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Tom Prewitt

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W. Thompson Prewitt, Avant Bard’s Executive and Artistic Director since February of 2013, had previously served as Associate Artistic Director for Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, where he led its outreach and education program. In addition to serving as Avant Bard’s Artistic Director, Prewitt was also Managing Director of City of Peace DC, and had been since 2008.

A 1979 graduate of Harvard University, Prewitt led Avant Bard through a challenging time. The company had just lost its lease on the now-defunct Artisphere and was forced to stage its productions in Arlington’s tiny Theatre on the Run before moving to Gunston Arts Center. But Prewitt proved himself to be a shrewd manipulator of physical place in the company’s first production after he took over – Harold Pinter’s No Man’s Land (which featured Avant Bard’s two previous Artistic Directors, Christopher Henley and Brian Hemmingsen), and he never looked back.

Under Prewitt’s tenure the company produced twenty-one plays, paying sharp attention to the classics, including Shakespeare (the “Bard” in the company’s name refers to – well, to the Bard; originally, the company was called the “Washington Shakespeare Company.”). But under Prewitt, Avant Bard always had its own take on these plays; its 2013 King John was framed in a 1962 fallout shelter where a young child, burrowed on the eve of a nuclear holocaust, plays with toy soldiers; charmingly, the boy later becomes John’s son, the future Henry III. In 2015, Avant Bard staged an Othello set in the present, where the military leaders struggle with wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tom Prewitt Productions

 
[Off-Broadway, 2002]
Director

Tom Prewitt News


BWW Review: HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED at Avant Bard Theatre


August Wilson was always a font of stories. In addition to the 10 plays of his lauded Pittsburgh Cycle, there were books, essays and poems largely about the African-American experience.

Felicia Curry and Rick Foucheux Join WAPAVA Board of Directors


The Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive has announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors. Newly elected members Felicia Curry and Rick Foucheux are both esteemed figures in the DMV Theatre Community, selected to serve alongside WAPAVA’s already impressive list of artistic, educational, and civic leaders.

Avant Bard Announces 30th Anniversary Season


WSC Avant Bard, celebrating 30 years of thoughtful, provocative work, announces three mainstage productions including a spring repertory, as well as an upcoming benefit featuring comic poetry readings from local acting icons Holly Twyford and Rick Foucheux.

BWW Interview: Matt Minnicino of A MISANTHROPE at WSC Avant Bard


WSC Avant Bard's Script in Play Festival, started in 2016, has been an opportunity to test out shows for full production treatment through the guise of a series of staged readings and post-play discussions. Written and performed by rising professional talent, these readings have led to some memorable productions, including new versions of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew and Twelfth Night and Lauren Gunderson's hit Emilie: La Marquise Du Chatelet Defends Her Life Tonight. In 2017, a reading of playwright Matt Minnicino's 'distillation' - not 'adaptation,' as we get into below - of Moliere's The Misanthrope was performed. Written entirely in rhyming couplets, it follows a professional cynic who falls in love with an ingenue, and finds his devotion to insincerity tested. Now, it's the capper of Avant Bard's 29th season. I spoke to Minnicino about his career thus far, the adaptation process, and why audiences should be excited for this show.

Avant Bard Announces Full Cast And Creative Team For A MISANTHROPE


Avant Bard Theatre announces the full cast and creative team for its season finale, A MISANTHROPE, a world premiere adaptation of Moliere's The Misanthrope by Manhattan-based playwright Matt Minnicino, directed by Megan Behm in her Avant Bard debut.

Avant Bard Announces Sudden Casting Change For TOPDOG/UNDERDOG


Avant Bard has announced that Khalil Kain has had to withdraw from the cast of TOPDOG/UNDERDOG due to unforeseen personal circumstances. But Avant Bard is happy to announce that Jeremy Keith Hunter has joined the production. Jeremy will play opposite Louis E. Davis in the Pulitzer Prize-winning dark comedy by Suzan-Lori Parks about two African American brothers grappling for destiny. The production runs from March 14 to April 14, 2019, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two in Arlington.

Avant Bard Announces 2019 SCRIPTS IN PLAY FESTIVAL


Avant Bard theatre is proud to announce the 2019 edition of Scripts in Play Festival, its signature play-reading series, February 8 to 24, 2019. This year's selection features seven plays over two weekends followed by a weekend-long encore presentation of the 2018 Capital Fringe hit A Two Woman Hamlet in full production.

Avant Bard Announces 2019 Scripts In Play Festival


Avant Bard theatre is proud to announce the 2019 edition of Scripts in Play Festival, its signature play-reading series, February 8 to 24, 2019. This year's selection features seven plays over two weekends followed by a weekend-long encore presentation of the 2018 Capital Fringe hit A Two Woman Hamlet in full production.

Photo Flash: First Look at Avant Bard's ILLYRIA


Avant Bard presents the world premiere of ILLYRIA, or What You Will, freely adapted from Twelfth Night by Jonelle Walker and Mitchell Hebert, and directed by Mitchell Hebert.

Avant Bard Announces Full Cast And Creative Team For ILLYRIA


Avant Bard theatre announces the full cast and creative team for its 2018/2019 season opener, Illyria, or What You Will, freely adapted from Twelfth Night by Jonelle Walker and Mitchell Hebert and directed by Mitchell Hebert. Illyria reimagines Shakespeare's comedy of mixed-signal love as a bohemian cabaret set in a Manhattan dive bar in the early 1980s, where identity, sex, and gender are what you will-and habitues find freedom to be who they truly are.

Avant Bard Announces 2018-2019 Season


For its 29th season of making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly announces three mainstage productions featuring classic comedies by Shakespeare and Moliere newly adapted for now, plus a contemporary classic by Suzan-Lori Parks. In keeping with the company's core commitment to affordability and access to timeless classics, Avant Bard also announces a new policy making Pay What You Will tickets available for every performance.

Avant Bard Responds To Immigrant Family Crisis


Avant Bard today announces its 'Welcome Tempest-Tossed Campaign': For the final weekends of its production of THE TEMPEST, Avant Bard commits to donating one-half of all full-price ticket proceeds to RAICES Texas to provide legal and educational services to refugees and immigrants at the southern border, including removal defense, services for DACA candidates, and services for unaccompanied children.

Avant Bard To Conjure A TEMPEST For Our Changed Climate


Culminating its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly presents Shakespeare's classic comedy THE TEMPEST at Gunston Arts Center May 31 to July 1, 2018, directed by Artistic and Executive Director Tom Prewitt.

Photo Flash: Avant Bard Mounts THE TEMPEST


Culminating its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly presents Shakespeare's classic comedy The Tempest directed by Artistic and Executive Director Tom Prewitt, now playing at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two to July 1, 2018. Get a first look at the production below!

Avant Bard To Conjure A TEMPEST For Our Changed Climate


Culminating its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly presents Shakespeare's classic comedy THE TEMPEST at Gunston Arts Center May 31 to July 1, 2018, directed by Artistic and Executive Director Tom Prewitt.

Avant Bard To Conjure A TEMPEST For Our Changed Climate


Culminating its 28th season making theatre on the edge, Avant Bard proudly presents Shakespeare's classic comedy THE TEMPEST at Gunston Arts Center May 31 to July 1, 2018, directed by Artistic and Executive Director Tom Prewitt.

Photo Flash: Avant Bard Revives THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS


Avant Bard's acclaimed up-close and unplugged production of The Gospel at Colonus reopens with some exceptional new talents on board-including a gospel recording artist and a drummer who worked on Black Panther.

Revival Of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS Features Fresh New Faces


Avant Bard's acclaimed up-close and unplugged production of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS reopens with some exceptional new talents on board-including a gospel recording artist and a drummer who worked on Black Panther.

Kenton Rogers To Headline GOSPEL AT COLONUS Revival


Well-known gospel recording artist Kenton Rogers has joined the cast of Avant Bard's revival of The Gospel at Colonus, a critical and audience hit last season. Rogers--an actor, singer, and ordained preacher--will headline The Gospel at Colonus in the role of Singer Oedipus along with local civic legend William T. Newman Jr., who returns as Preacher Oedipus.

Gospel Recording Artist Kenton Rogers to Headline Avant Bard's Revival of THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS


Well-known gospel recording artist Kenton Rogers has joined the cast of Avant Bard's revival of The Gospel at Colonus, a critical and audience hit last season. Rogers-an actor, singer, and ordained preacher-will headline The Gospel at Colonus in the role of Singer Oedipus along with local civic legend William T. Newman Jr., who returns as Preacher Oedipus.

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