In rehearsal for Oratorio for Living Things are community member Andrew Garrett and students Scarlett Collins '29, Latif Tabanli '30 (on floor), and Wanjiru Wanjau '28 with the band. Photo credit: Jon Sweeney.
(PRINCETON, NJ) -- The Lewis Center for the Arts' Program in Theater and Music Theater at Princeton University presents Oratorio for Living Things by Heather Christian. Infusing a classical oratorio with blues, gospel, jazz, and soul, this musical and visual journey investigates human experiences of time and memory alongside powerful physical forces that shape the universe. Performances take place November 6-8, 2026.
Oratorio for Living Things by 2025 MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Heather Christian had its world premiere in 2022 at Ars Nova in New York City. The sung-through, 90-minute work roughly breaks down into three acts, representing time on three scales—the quantum (the microscopic, the cellular), the human (memory and individual human stories), and the cosmic (the generative elemental violence that moves the universe).
Oratorio for Living Things was met with a very positive critical reception. Jose Solís in The New York Times called it "A work that successfully established a dialogue between the sacred and the mundane, between the invisible and what we grasp with our senses." Time Out New York's Raven Snook proclaimed the play "Exhilarating! Breathtaking! A transcendent experience." Helen Shaw of Vulture described the work as "A whitewater cataract of sound and meaning."
Performances are Friday, November 6 at 8:00pm; Saturday, November 7 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm; and Sunday, November 8 at 2:00pm at the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Place. Tickets are $20 and $10 for students available through the McCarter Box Office. The Berlind Theatre is fully accessible with wheelchair and companion seating and an assistive listening system. The November 8 show will be a relaxed performance. Guests in need of other access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at [email protected] at least one week prior to the event date.
The production is directed by Iranian director Nikoo Mamdoohi with translations from English to Latin by Princeton alumnus Greg Taubman, Class of 2006, music direction by Emma Sway, music supervision by Solon Snider Sway, and featuring the Princeton Playhouse Choir.
Audiences are provided with a libretto in both English and the Latin translations by Taubman, referred to as a missalette, that allows them to follow along.
The Lewis Center's production is the first non-professional cast to undertake this ambitious work. The production features undergraduate students as additional music directors, vocal coaches and rehearsal pianists alongside student dramaturgs, assistant stage managers and an assistant producer.
The performers include students Scarlett Collins '29, Yuri Lee '27, Latif Tabanli '30, Wanjiru Wanjau '28, and Amelia Wray '28, along with campus community members Andrew Garrett, Crystal Henderson-Napoli, Chris Twiname, and Hannah Chomiczewski, Princeton Class of 2020. Joining the cast are members of the Princeton Playhouse Choir including undergraduate students Atish Bala '30, Ana Bendesky '28, Evan Cantwell '27, Jenna Mullin '27, Maya Panta '30, and Annabet Walter '30; graduate students Maya Gambhir, Cass Kim, Anna Mathews, Sazza Richard, Ruyu Yan, and Hans Yu; and campus community members Emma Sway and Solon Snider Sway. The seven-piece band includes students Matt Cline '27, Lola Goetz '30, Yuri Lee '27, Marvel Jem Roth '28, alumnus Jacob Jackson '06, graduate student Maxwell Rosen, and community member Kai Gibson.
In addition to director Mamdoohi and music director Sway, the professional production team includes music supervision by Solon Snider Sway, set design by Afsoon Pajoufar, lighting design by Kelley Shih, sound design by Kay Richardson, costume design by Keating Debelak, choreography by Sariel Golomb, and stage management by alumna Milan Eldridge, Princeton Class of 2020. Students on the production team include Marvel Jem Roth '28 as conductor/student music director, Amelia Wray '28 as vocal coach/student music director, Yuri Lee '27 as student music director, Lola Goetz '30 as rehearsal pianist, Peyton McLaughlin '28 and Lota Alagbe '28 as dramaturgs, and Hellen Ding '27 as assistant producer/assistant stage manager. Professor of the Practice in Theater and Music Theater Jane Cox is the faculty co-producer.
Director Mamdoohi has worked extensively in Iran and the United States and directed last fall's Lewis Center production of A Moment of Silence. She has directed new plays, devised work, and experimental pieces that seek to discover innovative ways of engaging audiences, always striving, she notes, "to create singular, fleeting experiences that echo the transience of life itself." In Iran, Mamdoohi founded the Vaahe Art Collective in 2008 and directed productions at prominent festivals, including the Fadjr International Theater Festival, and in venues such as Tehran City Theater. She continues to develop projects that connect diverse communities through performance. Her recent work in the United States includes presenting Lost in the Ocean Waves at Arena Stage and directing Home, the first Farsi-language production staged at the Kennedy Center. She has also collaborated with Convergence Theatre (Snapshots), Theatre Prometheus (The Cassette Shop), and the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics at Georgetown University. She notes that her artistic vision is rooted in the belief that sharing our stories on stage can bring us closer together and deepen our understanding of one another.
Emma Sway is an arts education leader, choral conductor, and performer. She is an associate conductor at the Young People's Chorus (YPC) of New York City, as well as the director of YPC National, developing programs for music teachers and singers nationwide that reimagine the possibilities of choral music. She has performed as a violin soloist in venues including Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Prudential Center, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, and the Irish Repertory Theater. She sings in choirs throughout New York City and performed as a soprano soloist for the American Ballet Theater's production of "The Dream." As an actor, Sway has appeared in productions and readings at Ars Nova, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, and the Irish Repertory Theater.
Solon Snider Sway is a music director, composer, performer, and educator. He is a full-time faculty member in the Department of Music and Program in Theater and Music Theater, where he directs the Princeton Playhouse Ensembles and teaches courses in conducting, composition/arranging, history, and performance. A music director and conductor for Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional events and shows, he has worked with artists ranging from Brian Stokes Mitchell, Mykal Kilgore, Brittney Mack, Will Roland, and Andrew Barth Feldman to Becca Stevens, Rufus Wainwright, and Billy Joel.
In addition to a MacArthur Fellowship, Christian is the recipient of Drama Desk and Obie Awards, a Richard Rodgers Award, a Larson Grant, a Stephen Schwartz Outstanding New Composer Award, and Sundance Institute Time Warner Fellowship. Christian visited campus on September 29, speaking to students in the "Introduction to Theater Making" course, meeting students and campus community members over lunch, and joining the cast for a rehearsal.
Additional programming in conjunction with the production includes a pre-show conversation, "Time and Meaning: Translating Contemporary Ideas into Ancient Forms" between translator Taubman and Assistant Professor of Classics Peter Kelly, moderated by the student dramaturgs Alagbe and McLaughlin. This pre-show talk will be held on November 6 at 5:00pm in the Berlind Rehearsal Room at McCarter Theatre Center and will include a Q&A with the audience. No registration or tickets are required. A post-show talkback with the director and cast will immediately follow the November 8 performance in the Berlind Rehearsal Room, located off the Berlind Theatre lobby; no registration is required.
The production is being supported by the Princeton Humanities Initiative. This hub for interdisciplinary inquiry and idea incubation is designed to bring people together to think critically and imaginatively about the human experience and to fuel innovative research, teaching, and civic engagement to address the key challenges of our time.
The November 8 performance at 2:00pm will be a relaxed performance, the first for the Program in Theater and Music Theater. Relaxed performances ease typical theater requirements and welcome audience members to be comfortable and to move or vocalize freely, without judgment or inhibition. Sound and lighting elements may be slightly adjusted, house lights will remain on at a dimmed level, volunteers will be on hand to assist, and the concession stand will remain open throughout the event. The annual Princeton Dance Festival, also presented by the Lewis Center, has been offering a relaxed performance since 2022.
Visit the Lewis Center website to learn more about this event, the Program in Theater and Music Theater, and the more than 100 public performances, exhibitions, readings, screenings, concerts, lectures, and special events presented by the Lewis Center each year, most of them free.
Thursday, Oct 29, 2026
@ 7:30pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
Sunday, Nov 01, 2026
@ 6:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
Wednesday, Nov 04, 2026
@ 7:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
Friday, Nov 06, 2026
@ 8:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Matthews Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
There are multiple performances including:
Friday, Nov 06, 2026
@ 8:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Theatre)
Princeton, NJ
