Friday 11/12 – Thursday 11/18
“Jerry’s kids are people in wheelchairs on television raising money to find a way to prevent their ever having been born,” NBC correspondent John Hockenberry has written. “When crips watch the telethon, the words ‘bravery’ and ‘courage’ and ‘heroism’ do not come to mind.” Tonight Hockenberry, who as a student at the University of Chicago was in a car accident that left him with an irreversible spinal cord injury, will show a video of his 1996 one-man play, Spoke Man, which was based on a book he wrote about being wheelchair-bound. A reception runs from 5 to 6 and the video screening and a discussion are from 6 to 9 in room 605 of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Chicago Circle Center, 750 S. Halsted. Tickets are $15. Call 312-355-0551.
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When Israel became a state in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were forced out of their homes and villages, a time survivors refer to as al-nakbah, the catastrophe. Like the researchers in this week’s cover story, Robert Hostetter interviewed those displaced for an oral history project. His work turned into a play, The Longing. It will be performed on five stages tonight and tomorrow night at 8 in North Park University’s multipurpose room, 3225 W. Foster. Tickets are $8, $4 for students; call 773-244-4890.
This weekend fans of personal freedom have their choice of two conferences. The Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights will hold a one-day congress called U.S. Repression 2000: A Conference on Civil Rights and Wrongs. Topics to be discussed include special targets of repression in this country (such as Arab-Americans and Puerto Rican independence activists) and local police brutality. Civil rights attorney and author Dave Cole is the keynote speaker. It runs from 9 to 5 in room 8005 of the DePaul Center, 1 E. Jackson. Admission is $10 or pay what you can. Registration is recommended; call 312-939-0675. Also today the University of Chicago Law School wraps up a free three-day interdisciplinary conference called 1984: Orwell and Our Future, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the classic novel. Novelist Margaret Drabble will discuss Orwell’s beliefs about human and animal natures and Harvard University professor Elaine Scarry will address Orwellian thought and torture. Sessions are from 9:30 to 5 at the U. of C. Law School, 1111 E. 60th. Call 773-702-9486 for more information.
Two women riding in a glass elevator discuss whether to lift their skirts as they pass a busy office in one vignette from tonight’s Actors Scene Showcase, sponsored by the Women’s Theatre Alliance. Nine other five-minute scenes have been chosen by a panel of alliance theater directors. It starts at 7 at the Theatre Building, 1225 W. Belmont. The $7 admission includes a champagne reception. Call 312-408-9910 for details.
