David Mamet News

Bad Habit Productions, one of Boston's Top Small Theatres according to WBZ, presents an evening of Christopher Durang comedies in the hilarious theatrical mash-up DURANG/DURANG December 2 through 12 (Press performance on December 3 at 8pm.) The New York Times raved that 'these works have so many good lines that quoting them could enliven a week's worth of dull dinner parties.' Eccentric characters travel through wild situations in this night of short plays by the 'prodigiously gifted playwright' (The New York Times)

Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman III proudly closes their 19th season with Walton Jones' musical holiday tribute to the swing era.

Stamp collecting is far more risky than you think. After their mother's death, two estranged half-sisters discover a book of rare stamps that may include the crown jewel for collectors.

West End Players Guild continues its 100th season of theatre in the Central West End with an evening of one-act plays titled A WOMAN'S PLACE. An ensemble cast will appear in the four short plays presenting women in extraordinary circumstances. A WOMAN'S PLACE opens on Friday, November 5, and continues through Sunday, November 14. Shows are at 8:00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:00 p.m. on Sundays, with all performances at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 Union Avenue.

Goodman Theatre announces the 12-member cast for Robert Fall's intimate new production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull (rehearsals begin August 24, tickets go on sale August 13). This 19th century masterpiece is brought to life by a company including Francis Guinan (August: Osage County; The Grapes of Wrath) in his Goodman debut as the retired judge Peter Sorin and Mary Beth Fisher (Rock 'N' Roll; The Year of Magical Thinking) as his sister, Irina Arkadina, a beautiful, selfish actress. Also joining the cast are Janet Ulrich Brooks (Polina); Rebecca Buller (Maid); Cliff Chamberlain (Boris Trigorin, Irina's young lover), Dietrich Gray (Yakov); Stephen Louis Grush (Konstantin Trepliov, Irina's twenty-five year old playwright son); Scott Jaeck (Dr. Eugene Dorn); Kelly O'Sullivan (Masha); Steve Pickering (Ilia Shamrayev, Sorin's estate manager); Demetrios Troy (Simon Medvendenko); and Heather Wood (Nina Zarietchnaya). The Seagull runs October 16 - November 14, 2010 in the Owen Theatre; tickets are $10 - $45. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is the Contributing Sponsor of The Seagull.Artistic Director Robert Falls returns to the work of Anton Chekhov following previous productions of Three Sisters at the Goodman (1995, with a cast including Calista Flockhart, Susan Bruce and Jenny Bacon) and Orchards: Seven American Playwrights Present Stories by Chekhov (1986, adaptations by Maria Irene Fornes, Spalding Gray, John Guare, David Mamet, Wendy Wasserstein, Michael Weller and Samm-Art Williams-The Acting Company/New York, tour with off-Broadway opening).

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON, which opened on Broadway on October 13, uses the story of America's controversial seventh president-the man who invented the Democratic Party, doubled the size of our nation and signed the Indian Removal Acts that started the Trail of Tears - to investigate the attraction and terrors of American populism, using a raucous blend of outrageous comedy, anarchic theatricality and infectious emo rock. A co-production with Center Theatre Group and in association with Les Freres Corbusier, BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON is written and directed by Alex Timbers and features music and lyrics by Michael Friedman. Check out the video below to hear from BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON director Alex Timbers.

Philadelphia Theatre Company spells F-U-N when it opens its 35th Anniversary mainstage season with the multiple Tony Award winner The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin, and conceived by Rebecca Feldman, running November 12-December 12 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director)'s first main stage production of its 2010-2011 season, THE COLLECTION & A KIND OF ALASKA: TWO PLAYS BY HAROLD PINTER has been extended in advance of officially opening later this month.

Theatre Exile presents the Philadelphia premiere of That Pretty Pretty; or, The Rape Play by Sheila Callaghan. Directed by Joe Canuso, Exile's producing artistic director, That Pretty Pretty runs November 11th through December 5th at the newly renovated Christ Church Neighborhood House, with the press opening Wednesday, November 17th at 8pm.

Philadelphia Theatre Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Kathleen Kund Nolan as Interim Managing Director. Nolan replaces Diane Claussen who has moved to Chicago to assume the position of Managing Director at Northwestern University's Theatre and Interpretation Center.

The only press night offered for the Public LAB's premiere production of playwright/director Richard Nelson's That Hopey Changey Thing was this past Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 at 7pm.  Given that the play actually takes place on Tuesday. November 2nd, 2010 at 7pm (America's Election Night, for my plethora of foreign readers) I was rather hopey that the text might, in fact, wind up being changey, depending on the news of returns coming in during the play's 90 minutes.  No such luck.  But even in its frozen state, the piece is sharp, engrossing and superbly acted.

An eclectic collection of one act plays by the likes of Susan Glaspell (Trifles), David Mamet (Australia), William Saroyan (Hello Out There), and Harold Pinter (Ashes to Ashes), A WOMAN'S PLACE fulfills the promise of its title by placing women in key roles in each of these unique pieces. The West End Players Guild celebrate their 100th season with a fine production of this work, and solid direction and performances help to maintain interest despite the seemingly disparate nature of these four plays.

This winter, Diana Amsterdam's CARNIVAL ROUND THE CENTRAL FIGURE brings the macabre back to New York City. In a staging by Karen Kohlhaas reminiscent of the carnal exorbitance of carnivale's heyday, featuring a cast of characters pulled straight from the murky depths of the human psyche. Carnival is a hilarious, bizarre, and poignant story of the meaning of death, of dying with dignity, and the ancient dilemma of living for a life after death. Presented by IRT Theater (Kori Rushton, Artistic Director).

BroadwayWorld.com has just confirmed that the Broadway production of David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre, starring Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight will close on November 28, 2010. The show opened on October 12th at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 W. 45th St.). Its limited engagement was scheduled to play through January 2nd, 2011.

The Incubator Arts Project presents Other Forces, an annual festival of work from some of independent theater's most innovative artists.

Unicorn Theatre and Kansas City Actors Theatre join forces to take on Conor McPherson's thrilling new Irish comedy, The Seafarer. This marks the first collaboration between the two companies, and the only collaboration in Kansas City this year between two local professional theater companies.

The 'Doctor' Is In...An Evening With Robert Picardo Two 'Sessions' Only... November 6 at 2pm and 8pm

The 'Doctor' Is In...An Evening With Robert Picardo Two 'Sessions' Only... November 6 at 2pm and 8pm

Today, 5 November, tickets go on sale for Ian Rickson's production of Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour starring the previously announced Keira Knightley and Elisabeth Moss.

Producers Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian and Tom Wirtshafter, who presented the critically acclaimed landmark production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, will next present the New York premiere of the new comedy, Mistakes Were Made, by Craig Wright with direction by Dexter Bullard. The two-character play features Academy Award-nominee Michael Shannon as producer Felix Artifex and Mierka Girten as his assistant Esther, and reunites the creative team of the Off-Broadway smash hit Bug (Bullard, Shannon and Barrow Street). The 16- week limited engagement will begin performances Friday, November 5, 2010 at the Barrow Street Theatre. Opening night is set for Sunday evening, November 14, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.