PerformanceContemporary
An ongoing series of talks with artists and writers conceived and conducted by Bonnie Marranca.

October 1, 2002

Regular $5, Students $2, Members Free.

Location One is pleased to announce “The Theatre of Food, ” the first talk of the PerformanceContemporary series, conducted by Bonnie Marranca. At this event, Bonnie Marranca will speak about her forthcoming book, Slice of Life, an international collection of food writings she is editing, to be published by Overlook Press in 2003. Her talk will offer a broad ranging, personal perspective on food and contemporary culture, including the use of food in performance and art through the century.

Slice of Life is a collection of more than 50 contributions by well-known novelists, poets, food writers, and chefs, emphasizing the personal essay or food memoir. They cover a broad range of topics, including the pleasure of eating, memories of food, utensils, markets, religious customs, hunger, restaurant culture, writing in restaurants. The volume also features special pieces on olive oil, French cooking, bread and saints’ days, tomatoes, wine, vegetarianism — all from the unique reflections of contemporary writers.

The noted food author, Betty Fussell, has written the Preface to the book. Contributors to the volume include: Susan Sontag, Charles Simic, Emily Prager, Julia Child, Russell Baker, Wole Soyinka, Paul Schmidt, M.F.K. Fisher, Alice Walker, Sallie Tisdale, Michael Pollan, Isabel Allende, Alice Waters, Edward Hoagland, Roland Barthes.

Bonnie Marranca is co-founder and editor of PAJ: A journal of Performance and Art. A theatre critic residing in New York City, she has written two volumes of essays, Ecologies of Theatre, and Theatrewritings, which won the George Jean Nathan Award in Dramatic Criticism, and has edited several books, including Conversations on Art and Performance, Plays for the End of the Century, and Interculturalism and Performance. In addition to her work in the arts, she is also the editor of The Hudson Valley Reader and American Garden Writing. Bonnie Marranca is a Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright scholar and is currently teaching at Princeton University. She is Director of Special Performance Projects at Location One.