On May 20, the celebrated Off-Broadway theater company The Civilians will host Life Studies, a livestreamed benefit concert supporting the company and its artistic community. This year’s virtual event will celebrate risk-taking artists who look deeply into our world to reveal new truths. The event will honor “Civilian of the Year” Mimi Brown, creative collaborator and founder of Spring Workshop in Hong Kong, an international cultural initiative fostering innovative exchange between artists, organizations, and audiences. The evening also celebrates the 10th anniversary of The Civilians’ R&D Group, a new work laboratory that has supported a diverse community of over 150 writers, directors, and composers engaged in deep inquiries into the vital questions of our world.

The live streamed event, hosted by Jo Lampert and Ada Westfall, features appearances from Rashida Jones, Carly Mensch, Mo Rocca, Baron Vaughn, Kyle Jarrow & Duncan Sheik. With performances by hosts Lampert & Westfall, Courtney Bassett, Andrew R. Butler, Julian Fleisher, Jordan Ho, Kendyl Ito, Florencia Lozano, Gianna Masi, Heath Saunders, Maya Sharpe, Dito Van Reigersberg, Kuhoo Verma and Jill Sobule (list as of 5/4/21). Featuring songs by Michael Friedman and current and former members of The Civilians’ R&D Group: Andrew R. Butler, Maggie-Kate Coleman & Erato Kremmyda, Jacinth Greywoode & Rebecca Hart, Jaime Lozano, Grace McLean, Max Vernon, and Zack Zadek. www.thecivilians.org