For one evening Loyola Marymount University’s Sunken Garden will undergo an elaborate transformation into a world market, based on the work of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka. With the Pacific Ocean, Los Angeles and LMU’s Sacred Heart Chapel as backdrops, “Samarkand” will be a uniquely memorable performance.
The market opens at 6 p.m., with performances starting at 8:30. The interactive performance will capture the market imagery from Soyinka’s book of poems titled “Samarkand and Other Markets I Have Known.” The market will be complete with international merchants, performances of all kinds and staged readings by accomplished international actors, including Danny Glover, CCH Pounder and Michael Learned.
“Samarkand” was written in 2002 and takes its cue from the ancient Yoruba saying that “the world is a marketplace.” The work has been performed on two prior occasions, including the opening of the Arts Theater in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Haus der Kunst in Berlin. It is choreographed by London-based artist Peter Badejo. “Samarkand” celebrates the primal sanctity of man in the context of rites and rituals old and new.
This event will be hosted by the Marymount Institute for Faith, Culture and the Arts.