Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Philadelphia Theatre Company presents PTC@Play, a two-week festival of new work today, February 18-March 3 at PTC's home at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets). The festival will feature staged readings of four new plays by both established and emerging playwrights, a new play with music in development starring Tony and Barrymore Award winner Forrest McClendon as African American vaudeville legend Bert Williams, and an evening of short plays, FuturePhilly@Play, by seven emerging playwrights. Each playwright will be in-residence at PTC for their reading, and every reading will conclude with a reception where audiences and artists can meet. All events are free with curtain time at 7:30 PM. A highlight of PTC@Play will be the February 18th announcement of the winner of the Terrence McNally New Play Award, a $10,000 cash prize given annually to recognize a new play that celebrates the transformative power of art.

A post-show panel discussion featuring Japanese internment historians has been added to the Sunday, February 24 performance of the acclaimed Off-Broadway play HOLD THESE TRUTHS, Jeanne Sakata's one-man show inspired by the true story of second generation Japanese-American Gordon Hirabayashi. HOLD THESE TRUTHS is in Hawaii for a limited engagement of six performances at Honolulu Theatre for Youth's Tenney Theatre, February 21 - March 2, 2013 and features acclaimed actor, Joel de la Fuente.

The Flea has gone audio with the production of Tommy Smith's NECTARINE EP, which has just been extended through February 24.

More than 50 film and television stars will perform Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues in an intimate theatrical setting for three performances only, tonight, February 14, 15, and 16 at 8pm, at the Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles.

The San Francisco Playhouse (Bill English, Artistic Director; Susi Damilano, Producing Director) launches the third season of their Sandbox Series with the world premiere, Inevitable by Jordan Puckett, Literary Manager of the San Francisco Playhouse.

The O'Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University and Northrop Dance at the University of Minnesota present Bebe Miller Company tonight, Feb 12 at 7:30 pm at The O'Shaughnessy at St. Catherine University.

New Georges (Susan Bernfield, Producing Artistic Director; Sarah Cameron Sunde, Deputy Artistic Director; Jaynie Saunders Tiller, Managing Director) will present the World Premiere of Lynn Rosen's (Apple Cove with Women's Project) GOLDOR $ MYTHYKA: A HERO IS BORN directed by Shana Gold (Food and Fadwa with New York Theatre Workshop) April 3-27 at The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street between Greenwich and Washington). Casting will be announced on Friday, February 22. Tickets will go on sale Friday, March 1.

More than 50 film and television stars will perform Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues in an intimate theatrical setting for three performances only, February 14, 15, and 16 at 8pm, at the Atwater Village Theatre in Los Angeles. Produced and directed by Sheena Metal for Ensemble Studio Theatre Los Angeles, all proceeds will benefit V-Day, A Global Movement to End Violence Against Women and Girls, and Protect.org, a national pro-child, anti-crime association committed to building a powerful, nonpartisan force for the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and neglect.

The Flea goes audio with the upcoming workshop production of Tommy Smith's NECTARINE EP. A sonic reverberation of Homer's The Odyssey - filtered through the lens of downtown artist Tommy Smith - the audio-fueled 'extended play', NECTARINE EP, de-stimulates the audience's perception through visual and auditory manipulation. This experimental production is both written and directed by Tommy Smith and features The Bats, the resident acting company at The Flea. (PLEASE NOTE: This production is not open for review.)

The Flea Theater will extend the production of THE VANDAL through March 3. Hamish Linklater's playwriting debut, directed by Jim Simpson and starring Deirdre O'Connell, Zach Grenier and Noah Robbins, opened January 31.

Marie Curie, the only person, male or female, to win a Nobel Prize in two different scientific fields, a woman who discovered two elements, polonium and radium, and a woman whose personal life was rocked by tragedy and scandal, is the subject of Shirley Lauro's New York premiere drama, The Radiant, beginning previews Thursday, February 21, at 8:00pm for an opening Saturday, February 23, at 8:00pm at the Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street.

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 14th season with Eugene Ionesco's THE CHAIRS, in a new translation by Rob Melrose. This tragic farce, in the tradition of Cutting Ball's hit productions of Ionesco's The Bald Soprano (2010) and Victims of Duty (2008), is as comedic as it is heartbreaking. Annie Elias (Tenderloin) directs THE CHAIRS, featuring David Sinaiko, Tamar Cohn, and Derek Fischer, March 1 through 31 (Press opening: March 7) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco. For tickets ($10-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

The Sundance Institute Theatre Program has begun the 2013 Playwrights Retreat at Ucross Foundation. The 13th annual writing colony at the 20,000-acre working cattle ranch outside of Sheridan, Wyo. takes place through February 22 and provides a supportive environment for artists to create new work and receive guidance and reactions to it at an early stage. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Artistic Director of the Theatre Program, and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the Playwrights Retreat is made possible through the generosity of Ucross Foundation.

Celebrate 2013, with You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up!, continuing its National Tour starring Kevin Bartini and Gabrielle Mirabella at the 14th Street Theatre at PlayhouseSquare for a limited engagement, tonight, February 5 through February 17. You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up! is a part of the U. S. Bank Star Performance Series.

Emily Walton plays the title role of Cynthia. Her Broadway credits include AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER.

The Alliance National Graduate Playwriting Competition continues to spotlight the best emerging playwrights with a full production for the competition winner and staged readings for four competition finalists. BIKE AMERICA, the ninth competition winner, will premiere on the Hertz Stage today, February 1 - 24, 2013. Opening night is February 6, 2013. BIKE AMERICA is written by Mike Lew from the Juilliard Drama Division and will be directed by Mortiz von Stuelpnagel.