February 2008
Amerika Haus
This month, the Amerika Haus program features an interesting blend of political, historical and musical offerings alongside two theatrical adaptations of popular dystopian novels. On February 13 at 7 pm, African-American opera singer Kevin Maynor will recite speeches by two non-violent revolutionaries: Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Accompanied by pianist Eric Olson, Maynor will combine musical and visual elements to give his subjects’ stirring words their greatest impact. Tickets for this event, which is part of the Amerika Haus’s “Black History Month,” cost € 8. Another night will be dedicated to Blues music. Guitarist Khalif Wailin’ Walter will demonstrate that Blues is not just another style of music, but an oral history of social change, religious beliefs, work ethic, social values, and the self-image of a people. Walter’s musical lecture starts at 7 pm on February 25. Tickets cost € 6. Since its publication in the 1950s, Ray Bradbury’s science fiction novel
Fahrenheit 451 has been subject to many interpretations. In cooperation with the TNT Theatre Britain, the American Drama Group Europe will present their version of Bradbury’s story—directed by Paul Stebbings—on February 22 at 11 am and 7:30 pm, and on February 23
at 7:30 pm. Artists from the Tour de Force Theatre will perform another 20th-century masterpiece on February 29 at 7:30 pm: George Orwell’s
Animal Farm. Tickets for all theater performances cost € 18 and are available at VVK outlets. Finally, on the last day of February the Amerika Institut of Ludwig Maximilian University will host an international conference. American and German scientists from diverse fields will present perspectives on the conflicting conceptions of “The West.” Admission is free. <<<
