Anna-Deavere Smith News

Second Stage Theater has announced casting for the upcoming world premiere production of 53% OF. The production will feature ANNA CRIVELLI, EDEN MALYN, MARIANNA McCLELLAN, GRACE REX, CATHRYN WAKE, and AYANA WORKMAN.

Signature Theatre announced its 2022-2023 season—from Resident playwrights Quiara Alegría Hudes, Samuel D. Hunter, Sarah Ruhl, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins—alongside the inauguration of Launchpad, a new residency supporting early-career playwrights that expands the organization’s singular mission of producing a body of work by each resident writer.

Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast's premier launchpad for exceptional new plays and playwrights, has announced its lineup for the 45th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) which will be presented as a hybrid (in-person and streamed) festival July 29 - August 7, 2022. Selected from 240 applicants via a committee process with 150 readers (the majority of whom are also playwrights), five powerful plays by five exciting new voices will receive public readings and workshops in this year's festival.

Signature Theatre has extended the world premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God, directed by David Cromer (Tony Award-winner, The Band’s Visit) to May 29. The production, which opened on May 2, is running on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W 42nd St).

Broadway Star Anthony Rapp will open the Tower Theatre Foundation's Inaugural Stage the Change PNW Conference in Bend, Oregon on Friday, May 20, 2022 with a keynote to conference attendees followed by a concert to attendees as well as members of the general public.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) presents the Munich Symphony Orchestra conductor Nodoka Okisawa and Grammy-nominated Violinist Robert McDuffie on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at 3 PM.

Beginning on June 9, and running through July 3, 2022, Theater J brings Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities to the stage. The groundbreaking documentary play was conceived, written, and originally performed by Anna Deavere Smith in the wake of the violence and unrest that struck the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, in 1991.

New York Stage and Film, will return July 9-August 7 for five weeks of in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2022 Summer Season. 

New York Stage and Film returns July 9-August 7 for five weeks of in-person programming in Poughkeepsie for their 2022 Summer Season.  For 38 years, NYSAF has operated as a vital incubator for artists and their work, a catalyst for stories that continue across the country and around the world.  All tickets are $25 and go on sale June 1.

Signature Theatre has extended the world premiere of Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God, directed by David Cromer (Tony Award-winner, The Band’s Visit) to May 22. The production, which opened on May 2, is running on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 W 42nd St).

The 37th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway was presented on Sunday, May 1, 2022 and we have the full list of winners and nominees!

Three decades after its 1993 World premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, Anna Deavere Smith's “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” returns to L.A. as part of Center Theatre Group's 2022-2023 season at the Taper. Originally performed solo by Smith, “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” has been reimagined for a cast of five performers. Casting and the director for “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” as well as the rest of the plays in the upcoming season will be announced later.

NAACP, Garland and Ovation Award-winning actor Chris Butler plays 36 different roles in Rubicon Theatre Company’s production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 by Anna Deavere Smith. The production begins previews on April 27 and opens on April 29, the 30th anniversary, to the day, of the announcement of the verdict in the Rodney King Trial and what was then called the L.A. Riots.

Second Stage Theater has announced that Deeksha Gaur has joined the Company’s Board of Directors as a Trustee. Additionally, the Board is announcing the appointment of Janet Lynne Knopf, who joined the Board as a Trustee during the pandemic shutdown.

LOVE ALL, a new play by Anna Deavere Smith and directed by Marc Bruni will explore the life and career of the legendary Billie Jean King. 

Composer, filmmaker and interdisciplinary artist Samora Pinderhughes’ highly anticipated album GRIEF is out now. Additionally, watch a special NPR Tiny Desk performance of “The Cry/Masculinity,” “Holding Cell,” “Grief” and “Process” filmed onsite at The Healing Project exhibition at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast’s premier launchpad for exceptional new plays and playwrights, has announced the semifinalists and finalists for the 45th Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF), which will be presented as a hybrid (in-person and streamed) festival July 29-August 07, 2022. For more information and a complete list of winners, the public may visit  playwrightsfoundation.org or call 415-626-2176.

One of the ways The Negro Ensemble Company, Inc. (NEC) fulfills its mission to discover and nurture new, innovative works by skilled and creative artists is its NEC Cutting Edge Playhouse: Emerging Playwrights Competition, which will be mounted for the second time May 5 to 29, 2022.  

RUBICON THEATRE COMPANY, Ventura's non-profit professional theatre company, opens the company's 2022-2023 Season on April 29 with an exclusive engagement of TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 by Anna Deveare Smith.

The Drama League has announced the addition of three new board members to its Board of Directors: Elena Araoz, Estefanía Fadul, and Gwynn MacDonald.