Wexner Center for the Arts: Visit: Wexner Center Partners With STAR Program For Benefit

Wexner Center partners with STAR Program for benefit

For immediate release: January 19, 2011

The Wexner Center for the Arts and The Ohio State University Department of Psychiatry’s Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program in the Medical Center are joining to present a benefit performance of Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy on Thursday, February 24, 2011 at the Lincoln Theatre. This one-woman tour-de-force, performed by Smith, tackles the power of the body, the cost of health care, and the resilience of the human spirit, revealed through the voices of 20 real-life characters—from celebrities to everyday citizens—whose stories offer various perspectives on dealing with injury, illness, and mortality. In this show, Smith “casts a radiance on the many ways in which we care for one another, as well as ourselves,” wrote Variety.

The event on February 24—which benefits the Wexner Center and STAR—includes the performance of Let Me Down Easy at 8 pm and a post-performance reception with Anna Deavere Smith at 9:30 pm. Certain levels of sponsorship include a pre-event cocktail supper buffet at 6:15 pm hosted by Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. All events will be held at the historic Lincoln Theatre, 769 E. Long St. near downtown Columbus.

Single tickets for the evening begin at $250, with sponsorship packages available for individuals, corporations, and foundations. Information on tickets and sponsorship opportunities are here: wexarts.org/wexstarbenefit. General inquiries can be directed to Holly Kastan of the STAR Program at holly.kastan@osumc.edu (614-293-5191) or Elaine Gounaris of the Wexner Center at egounaris@wexarts.org(614-292-0444).

Notes Wexner Center Director Sherri Geldin, “The Wexner Center and the STAR Program share a commitment to increasing public awareness and discourse about socially challenging topics—the Wex from an artistic perspective and STAR from a scientific one. Let Me Down Easy addresses the complexities of today’s health-care issues with empathy and insight, through a profoundly moving theatrical experience. We’re thrilled to partner with STAR on this special evening.”

Holly Kastan, project development consultant with the OSU Medical Center says, “This show was the perfect opportunity to join forces with the Wexner Center and to bring more light to issues that touch all of us. We look forward to this benefit and partnership, and are excited that we have been able to find a catalyst in an acclaimed theater show to spark discussion of trauma and health issues.”

About STAR
The OSU Stress, Trauma and Resilience (STAR) Program is an innovative and exciting initiative of The Ohio State University Medical Center and the Ohio State University Department of Psychiatry that advances the mission of personalized health care. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for individuals suffering from psychological trauma through innovations in research, education, and patient care. More information: psychiatry.osu.edu/about/star

About the Wexner Center
The Wexner Center for the Arts is The Ohio State University's multidisciplinary, international laboratory for the exploration and advancement of contemporary art. Through exhibitions, screenings, performances, artist residencies, and educational programs, the Wexner Center acts as a forum where established and emerging artists can test ideas and where diverse audiences can participate in cultural experiences that enhance understanding of the art of our time. In its programs, the Wexner Center balances a commitment to experimentation with a commitment to traditions of innovation and affirms the university's mission of education, research, and community service. wexarts.org

More about Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy
One of the foremost solo theater artists of our time, Anna Deavere Smith performs her Off-Broadway hit Let Me Down Easy in seven shows presented by the Wexner Center in Columbus’s historic Lincoln Theatre, February 22–27, 2011. To create this show, Smith drew verbatim from hundreds of interviews with real-life people, celebrities and not. In the show, Smith portrays—with uncanny versatility—20 public figures and others who have dealt with serious health issues and challenges, including cycling champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong; regularly banged-up rodeo star Brent Williams; supermodel Lauren Hutton; a physician in a New Orleans hospital, post-Katrina; and former Texas governor Ann Richards, who eventually succumbed to cancer. More information on the shows, including a selection of reviews, are here: wexarts.org/info/press/1011/annadeavere