikrofone einen realen Klang verstärken. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1500766291130-YWARSVVY53ULOOVZ71K6/andrew_batoutofhell_scheib.jpg Projects - BAT OUT OF HELL NOW ON TOUR IN THE UK WINNER: BEST MUSICAL, Evening Standard BAT OUT OF HELL THE MUSICAL "is a breathtaking new musical — a joy ride of teenage love, youthful rebellion and just plain living the rock’n’roll dream.” This high-octane adventure tears through Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s greatest hits including I Would Do Anything For Love (but I won't do that), Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Dead Ringer For Love, Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad and Bat Out of Hell. With a multi award-winning creative team from the world of Theatre, Opera, Music and Film, this 'jaw-dropping spectacle' (Evening Standard) plays Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre from 14 October!" The cast of Bat Out of Hell includes original West End stars Andrew Polec (as Strat) and Christina Bennington (as Raven), alongside Bradley Dean (as Falco), Tony Award winner and Grammy nominated Lena Hall (as Sloane), Avionce Hoyles (as Tink), Danielle Steers (as Zahara) and Tyrick Wiltez Jones (as Jagwire), with ensemble members Will Branner, Lincoln Clauss, Kayla Cyphers, Jessica Jaunich, Paulina Jurzec, Adam Kemmerer, Nick Martinez, Harper Miles, Erin Mosher, Aramie Payton, Andres Quintero, Tiernan Tunnicliffe, and Kaleb Wells. Directed by Jay Scheib OFFICIAL WEBSITE “When’s the last time it felt as if an entire theater were about to levitate? The blissful overdrive of Jay Scheib’s production can affect even a relative outlier “Bat Out of Hell” is all but blasting an adoring audience out of their seats.” Matt Wolf, NEW YORK TIMES “His brand of theater always seems to be ahead of everybody else. ” Tom Murrin, PAPERMAG “Bat Out of Hell,” directed with technological sturm und drang by the American Jay Scheib, is irony-free and played with beguiling epicene virility and lungs of steel by the willowy Andrew Polec..” Ben Brantley, NEW YORK TIMES ‘LOUD, EXHILARATING AND BLOWS YOUR SOCKS OFF’ The Independent ‘A JAW-DROPPING SPECTACLE’ Evening Standard ‘I CAN’T REMEMBER WHEN I LAST SAW A STANDING OVATION AT THE INTERVAL’ The Sunday Times ‘A CRAZY WILD CHILD OF A ROCK’N’ROLL MUSICAL’ The Times ‘A NIGHT THAT WILL MAKE YOUR JAW DROP, YOUR HEART SOAR AND HAVE YOU SINGING ALONG’ What's On Stage ‘ASTONISHING...THRILLING’ The Guardian ‘ENOUGH ELECTRICITY BETWEEN THE YOUNG LOVERS ALONE TO BLAST THE ROOF OFF THIS GLORIOUS THEATRE’ Mail on Sunday 'SO LOUD I SPILLED MY BEER' Daily Mail ‘A TRULY STAGGERING PIECE OF MUSICAL THEATRE... NO EXCUSES, GET A TICKET WHILE YOU CAN’ Manchester Evening News ‘THIS SHOW HAS LITERALLY CHANGED THE WAY MUSICALS ARE STAGED FOREVER’ North West End Under the direction of Jay Scheib, the creative team features orginal choreography by Emma Portner with new material by Xena Gusthart, musical direction by Ryan Cantwell, musical supervision & additional arrangements by Michael Reed, orchestrations by Steve Sidwell, scenic design by Jon Bausor, costume design by Jon Bausor & Meentje Nielsen, lighting design by Patrick Woodroffe, sound design by Gareth Owen, and video design by Finn Ross. Bat Out of Hell: The Musical premiered in Manchester, England, in February 2017, before heading to the London Coliseum in June 2017 and then onto Toronto, Canada in October 2017. It returned to the West End for an open-ended engagement at the Dominion Theatre from April 2018, which would eventually play its final West End performance on January 5, 2019. The North American Tour kicked off with a return engagement in Toronto in the fall of 2018 followed by a year long engagement with Stage Entertainment in Oberhausen Germany. In 2019 Bat Out of Hell: The Musical is produced by Michael Cohl, Tony Smith, Bob Broderick, Lorne Gertner, and David Sonenberg. Images by Specular https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1695397391967-2LM9R9Y6O1BJZO69ALN0/VALIS_Baranovac_-5471_Directed_by_Jay_Scheib_c.jpg Projects - VALIS Opera by Tod Machover after the novel by Philip K Dick Featuring Davóne Tines with Timur Bekbosunov, David Cushing, Maggie Finnegan, Rose Hegele, Anaïs Reno, Kristin Young Conducted by Tod Machover Instrumentalists Julia Cary (Piano/Keyboard 1) Maria Finkelmeier (Percussion) Emil Droga (Keyboard 2) InteractiveTechnologies, MIT Media Lab Max Addae (VocalCords) Nina Masuelli (The Jar) Manaswi Mishra (Living AI System) Set & Costume Design Oana Botez, Lighting Design Yuki Nakase Link Production Sound Design Ben Bloomberg Media Production Peter Torpey Audio Production Ana Schon Stage Management Emeline Shepard Horselover Fat/Philip K. Dick by Davóne Tines, Sophia by Kristin Young, Gloria by Anaïs Reno and Rose Hegele, Dr. Stone by David Cushing, Linda Lampton by Maggie Finnegan, Eric Lampton by Timur Bekbosunov, Mini by Nina Masuelli Choreography by Paulo Arrais Directed by Jay Scheib Touring and future productions – Diane Wondisford diane.wondisford@gmail.com Special Thanks/Acknowledgements We would like to gratefully acknowledge generous sponsorship for VALIS from the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation; the Joe and Lucy Chung Family Foundation; the Dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning; the Dean of MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; and the MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology (CAST). We would like to especially thank Tony Falcetti of Falcetti Pianos and Dom Cicchetti of the Yamaha Corporation of America for the loan of a Yamaha CFX 9-foot Concert Grand Piano used for these performances. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1695399620235-8M83OF0W5SZ5NZNHJN8K/IMG_7130.JPG Projects - World of Wires World of Wires opened with one of the most thrillingly witty displays of illusion I've ever seen on a stage or a screen — a genuine challenge to one's fixed notion of reality — and then barreled through another 90 minutes of riveting near anarchy. I'm hereby sending a brain transmission out to some Off Broadway/nonprofit Morpheus: Please, reboot this soon. —Scott Brown - New York Magazine 2012 OBIE AWARD FOR BEST DIRECTION!! SIMULATED CITIES / SIMULATED SYSTEMS PART 3. WORLD OF WIRES New play adapted and directed by Jay Scheib after the film "Welt am Draht" by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Screenplay based on the novel “Simulacron-3” by Daniel F. Galouye. With performances by Sarita Choudhury, Winsome Brown, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Rosalie Lowe, Jon Morris, Ayesha Ngaujah, Laine Rettmer and Tanya Selvaratnam Scenic design by Sara Brown, sound design by Anouschka Trocker, video design by Josh Higgason, Lighting design by Josh Higgason. World of Wires was produced by Tanya Selvaratnam World of Wires is the final installment of writer and director Jay Scheib’s performance trilogy Simulated Cities/Simulated Systems. Part two, Bellona, Destroyer of Cities, also premiered at The Kitchen, followed by presentations at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston and at Maison des Arts Créteil in France. Part one, the Obie Award-winning Untitled Mars (this title may change), premiered at Performance Space 122 in New York City, followed by a presentation at the Hungarian National Theater in Budapest. Available for worldwide touring: May 2012. This engagement is supported by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation through USArtists International in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. PERFORMANCE DATES: World Premiere: January 6-8, 12-14, 19-21, 2012, The Kitchen, NYC Institute of Contemporary Art, September 21, 22 KRT Festival, Krakow Poland October 8 and 9, 2012 Lieu Unique, Nantes, France, November 8, 9, 10 at 20h30 Festival D'Automne, (Maison des Arts) Paris, France, November 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 at 20h30 Le Manege, Maubeuge Mons, France, November 20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1695487168823-CCY3D043EVSXX08RJ8I9/bellona8.jpg Projects - Bellona, Destroyer of Cities after Samuel R. Delany’s Dhalgren Adapted and Directed by Jay Scheib Featuring Performances by Sarita Choudhury, Caleb Hammond, Mikéah Ernest Jennings, Jon Morris, Ayesha Ngaujah, Tanya Selvaratnam, and Natalie Thomas, Scenic Design by Peter Ksander; Costumes by Oana Botez-Ban; Sound Design by Anouschka Trocker and Catherine McCurry; Lighting by Peter Ksander and Miranda Hardy; Video design by Josh Higgason, Photography and additional video by Carrie Mae Weems; Assistant Director: Laine Rettmer, Stage Manager: Susan Wilson Assistant Set Design: Abigail Collins, Assistant Lighting Design: Austin R. Smith, Assistant Costume Design: Enver Chakartash, Wardrobe Assistant: Daonne Huff Producer: Tanya Selvaratnam; Tour Producer: ArKtype/Thomas O. Kriegsmann; Director/Adapter: Jay Scheib RECENT AND UPCOMING PERFORMANCES: 1-10 April 2010, The Kitchen, (New York) 17, 18, 19 March 2011, Maison des Arts / Créteil (Paris) 13, 14, 15 May 2011, Institute of Contemporary Art, (Boston) Worldwide Tour Representation: Thomas O. Kriegsmann, President ArKtype, P.O. Box 1948; New York, NY 10027 www.arktype.org; \ tommy@arktype.org; \ +1.917.386.5468 //////////////////////////////////////// Mixing multimedia with deadpan-cool (and very sexy) actors, Scheib is forging new ways of seeing drama. - Time Out New York, “The Best New York Theater Directors,” March 2009 In Bellona, Destroyer of Cities, there has been a cataclysmic event but no one is really sure how it started. An important black activist has been murdered and the world has erupted. An entire city that once held millions of inhabitants now numbers in the thousands. Two moons have appeared in the sky and time folds in upon itself—the sun looms larger than life, and for obvious reasons, a nuclear family hiding in a high rise struggles to hold but inevitably explodes—taking the whole place wih it. Or was this just another poem by The Kid? scratched into the pages of a crumbling notebook. “You may ask me what place the city of Bellona holds in the minds of those who have never been here. The miracle of order has run out and I am left in an unmiraculous place where anything may happen. What use does any of us have for two moons? Objects are lost in doublelight. What makes it terrible is that in this timeless city, in this spaceless preserve any slippage can occur. Sometimes it seems as if these walls on pivots are controlled by subterranean machines, so that, after one passes, they might suddenly swing to face another direction. Parting at this corner, joining at that one, like a great maze -- forever adjustable, therefore unlearnable." from Dhalgren //////////////////////////////////////// Beginning with year of a developmental residencies and work-in-progress presentations at The Kitchen, The Prelude Festival, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Performing Garage, and The Mozarteum Institute for Acting and Directing (in Salzburg, Austria), Bellona, Destroyer of Cities premiered in April 2010 where it played two sold-out weeks at The Kitchen in New York. Most recently, Bellona was presented at the Exit Festival 2011, Maison des Arts, Creteil, (Paris) France and subsequently at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. //////////////////////////////////////// Lead support provided by The Kitchen; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Music and Theater Arts, School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; and The Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States. Makeup Provided by M.A.C. Additional support provided by Anonymous; Anne Bogart, Winsome Brown & Claude Arpels; Elaine Chen; Merry Conway; Lisa Cortes; Sandi DuBowski; the Lucius and Eva Eastman Fund; Shari Frilot & Roya Rastegar; Jennifer Gibbs & Luis Castro; Agnes Gund; Catherine Gund; Mitch Hurley; Leila W. Kinney; Marty & Valerie Levenstein; Edward McKeaney; Shira Milikowsky; Walter Mosley; Charles Rice-Gonzalez; Therese Selvaratnam; Lucy Sexton; Audry & Alex Weintrob; Jed Weintrob; Kim Whitener; Soon-Young Yoon & Rick Smith; and Alex Zafiris. Special Thanks: Everyone at the Kitchen, especially Matthew Lyons to whom I owe an incredible debt, ICA especially David Henry, John Andress, Colette Randall, Maggie Moore and the technical team; Matthew Lyons, Debra Singer, and everyone at The Kitchen (NY); Didier Fusilier, Gilles Bouckaert, and everyone at Maison des Arts; The Wooster Group; Alexandra Rosenberg; Nicole Birmann Bloom; Philippa Wehle; William Nadylam, Kaneza Schaal, April Sweeney; Janet Sonenberg, Leila W. Kinney, Philip Khoury, Deborah Fitzgerald and the faculty, staff and students of Music and Theater Arts at MIT; the Mozarteum in Salzburg Austria; the many people who gave feedback along the way; and most of all, Samuel R. Delany—thank you Chip. Contact Jay Scheib: jayscheib@jayscheib.com https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1690805459302-9AAOTNC5PNJK8U7NEIFI/Parsifal_Scheib_150723_394_%C2%A9EnricoNawrath_prog.JPG Projects - Bayreuther Festspiele 2023 and 2024, Parsifal PARSIFAL Musikalische Leitung, Pablo Heras-Casado Chorleitung, Eberhard Friedrich Dramaturgy Marlene Schleicher; Bühne Mimi Lien; Kostüm, Meentje; Nielsen; Licht, Rainer Casper; Video and AR Design Joshua Higgason with additional lead development and design by Mike Mandel, Orsolya Szánthó, Gloria Schulz, and the Studio für unendliche Möglichkeiten With Parsifal, Andreas Schager; Klingsor, Jordan Shanahan; Kundry, Elīna Garanča 25.7. | 30.7. | 12.8.; Kundry, Ekaterina Gubanova 15.8. | 19.8. | 23.8. | 27.8.; Gurnemanz, Georg Zeppenfeld; Amfortas, Derek Welton; Titurel, Tobias Kehrer; Gralsritter Siyabonga Maqungo, Jens-Erik Aasbø; Knappen, Betsy Horne, Margaret Plummer, Jorge Rodríguez-Norton, Garrie Davislim; Zaubermädchen: Evelin Novak, Camille Schnoor, Margaret Plummer, Julia Grüter, Betsy Horne, Marie Henriette Reinhold; Altsolo, Marie Henriette Reinhold; & Manuela Bauernfeind Stunts and Fight Coordination, Matthias Gunther & Kodex SRE; Additional AR Design, Programming, and Animation: Thorne Brandt, Emanuel Duma, William Foshay, Alexander Laiman, Mike Mandel, Ryan Padgett, Diogo Pereira, Gloria Schulz & the Studio für unendliche Möglichkeiten GmbH, Orsolya Szánthó, Lisa Szolovits, Studio Dave Tennent, and Nuozhou Wang, Technischer Direktor, Henning Angebrandt; Sebastian Burger, Werkstattleitung, stellv. Technischer Direktor; Produktions- und Konstruktionsleitung Matthias Lippert; Ausstattungsleitung, Marc Löhrer; Leiter der Beleuchtung, Dirk Andree; Beleuchtungsmeister Ueli Riegg; Beleuchtungsansage, Carsten Meyer; Theatermeister, Ralf Bühler, Lothar Grassl, Holger Klink, Roland Kurz, Kiril Rusev-Heitmann; AR Technik und Logitistics Vincent Kaufmann (leiter), Lala Adueva, Toni Birkelbach, Tim Ganßleben, Jiri Husar, Johanna Kugler, Ulrike Lukasch, Marco Mader, Rick Majtas; Soufflage Ute Gherasim; Inspizienz: Udo Metzner, Thomas Müller, Kenneth Pettitt; Requisite, Björn Liebeler, Leitung, Yo-Alma Álvarez Kottmann, Lena Dobbert, Nicole Horn, Daria-Marie Lüken, Hedy Michels, Annika Nieratschker, Judith Röder, Bernadette Voß; Regieassistenz, Sara Wieners, Wolfgang Schilly, Jennifer Williams ; Chorassistenz: Matthew Gibson, Klaas-Jan de Groot, Gareth Hancock, Christoph Heil; Bühnenbildassistenz, Jan Ludwig; Kostümassistenz Denise Schneider; Regie, Jay Scheib - Prof. Katharina Wagner, Festspielleiterin Ulrich Jagels, Geschäftsführender Direktor - TERMINE Dienstag, 25. Juli 2023, 16:00 Uhr Sonntag, 30. Juli 2023, 16:00 Uhr Samstag, 12. August 2023, 16:00 Uhr Dienstag, 15. August 2023, 16:00 Uhr Samstag, 19. August 2023, 16:00 Uhr Mittwoch, 23. August 2023, 16:00 Uhr Sonntag, 27. August 2023, 16:00 Uhr AND WITH Chor Sopran: Susanne Behnes, Jasmin v. Brünken, Marie Cayeux, Alice Chinaglia, Stephanie Han, Alsu Jäckle, Juhyeon Jo, Elina Kim, Jinyoung Kim, Valeriia Komarova, Simone Lerch, Mary McCabe, Doris Neidig, Angelika Niakan, Tatjana Petersen, Susanne Rath, Seung Yeon Ryu, Lior Stern, Kirsi Thum, Olga Vilenskaia, Daniela Yurrita, Rachel Abbott, Penelope Cousland, Rosario María Febre, Gesche Geier, Cornelia Heil, Liisi Kasenõmm, Saskia Kreuser, Vanessa Lanch, Anika Ram, Sandra Schütt, Julia Spaeth, Natalie Weinberg Alto: Verena Allertz, Jiwon Choi, Stephanie Eineder, Nathalie Flessa, Simone Gauglitz, Lucilla Graham, Kirsten Obelgönner, Uta Runne, Melanie Schlerf, Maria Schlestein, Laura Margaret Smith, Anja Fidelia Ulrich, Gabriele Wunderer, Gabriella Brancaccio, Johanna Dur, Ina Gasciarino, Susanne Graf-Konold, Clara Kunzke, Hemi Kwoun, Maria Madesi Zografia, Brigitte Marly, Alice Rath-Stépán, Gertrude Spitzer, Pauline Weiche, Karolin Zeinert, Tenor: Yury Bogdanov, Andreas Bornemann, Bartosz Borula, Matthew Bridle, István Bundovics, Wesselin Busew, Gimoon Cho, Georgi Devedjiev, Jörg Golombek, Lothar Helm, Seogmann Keum, Dae Young Kwon, Keun Suk Lee, Youngjune Lee, Joo Youp Lee, Tianji Lin, Carlo Moreno, Mahdi Niakan, Jaroslaw Rogaczewski, Chool Seomun, Aleksej Shestov, Tadeusz Slowiak, Dong-Min Suh, Aram Youn, David Ameln, Stefan Fiehn, Winfried Fußy, Donát Havár, Kristor Hustad, Tobias Keil, Seunghyun Kim, Christoph Lauer, Min Lee, Johannes Lehner, Roy Mahendratha, Volko Neitmann, Karel Pajer, Sunwoong Park, Paul Popow, Marc Schwämmlein, Leo Weiche Bass: Nigel Boarer, Arthur Cangucu, Jae Hyung Cho, Thomas Günzler, Sander Heutinck, Mateusz Kabala, Jihoon Kim, Younjin Ko, Andreas Kuppertz, Hyeonjoon Kwon, Delf Lammers, SungJin Lee, Hong-Kyun Oh, Peter Paul, Vincent Turregano, Ernst Vermeulen, Bernhard Weindorf, Michael Albert, Boris Beletskiy, Florian Boberski, Julian Hartman, Oliver Haux, Bernhard Leube, Andrew Mullen, Thomas Neubauer, Oliver Pürckhauer, Michael Reder, Manfred Reich, Thomas Rosenfeldt, Till Schulze, Rainer Schnös, Martin Summer, Wojciech Tabis, Aimar Tammel, Martin Wistinghausen —- I. Aufzug 16.00 Uhr II. Aufzug 18.40 Uhr III. Aufzug 20.45 Uhr Ende der Aufführung: ca. 22.00 Uhr photo by ©EnricoNawrath https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1758470169086-2F1YB9TMCTYJG1KQNALL/494618580_10161670057802898_5880457112284574105_n.jpeg Projects - Sensorium Ex Sensorium Ex is an ambitious new opera by acclaimed composer Paola Prestini and Brenda Shaughnessy, co-directed by Jerron Herman and Jay Scheib, conducted by Elizabeth Askren, designed by Luke DuBois, Andrea Lauer, Annie Wiegand, Peter Torpey, Garth MacAleavey, and Anna Borou Yu by that synthesizes artificial intelligence, disability, live cinema and interactive design. Featuring: Hailey McAvoy, mezzo-soprano, Kader Zioueche, actor, Jakob Jordan, actor, Ju Hyeon Han, soprano, Gerlinde Sämann, soprano, Lucia Lucas, baritone, Joshua Jeremiah, baritone World premiere—Common Senses Festival, Omaha Nebraska 22-25 May 2025 Produced by VisionIntoArt with Beth Morrison Projects, and The Common Senses Festival, with support from The Holland Foundation and UNO photos by Jill Steinberg The visionary production pushes the boundaries of what it means to have a voice, paving the way for future artists with disabilities. Sensorium Ex delves deep into the essence of voice, transcending the limits of language to profoundly reimagine what it can be. Operating at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI), disability, and the arts, Sensorium Ex explores the fundamental question of what it means to have voice, and the nature of voice beyond language. Internationally-acclaimed composer Paola Prestini’s expansive, multi-modal work tells a dystopian tale centered on a mother and her son, a nonverbal, nonambulatory child with multiple disabilities, as they resist a villainous corporate entity's attempts to destroy what it means to be human. Blurring the lines between art and technology, the opera will feature a new set of AI tools developed in partnership with NYU’s Ability Lab that will expand the possibilities for voice and expression in people with disordered, impaired, or limited speech. With a cast of predominantly disabled performers, the project seeks to devise new artistic practices which center disability equity and access throughout all steps in the process. Sensorium Ex is composed by Paola Prestini, co-produced by VisionIntoArt and Beth Morrison Projects, directed by Jerron Herman and Jay Scheib, and features a libretto by poet Brenda Shaughnessy. Premiering for the first time at Common Senses Festival 2025, Sensorium Ex creates an entirely new operatic world – one that redefines who gets to have a voice. PRESS NPR - “AI Gave Him a Voice” WOWT “World Premiere Opera Making Debut in Omaha” KETV - Sensorium Ex at Common Senses Opera Magazine May 2025 Issue - "Everyone Has a Voice" International Arts Manager - "Sensorium Ex Rewrites the Rules of Voice..." Creative and Design Team Composer - Paola Prestini Librettist - Brenda Shaughnessy Co-Direction - Jerron Herman & Jay Scheib Music Director - Elizabeth Askren Creative Producer - Beth Morrison Creative Producer - Ras Dia Associate Director - Yibin Wang Production Assistant, Directing - Xinyu Xu Assistant Music Director - Micah Gleason Scenic and Costume Design - Andrea Lauer Lighting Design - Annie Wiegand Sound Design - Garth MacAleavey Video Design - Peter Torpey Interactive Design - Dan Novy Associate Scenic Designer - Vinita Gatne Associate Costume Designer - Jasmine Lewis Assistant Lighting Designer – Slick Jorgensen Production A2 – Zo McGlynn Accessibility Coordinator – Alison Mahoney Production Stage Manager – Chris Griswold Assistant Stage Manager – Miriam Rochford ASL Interpreter – Cara Schwartz ASL Interpreter – Bethany Koubsky SFX Designer – Olive Ryan Props Builder – RED Kadetsky Director of Production – Rick Murray Manager, Artistic Producing – Julia Mendes Associate Producer – Gabrielle Niederhoffer Artist Services Assistant – Jasmine Galante Artistic Administrator / Facilitator of Belonging, Equity, and Understanding – Chira Bell VIA Impact Lab Fellow for Sensorium AI & Marketing Associate – Daniella Omeruo VIA Impact Fellow – Greg Moomjy Sensorium Filmmaker – Paul Lieber Sensorium Film Producer – Shannon Marie Sullivan Starring: Kitsune - Jakob Jordan Kitsune - Kader Zioueche Mem - Hailey McAvoy Mycelia - Gerlinde Sämann SOPHIA - Ju Hyeon Han CORP - Lucia Lucas Niles - Joshua Jeremiah Orchestra National Sawdust Ensemble: Flute - Jennifer Grim, Clarinet - Eileen Mack, Bassoon - Alexander Davis, Trumpet - Federico Montes, Violin 1 - Todd Reynolds, Violin 2 - Katie Hyun, Viola - Ljova, Cello - Jeffrey Zeigler, Double Bass - Jordan Sanborn Morton, Percussion - Ian Rosenbaum, Producer, Electronics - Sxip Shirey, Rehearsal Pianist - Mila Henry Choral Ensemble Lindsey Chinn (Mem Cover) with Fourth Wall Ensemble: Olivia Greene (Sophia Cover, Mycelia Cover), Heather Jones, Sydney Anderson, Lukas Papenfusscline, Gregorio Taniguchi, Benjamin Howard (CORP Cover, Nile Cover), Dicky Dutton Commissioned by VisionIntoArt in association with Beth Morrison Projects and Common Senses Festival. Developed and Produced by VisionIntoArt and Beth Morrison Projects. Sensorium Ex is developed and presented with support from the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression Arts and Culture (CFE A&C) program, the Mellon Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation’s Performing Arts Technologies Lab, Jill and Bill Steinberg, and National Sawdust. The commissioning of Paola Prestini for Sensorium Ex received funding from OPERA America’s Opera Grants for Women Composers program supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Additional commissioning support was provided by the Allen R and Judy Brick Freedman Venture Fund for New Music, Creative Capital, Alphadyne Foundation, Achelis & Bodman Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts and the Atlantic Opera. Additional production support was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, with development support from the American Academy in Rome, The Shed, Performance Space New York, the REACH at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington National Opera, New York State Council on the Arts. Sensory Notes: an immersive audio-visual experience https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/bf85b59d-e376-4823-9be8-779eb6c6de29/01_dreamlikeadream_StaLai_JayScheib_MTA25_photo_byBenjaminRose.jpg Projects https://www.jayscheib.org/about daily 0.75 2025-09-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1518646647580-01JOBNLKPYXFCDFPKUKQ/scheib_port2_web.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506553000187-5V8RVIIQ0H698IXQDWS1/IMG_6620.JPG About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1518646750394-PI4OMUH33T2G2KST222T/persona_11pr.jpg About - Persona after the film by Ingmar Bergman, opens in November at LA Opera / Redcat https://www.jayscheib.org/read-me daily 0.75 2017-09-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506551842716-B8YK3L770TX0HAR4F2JJ/Scheib_platonov_a093.jpg Coarse Work "I just get drunk on art." Laine Rettmer, Tony Torn, Rosalie Lowe, Mikeah Jennings, Jay Scheib - still from "Platonov, or the Disinherited" at The Kitchen in New York City. https://www.jayscheib.org/new-page daily 0.75 2018-06-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506622477995-8THQLW5KY7CQPFXFQRGN/East+of+Vassar+Perspective.jpg Feature Reviews W97 the new home for Theater Arts at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506654421454-3KCVMZU0W380HC8B02NZ/aaa_fallfromtable.JPG Feature Reviews https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/596226cfbf629a39ce010ec9/1506654441558-3OBC49MED34AGVVX36R1/image3.JPG Feature Reviews