Prologue is a mixed-media performance created as a composition of moments - snapshots into the life and thought of French philosopher, activist, and mystic, Simone Weil (1909 - 1943.)

Two performers, a man playing an actor preparing to play Simone Weil, and a woman embodying Weil herself as per the actor’s invocation, meet in this full-length production. Through the actor’s meditations, the piece also reflects on the mystical and artistic processes to ultimately remind us of the importance of paying attention, and of the indispensable role of "the other" to bring depth and meaning to our experience. Conceived almost as a live poem, with writings of Weil intertwined with the author’s, Prologue draws on a multitude of languages (historical, biographical, allegorical, philosophical…) and mediums (theatre, dance, visual arts, video projections, music) to create a stimulating experience for the audience, both at a sensorial and intellectual levels.

Prologue immerses the audience in the world of Weil. Most of her writings are annotations of thoughts published posthumously, therefore when one reads them, they give us the feeling of entering directly into her stream of consciousness. The piece maintains this feeling of intimacy with her thoughts.Thus, it is built upon moments rather than scenes. In a moment, we may capture a thought, a feeling, or it may simply be an image. A moment leaves an impression. And, Prologue is created as an accumulation of impressions that end up making sense somewhere within each member of the audience.

There is room for contradiction and controversy in Weil’s world, but Prologue does not try to resolve it; rather, it stays with her words and her laborious commitment to being above anything else, attentive. For Weil, the capacity to pay attention is something very rare – almost a miracle, - and capable of reawakening the souls of those whom “force has turned into stone”. The piece intends to transpire the vulnerability and beauty that result from such a state of attentiveness.

About Simone Weil

Simone Weil, described by Albert Camus as “the only great spirit of our times” and by Susan Sontag as “one of the most uncompromising and troubling witnesses to the modern travail of the spirit.” Weil’s empathy for the suffering of others, especially for the socially oppressed, would lead her into an active political life. She marched with the working class, confronted Trotsky, fought in the Spanish Civil War, participated in the French Resistance, and, sacrificing her privileged condition, she took a job in a factory in order to fully understand the reality of the proletariat. But even more unusual for a leftist intellectual of her time, after having a mystical experience, Weil increasingly focused her thought on religion and mysticism. Weil died at the age of 34, in exile in London, of tuberculosis possibly exacerbated by her refusal to eat more than the rations she thought were available to the people in occupied France.

About the Author:

Maria Litvan's work questions perception and lives at the border between reality and allegory. It ponders on existential themes, but within the rhythm and nonstructure of playtime. Her plays often combine complex topics with minimal language and absurd situations that heighten a reality other than what first meets the eye.

She is the recipient of the John Golden Award for Excellence in Playwriting, the John Gassner Award, and in Catalonia, the Josep Robrenyo Award for the play Obsesiones, which was then published by AIET, Associació d’Investigació i Experimentació Teatral (Association for Research and Experimentation in Theatre).

Her full-length theatre works include: Borderline (Loewe theatre, NY); Obsessions (Loewe theatre, and Galapos Art Space, NY); Psyche (Context Studios, NY); and Prologue. (presented as a work-in-progress at CPR, NY.) Directing projects, also include: La Jaula Bajo el Trapo by Maria Negroni (the KJCC at NYU, NY); Scenes from Barcelona, with texts by Sergi Belbel, Carles Batlle, and Pau Miró (The Catalan Center, NY), les Cinc Pometes (Sala Becket, Marató de l’Espectacle al Mercat de les Flors, Festival de Gracia, Barcelona); He Dit Dues! (Area, Barcelona) As a performer she has appeared in Work-in-Progress a collaborative project between the Welch company Brith Gof and the Catalan company La Fura dels Baus; the Bold Soprano by Ionesco, directed by Claudia Orenstein, and with playwright Tina Howe appearing as the maid; Spring Awakening by Wedekind, directed by Barbara Bosch; The Circus of Vices & Virtues by Circ Boom; and in her own plays: Psyche, He Dit Dues !, and Habitació Violeta.

Maria is interested in collaborative work and in bridging cultures. In this line, she was the co-founder and Artistic Director of the theatre and film company Vertiginosas (islands), established both in Barcelona and New York; and she has also worked in cultural management as project Manager for The Catalan Center at NYU, working in numerous collaborations with cultural and artistic centers in New York, such as MoMA, BAM, AIA, the Watermill, among others. She also worked at Deutsches Haus at NYU, in public relations and administration, and from where she also coordinated the now annual “Literary Mews” (a mini-festival within the PEN World Voices Festival.)

She holds a BA from Hunter College with a double major in theatre and film, an MA from Gallatin School of Individualized Study, NYU, with a concentration in performing arts, perception, and mysticism. She is currently a PhD candidate in Theatre at the Graduate Center, CUNY.

THE TEAM

Catherine Correa - Simone Weil

Born in Colombia, Catherine began training in classical ballet at the age of four in her natal country, and later on in San Petersburg Ballet Academy. By the age of 17, she was already performing professionally in Bogota. In 1998 she moved to New York City where she broadened her style to include modern dance and tango, performing with renowned dancers and choreographers. She writes, produces and performs in theater, dance and multimedia performances.

Ignacio Garcia-Bustelo – Actor

Born in Spain, Ignacio Garcia-Bustelo is a New York-based actor and stage director. As an actor, he has worked for the National Theater and some of the most prestigious venues in Spain; and here in the U.S., his long list of New York and Regional theater credits is comprised of leading roles in classical and contemporary productions presented at La Mama ETC, The Theatre Project, Olney Theater Center, Theater for the New City, Gala Theater, and the Spanish Repertory Theater, among others. Favorite theater credits include Hamlet, Titus Andronicus, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Agamemnon, Hecuba, Don Juan Tenorio, The Knight from Olmedo, In Spite of Love, Volokolamsk Highway, The Blue, The Triumph of Crowds, New Island, An Invisible Piece of this World, The Rimers of Eldritch, The Giver, The Grapes of Wrath, The Last Draw, Private View… Film appearances include Pawn Sacrifice, directed by Edward Zwick, The Valdemar Legacy, and The Forbidden Shadow. He has also appeared on the Spanish prime-time TV series MIR and Hospital Central. Mr. Garcia-Bustelo is a Fulbright Scholar, and holds a BFA from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in Madrid, and a MFA from The New School for Drama in NYC.

Projection Mapping

Laia Cabrera - Filmmaker and Video Artist

Laia Cabrera is a filmmaker and video artist based in New York and critically recognized multimedia creator, working in the fields of projection mapping design, visual poetry, documentary and live performance, with many projects straddling or blending elements of both fields. Ms. Cabrera innovative interdisciplinary work merges cinematic arts, dance, music, theater and digital arts. Recipient of many awards including the 2016 Silver Telly Award for best Direction, AVA and Telly awards for best Animation, Documentary and Art Direction; NYIT awards 2015 winner for Best Art Production and 3-time nominee for Outstanding Innovative Video Design and winner of the Kodak & Color Lab award for Best Cinematic film for Under Influence. She is also the recipient of the several grants, KrTU Creators, Cultura i de les Arts (CONCA), NYC Council on the Arts, and DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities among others. Her work includes traditional and experimental filmmaking, virtual theater and interactive video mapped site-specific installations presented worldwide and commissioned by major institutions. Her last works were presented in Times Square, Armory Arts Week-SPRING/BREAK Art Show New York, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), St John the Divine Cathedral, Nuit Blanche DC, La Mama, Dixon Place, Time Center at the New York Times, Art all Night DC, Georgetown Glow, PBS’s American Masters and Tempietto di Bramante, Rome, Italy. She is currently the artistic director of LAIA CABRERA & CO co-founded with French animator Isabelle Duverger, a team of visual artists producing a wide range of multimedia projects.

Isabelle Duverger - Animator and Video Mapping Artist

Isabelle Duverger is an award winning New York based French animator, illustrator and video mapping artist working in the US and Europe. She has been collaborating with Laia Cabrera on the creation of interactive site-specific video installations and multimedia shows. She is a three-time NYIT nominee for Outstanding Innovative Video and Projection Design, and Telly, AVA and Communicator Awards recipient for her work in illustration and animation. She has performed in renowned venues such as Times Square Plaza, Spring/Break Art Show (Armory Arts Week), St John the Divine Cathedral, New York, Nuit Blanche Washington DC, Tempietto Di Bramante, Rome, Italy among others. 

Nana Simopoulos – Music and Sound Design

Nana is considered one of the foremost composers of world fusion music. She artfully blends sounds and textures from around the world. The late Indian sarangi master Ustad Sultan Khan accompanied her on two releases, After The Moon, 1997 and Daughters Of The Sun, 2001, which was #1 on the NAV New Age and World radio charts. She has written numerous commissions for dance companies such as Dance Theatre of Harlem with former Pilobolus choreographer Peter Pucci, the Joffrey Ballet, The American Dance Festival, Ballet Hispanico, North Carolina Dance Theater and LiquidBody. 

Venue

The Jersey City Theater Center (JCTC) is a nonprofit, 501c3 arts organization and manages programming at the Merseles Studios and White Eagle Hall. It is committed to inspiring conversations about the important topics of our times through innovative and progressive performing and visual arts that embrace the diversity of Jersey City, bringing its community closer together and enhancing its quality of life.