October Highlights

Court Theatre
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Through Sunday, Oct. 24
5535 S. Ellis Ave. 753-4472. http://courttheatre.org. $35-50. Senior and student discounts are available.

Kicking off Court Theatre’s 50th Anniversary Season is Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, a masterpiece of American drama. Albee’s first play and his first to appear on Broadway, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is considered by many to be the playwright’s greatest dramatic achievement. Combining the banal, the vulgar and the poetic, the play focuses on an embittered academic couple who gradually draw a younger couple, freshly arrived from the Midwest, into their vicious games of marital love and hate. Court’s artistic director, Charles Newell, directs, and the cast features Court Theatre veterans Kevin Gudahl, Barbara Robertson, Lance Baker and Whitney Sneed.

The University of Chicago Presents
Andras Schiff, violin, and Miklos Perenyi, cello
8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15
Mandel Hall, 1131 E. 57th St. 702-8068. http://chicagopresents.uchicago.edu. $30 general, $11 students with ID.

In the first concert of the Chamber Music Series—-and of the University of Chicago Presents’ 2004-2005 season—-acclaimed Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff and cellist Miklos Perenyi will perform an all-Czech program. Schiff, who will play his own Hamburg Steinway from atop his signature red stool; his wife, violinist Yuuko Siokawa; and Perenyi will perform Dvorak’s Piano Trio in F Minor, Op. 65; Janacek’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, and Pohadka (Fairy Tale) for Cello and Piano; and Smetana’s Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 15. A regular conductor and performer with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Philharmonia of London, Schiff has received many musical awards, including the Bartok Prize, the Palladio d’Oro, and the Kossuth Prize, the highest distinction awarded by the Hungarian government.

International House
International Kathak Dance Festival
Friday, Oct. 8 through Sunday, Oct. 10
1414 E. 59th St. 753-2274. See http://www.asfkathak.com for details. Free with University ID.

As a part of Illinois Art Week 2004, International House and the Anila Sinha Foundation will hold an International Kathak Dance Festival, the first of its kind in the United States. Deriving its name from “Katha,” or the art of storytelling, Kathak is a leading form of classical Indian dance. The event will include three full days of discussions, workshops and performances by world-renowned artists. Artists and specialists from India, Canada and England will join other scholars, dancers and musicians in sessions on the history, evolution, technique and future of Kathak as a dance form. Concerts will be held each evening.

Department of Music
The Astral Project
2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9
Fulton Recital Hall, 1010 E. 59th St. 702-8069. Free.

Since their 1978 debut at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest, the Astral Project has been highly regarded amongst modern jazz groups. As musicians, they create memorable melodies while incorporating influences from all sources. They also teach at various universities in New Orleans. The group will showcase its latest music at a 2 p.m. concert and will conduct a workshop with members of the University’s Jazz X-tet at 3:30 p.m.