April-May Highlights

	Wang Guangya, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations.

Chicago Society
China and the Future of the World
6 - 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 28
International House, 1414 E. 59th St.
http://chicagosociety.uchicago.edu/china

Chicago Society is hosting this two-day symposium on the future of China’s politics, society, economics and foreign policy. Four panels will be held over the two-day conference, with 20 guest moderators and speakers. Keynote speakers are Christopher Hill, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Peter Rodman, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; Merle Goldman, professor emerita of history at Boston University; and Wang Guangya, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations. University students, staff and faculty will be admitted free of charge. Advanced registration is $15 for alumni and $20 for the general public. Seating is limited. Simultaneous translation will be available.

	Jacques Lipchitz, Reclining Figure, 1928, Cast bronze. Smart Museum of Art.

The Smart Museum of Art
“Revisions: Modernist Sculptures by Rodin, Lipchitz, and Moore”
Tuesday, May 9 through Sunday, Nov. 5
5550 S. Greenwood Ave.
http://smartmuseum.uchicago.edu. (773) 702-0200.

Auguste Rodin, Jacques Lipchitz and Henry Moore each championed sculptural innovations in European modernism and challenged notions of representation that had informed Western art since the Renaissance. From the last quarter of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century, they reinvigorated the figurative academic tradition. While graphically demonstrating important changes in style from one artist to the other, “Revisions” will focus on the subjects and themes shared by all three.

	Linda Reiter as Lotte and Patricia Hodges as Lettice in Peter Shaffer’s Lettice and Lovage directed by Lucy Smith Conroy at Court Theatre.

Court Theatre
Lettice and Lovage
Thursday, May 11 through Sunday, June 11
5535 S. Ellis Ave.
http://www.courttheatre.org. (773) 753-4472.

Lettice Douffet, an expert on medieval cuisine and weaponry, is a tour guide of Fustian House, the most boring stately home in Britain—until she begins to embellish her tours, which become more interesting as they stray further from the facts. Charlotte Schoen, sent by the Preservation Trust to investigate, is not amused and fires her. But Charlotte’s passion for history draws her to Lettice’s romantic world-view and the two women forge an unlikely friendship in the face of their dreary modern lives. This British comedy won two Tony awards in 1990. Tickets range from $10 -$50 and are available by calling the box office at (773) 753-4472.

	Mai-Thu Perret, from the series “Apocalypse Ballet,” 2005-2006.

The Renaissance Society
Mai-Thu Perret, Solo Exhibition
Sunday, April 30 through Sunday, June 11
5811 S. Ellis Ave.
http://renaissancesociety.org. (773) 702-8670.

The Renaissance Society will present a solo exhibition by Mai-Thu Perret through Sunday, June 11. Perret’s exhibition will continue her project “The Crystal Frontier.” A fictional account of women starting their own commune in the desert, The Crystal Frontier functions as a scenario through which Perret investigates 1960s and 1970s activist communities and their utopian credos and designs. Perret’s sources range from Busby Berkeley, to Russian Constructivism, to Alice in Wonderland. A reflection on utopias and dystopias, Perret’s work is enigmatic, poetic and strangely beautiful.