Christopher Shinn News

Reality is really IS biting here as the damp summer comes to as close! The theme this week is very much US based as key shows pick on two decades of Americana when politics really comes to the fore. I'm not giving away who yours truly will be toasting on election night - that's between me and my cat 'Carmichael' Meanwhile scribes and theatres on both sides of the pond have been busy. So much so that whatever hits US stages - the boards of UK stages we over here get a tantalising taste of 'Americana' from top to bottom, literally!

New York's eternally boundary-pushing theater company Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director and Brittany O'Neill, Managing Director) has announced that it will present the Off Broadway premiere of Fault Lines, a new play by Stephen Belber, directed by David Schwimmer.

'Caprice' previews at Wings Theatre Company (154 Christopher Street, basement of the Archive Building) from Thursday, September 11th to Monday, September 15th. Opening Night on Wednesday, September 17th at 8PM is a special press night with a 'Meet the Cast' reception free to subscribers following the show. Regular performances including previews are Thursdays-Saturdays at 8PM, Sundays at 3:30PM and Mondays at 8PM through October 5th. Tickets are $20/ $16 for seniors and students. Opening Night admission is $30. The theatre is wheelchair accessible. For tickets and information go to Wingstheatre.com or call the Box Office at (212) 627-2961.

Variety is reporting that Christopher Shinn's play Now or Later will be crossing over to the US to Hartford Stage this winter for their BrandNEW play reading series from November 6th through November 20th.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo have announced that Beast, written by Michael Weller and directed by Jo Bonney, will begin performances Friday, August 29 at 8pm, at NYTW, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery. Opening night is scheduled for Monday, September 15 at 7pm. The production will run through Sunday, October 12.

New York's eternally boundary-pushing theater company Naked Angels (Geoffrey Nauffts, Artistic Director and Brittany O'Neill, Managing Director) has announced that it will present the Off Broadway premiere of Fault Lines, a new play by Stephen Belber, directed by David Schwimmer.

The New School for Drama has announced that award-winning actor John Turturro will be the distinguished Artist-in-Residence for the 2008-09 academic year. Turturro is the recipient of a multitude of awards and accolades for his extensive acting work in theater, film and television.

Ars Nova will present a FREE reading of BOMBS IN YOUR MOUTH by Corey Patrick, directed by Evan Cabnet, as part of the Out Loud series. The cast will feature Dan Eric Gold, Jennifer Mudge, and Cara Greene.

Ars Nova will present a FREE reading of BOMBS IN YOUR MOUTH by Corey Patrick, directed by Evan Cabnet, as part of the Out Loud series. The cast will feature Dan Eric Gold, Jennifer Mudge, and Cara Greene.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) announced today that Tony® award winner Mary-Louise Parker will star in a new Broadway production of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. The production features a new adaptation by Christopher Shinn and will be directed by Ian Rickson. Hedda Gabler will begin previews on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 and open officially on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street). This will be a limited engagement.

This fall the Vineyard Theatre presents WIG OUT! by Tarell Alvin McCraney and directed by Tina Landau.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director William Russo have announced that Beast, written by Michael Weller and directed by Jo Bonney, will begin performances Friday, August 29 at 8pm, at NYTW, 79 East 4th Street, between Second Avenue and Bowery. Opening night is scheduled for Monday, September 15 at 7pm. The production will run through Sunday, October 12.

Final chance to see A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, the highlight of Dog Run Rep's 2008 Seaport Theatre Festival.

Classics, award winners, and newer works will entertain and enlighten audiences next season at Hartford Stage.

'Broadway at the Seaport' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' will highlight Dog Run Rep's 2008 Seaport Theatre Festival.

Ars Nova presents, as part of the Out Loud series, a FREE reading of: GOOD EGG by Dorothy Fortenberry, directed by Jackson Gay. GOOD EGG Responsible Meg has always taken care of her bipolar younger brother Matt. But when she decides to get pregnant-and have her embryos screened for bipolar disorder-is she taking the idea of 'being responsible' too far? A funny and surprising play about bioethics, siblings, and the limits of unconditional love. Dorothy Fortenberry recently graduated from the Yale School of Drama with an MFA in Playwriting. Yale School of Drama: Good Egg (directed by Snehal Desai), Bibles and Candy (directed by Mike Donahue), After the Flood (directed by Shana Cooper). Yale Cabaret: Bicycling for Ladies (music by Colin Wambsgans, directed by Becca Wolff), We're Celebrities, We're Just Not Famous Yet (directed by Becca Wolff) and the solo piece Paint Show. Her work has been developed at Arena Stage, Perishable Theatre, Studio 42, and The Tank, and produced by Journeyman Productions and Vital Theatre Company. She is the winner of the ASCAP Cole Porter Prize in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama and the Jane Chambers Student Playwriting Award. Jackson Gay's recent directing credits include Carly Mensch's Len, Asleep in Vinyl (Second Stage Uptown); Lucy Thurber's Scarcity, Kia Corthron's Master Disaster, Rolin Jones' The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow (Atlantic Theater Company); Works & Process with Jennifer Tipton (Guggenheim Museum); Thurber's Stay (Rattlestick); f**k You, Eu.ro.Pa! (Play Company); David Adjmi's Marie Antoinette (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab/Public Theater); Best Production Connecticut Critic's Award Jenny Chow (Yale Rep) . UPCOMING: Jason Grote's Box Americana (Eugene O'Neill Playwright's Conference); Workshop of Saviana Stanescu's For a Barbarian Woman (Long Wharf / International Festival of Arts & Ideas); Andy Bragen's Mother Earth (Minneapolis' PlayLabs); Made In Poland, by Przemys Taw Wojcieszek. (Play Company); A Year With Frog and Toad (Two River Theater); End Days, by Deborah Zoe Laufer (People's Light and Theater Company). Founder of the film production company YARN, whose upcoming projects include Sugar Land, by Lucy Thurber. Recipient of the Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship at Manhattan Theatre Club, the Williamstown Theater Festival Directing Fellowship and the Drama League's New Directors/New Works Fellowship. MFA Directing Yale School of Drama. Since 2002, OUT LOUD has attracted a variety of the industry's top artists, including writers Stephen Belber, Jorge Cortinas, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Rinne Groff, Jordan Harrison, Rolin Jones, Adam Rapp, Sarah Ruhl and Christopher Shinn; directors Peter Askin, Jo Bonney, Trip Cullman, David Esbjornson, Moises Kaufman, James Lapine, Lisa Peterson and Leigh Silverman; and actors Jason Biggs, Robert Sean Leonard, Marsha Mason, Denis O'Hare, Rosie Perez, Paul Rudd, Mercedes Reuhl, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Swoosie Kurtz, David Strathairn and Fred Weller. Many OUT LOUD plays have gone on to receive full New York productions, including: Liz Flahive's From Up Here, Adam Bock's Swimming In The Shallows, Rinne Groff's The Ruby Sunrise, Daniel Goldfarb's Modern Orthodox, Elizabeth Meriwether's The Mistakes Madeline Made and Beau Willimon's Lower Ninth. Two Out Loud plays have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize: Rolin Jones' The Intelligent Design Of Jenny Chow and Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House. Ticket & Schedule Information GOOD EGG will be read on Monday, June 23 at 7 PM. The Out Loud Series is FREE and open to the public. Reservations are required. Please call 212-977-1700 or email rsvp@arsnovanyc.com. Ars Nova is located at 511 West 54th Street. For more information, check out www.arsnovanyc.com. As New York's premiere hub for emerging artists and new work, Ars Nova is committed to developing and producing eclectic theatre, comedy and music to feed today's popular culture. To that end, Ars Nova strives to create daring collaborations, meld disciplines and give voice to a new generation of artists. Past productions include Boom, Dixie's Tupperware Party, At Least It's Pink, 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, Holy Cross Sucks!, Freestyle Love Supreme and The Wau Wau Sisters. In addition to its featured productions, Ars Nova supports and develops new work from the most promising emerging artists through its alternative comedy series (Tragedy Tomorrow), music series (Uncharted), public play-reading series (Out Loud), writer's group (Play Group) and artist-in-residence program. Ars Nova was founded in memory of Gabe Wiener. For more information, visit www.arsnovanyc.com.

'Broadway at the Seaport' and 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' will highlight Dog Run Rep's 2008 Seaport Theatre Festival.

The mundane becomes sinister for six people in a darker, deadly, nearly decimated New York City, ten years hence. Boyfriends bicker - and one of them might be sick. A young girl gets ready for school - chaperoned by her mother's bodyguard. A patient consults her doctor - who offers what kind of procedure exactly? Trapped in a hospital elevator, the characters collide almost comically and splinter apart quite tragically, grappling with the severity and confusion of life at the end. As the world falls apart, the ties that bind break, unleashing questions long avoided, resentments long ignored, and confrontations long postponed.

Theater for the New City 'New City, New Blood' Readings Series presents 'At the End' by Billy Finnegan and directed by Nela Wagman on Monday, April 28, 7:30pm.