Branden Jacobs-Jenkins News

A debt-ridden plantation, a new owner, a lovely young woman with a secret, and an assortment of slaves-these antiquated elements have been mashed up against a contemporary framework to create an astonishing, outrageously comic, and eloquent perspective on race in America, in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon. This Obie award winning play will begin a 5-week run at Stage West today, August 30.

Jocelyn Bioh's hit MCC production of SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY lands in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre running September 2 through September 30, before encoring back in New York City at the Lucille Lortel Theatre October 16 through November 25. We had the opportunity to chat with Mirirai Sithole, one of the original cast members who's making the trek between coasts.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) announced further details today for the Shakespearean centerpiece to the 2018 Epic Season, The War of the Roses. The War of the Roses is a monumental evening of theater spanning four history plays-the Henry VI trilogy and Richard III. Presented as an action-packed evening, The War of the Roses will deliver a fast-paced, far-ranging, vividly theatrical depiction of two powerful families-the Lancasters and the Yorks-and their decades-long fight for the English throne. Political unrest and power grabs collide with weak leadership and civil strife as the country fights against the threat of tyranny.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce dates and casting for the New York premiere of Ngozi Anyanwu's GOOD GRIEF, directed by Awoye Timpo. Performances will begin at the Vineyard Theatre (108 East 15th Street) Thursday, October 11 with opening night set for Tuesday, October 30th.

The Bushwick Starr is thrilled to kick off our 10th Anniversary Season with Raja Feather Kelly's UGLY, a new piece created by award-winning choreographer and performer, Raja Feather Kelly,  who's most recent work includes The House That Will Not Stand directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (New York Theatre Workshop), A Strange Loopdirected by Michael R. Jackson (Playwright Horizons), and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody directed by Lila Neugebauer (Signature Theatre).

Broadway Records and Yellow Sound Label today announced that The Beast in the Jungle (Original Score Recording) will be released digitally and in stores on Friday September 14, 2018.

A debt-ridden plantation, a new owner, a lovely young woman with a secret, and an assortment of slaves-these antiquated elements have been mashed up against a contemporary framework to create an astonishing, outrageously comic, and eloquent perspective on race in America, in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon. This Obie award winning play will begin a 5-week run at Stage West on Thursday, August 30.

For the 20-somethings working at a chic, unnamed New York magazine, the only thing that matters is style, status - and selling out to the highest bidder. The Echo Theater Company presents a razor-sharp, darkly comic drama about ambition, office warfare and pecking orders by MacArthur "genius" grant recipient Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.Chris Fields directs the West Coast premiere of Pulitzer Prize-finalist Gloria, opening Sept. 15 at Atwater Village Theatre.

Definition Theatre Company opens its 2018-2019 season with No Child… by Nilaja Sun and directed by Chika Ike. No Child... will run from August 31 - September 23, 2018, with a press opening on Wednesday, September 5 at 7:30pm.

SPACE on Ryder Farm--a nonprofit residency program for artists and activists located on a 223 year-old working organic farm in Brewster, NY--announced that applications for all of its 2019 residency programs are now open for submission. Due to increasing demand, SPACE announced in July that it was changing its submission process to allow the organization sufficient time for review.

Baruch Performing Arts Center announces their 2018/2019 season, featuring premieres by composers Huang Ruo, Gregory Spears, and the late Matt Marks, and choreographer Dusan Týnek. The season includes the 27th year of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives series, a 5th Anniversary celebration of the CUNY Dance Initiative, and work in progress by veteran writer-performer Penny Arcade. For more information and tickets, visit http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac/. All performances take place at 55 Lexington Ave. (enter 25th Street between Lexington & 3rd Aves.)

Baruch Performing Arts Center announces their 2018/2019 season, featuring premieres by composers Huang Ruo, Gregory Spears, and the late Matt Marks, and choreographer Dusan Týnek. The season includes the 27th year of the Milt Hinton Jazz Perspectives series, a 5th Anniversary celebration of the CUNY Dance Initiative, and work in progress by veteran writer-performer Penny Arcade. For more information and tickets, visit http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/bpac/. All performances take place at 55 Lexington Ave. (enter 25th Street between Lexington & 3rd Aves.)

Vineyard Theatre and Developing Artists will partner again to present Developing Artists' REBEL VERSES Youth Arts Festival, Thursday through Saturday August 9-18 at Vineyard Theatre (108 E. 15th St.). Since the festival's inception in 2001, REBEL VERSES has provided young artists, ages 13-19, with the opportunity to collaborate and network with their peers and prominent artists, and to showcase their original work. This two-week event, now in its second season Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre, will feature over one hundred artists and performers from ten young-artist companies hailing from all five boroughs of New York City and beyond.

The Bushwick Starr is thrilled to kick off our 10th Anniversary Season with Raja Feather Kelly's UGLY, a new piece created by award-winning choreographer and performer, Raja Feather Kelly, who's most recent work includes The House That Will Not Stand directed by Lileana Blain-Cruz (New York Theatre Workshop), A Strange Loop directed by Michael R. Jackson (Playwright Horizons), and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Everybody directed by Lila Neugebauer (Signature Theatre).

Kicking off with two shows in September, Artists Rep's 2018/19 season features seven compelling contemporary plays in their subscription series, plus two bonus shows. These plays are highly entertaining theatrical experiences, written by some of the nation's most acclaimed playwrights.

Victory Gardens Theater Artistic Director Chay Yew, Managing Director Erica Daniels and Director of New Play Development Skyler Gray announce the lineup for the 10th Anniversary IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including Prosthesis by Robert Askins; Untitled Road Trip Play by Lauren Yee; White History by Dave Harris; How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla; Seeing Eye by Nick Malakhow; and The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II. The 2018 Festival runs August 3 -5, 2018 at Victory Gardens Theater, located at 2433 N Lincoln Avenue.

Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern announce casting for Vineyard Theatre's Developmental Lab production of Tori Sampson's THIS LAND WAS MADE, directed by Whitney White.

California Shakespeare Theater continues its 44th Season with the West Coast Premiere of Everybody, a sparkling new riff on the 15th-century morality play The Summoning of Everyman by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, whom the New York Times calls 'one of this country's most original and illuminating writers.' A finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Drama, Everybody is Cal Shakes' second official offering under the New Classics Initiative (NCI), exploring what it means to be a classical theater in the 21st century, and to allow living writers to expand our classical canon. Directed by Nataki Garrett making her Cal Shakes debut,

Today, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon announced the appointment of three new employees to fill key positions within the Artistic and Conservatory departments at San Francisco's premier nonprofit theater organization-Joy Meads as Director of Dramaturgy and New Works; Peter J. Kuo as Associate Conservatory Director; andDanyon Davis as Head of Movement.

The Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre (The Gamm) will open its debut season in its new Warwick home on October 11 with Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana. This shift from a previously scheduled September opening will allow The Gamm to start its 2018-2019 season with renovations to its performance space fully completed and the venue ready for audiences.