Do robots belong on stage? How do we perceive them as live characters inside a story? How might a robot endure the artistic rigor of developing a new play alongside live actors?Richard Maxwell will investigate the idea of robots as characters on stage as a means to explore empathy and how it is generated for characters in the minds of spectators. He will share his thoughts, experiments, and experiences working these crude machines into his productions. Maxwell’s work has disrupted, innovated, confounded, and been celebrated by many. His work has been described as a confluence of influences leaping out of epic theater, post-dramatic theater, and performance art while operating and vibrating within hyper-realist theater concerns. At its heart, the work is always a rupture.Maxwell is an artist and Hell's Kitchen, NY resident for the last 30 years. He has been the artistic director of New York City Players since its inception in 1999. He has received numerous awards and accolades including the Guggenheim Fellowship, The Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grant. His work has been presented in more than 20 countries, has been commissioned by ICA London, Barbican Centre, Festival D’Automne, Kunsten Festival, Vienna Festival, and was included in both the Venice Biennale and the Whitney Biennial. His latest book is a collected trilogy: Evening Plays (Theatre Communications Group, 2020). Other books include The Theater Years, published by Westreich Wagner and Greene Naftali (2017), Theater for Beginners (TCG, 2015), and Plays, 1996-2000 (TCG, 2004).Co-sponsored by the Department of Theater in conjunction with the Richard Maxwell & NYC Players Residency, Sept. 29 - Oct. 9The Department of Theater welcomes Richard Maxwell and New York City Players for two weeks as they research and develop a new work for the stage. The residency will include class visits, open rehearsals, an artist talk, interdisciplinary salons, and working with students across the curriculum. Including an Open Studio presentation at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9 in EEP, Bernstein Hall. Join us for a first look at the process and development of a new work by Maxwell and NYC Players.