Scriptless

If Mary Zimmerman‘s lectures are anything like her play rehearsals, she may be winging it when she speaks at 6 tonight at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (4525 Oak, 816-751-1278) as part of the Mary Atkins Lecture Series. Zimmerman, a theatrical auteur best known for her Broadway adaptation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses, often begins her play rehearsals without a script. This method of creation has earned Zimmerman a Tony Award for best direction of a play and a Mac­Arthur “genius” grant. The Lincoln, Nebraska, native has reimagined such classic works for the stage as Proust’s In Search of Lost Time and Homer’s The Odyssey. More recently, Zimmerman has turned her attention to opera, collaborating with composer Philip Glass to produce Galileo Galilei at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Tickets for this lecture cost $10 for members, $15 for nonmembers and $5 for students.

Thu., Dec. 4, 6 p.m., 2008