A Period of Animate Existence is a new work of symphonic theater created by the OBIE Award-winning Pig Iron Theatre Company.
Children, elders, and machines contemplate the future in a time of dire predictions and rapid technological change. This music-theater work about life cycles and planetary cycles features a chamber orchestra, two generations of choirs, and a halal cart.
Composer Troy Herion, designer Mimi Lien, and director Dan Rothenberg are artists-in-residence at the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities (PPEH) for 2016-2017. A Period of Animate Existence grows from their explorations of new language for the Anthropocene and experiments in choral singing.
As part of PPEH's Ecotopian Toolkit conference, Pig Iron presents a free showing of excerpts from Movements 2, 3, and 4 of A Period of Animate Existence.
A Period of Animate Existence will premiere at the Annenberg Center in September at the 2017 FringeArts Festival.
Friday evening’s program will be followed by a Q&A with the co-creators, including composer Troy Herion and 2016 MacArthur Fellow Mimi Lien.
More information at www.pigiron.org
Major support for A Period of Animate Existence has been provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, with additional support from the Wyncote Foundation and the Independence Foundation.
