Ensemble Studio Theatre News

Canal Park Playhouse will launch THE BACK ROOM READING SERIES, a new monthly play reading series, with Susan Bernfield's TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN, directed by Portia Krieger. The reading of TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN takes place on Wednesday, April 18 at 7 PM at Canal Park Playhouse (508 Canal Street, between Greenwich and West Streets in Tribeca).

Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present the Berkshire Playwrights Lab 5th Season Gala Celebration on June 9 at 7:30pm and staged readings of new plays on July 11, July 23, August 8, and August 22 at 7:30pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center (14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, Mass.). The company will also co-present with Bard College at Simon's Rock the New York University Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program's Berkshire Musical Theatre Lab on June 24 at 2:00pm at the McConnell Theatre (Bard College at Simon's Rock Daniel Arts Center, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, Mass.).

Planet Connections and Ego Actus present SAFE by Penny Jackson, directed by Joan Kane in the 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity. Nina Foster's mom is in rehab for alcoholism, her father goes on endless business trips, she hates high school and Liz, her anorexic best friend, wants to kidnap her baby niece. What else can she do but go to meet a dangerous man? SAFE is about trying to find your way in a scary world. In keeping with the social conscious values of Planet Connections this production is in support of the National Eating Disorders Association.

The Hangar Theatre's Pilot Reading Series in NYC continues with a reading of Seeing Jerusalem, a new play by Seth Greenland. The reading is Monday, April 23rd at 7 pm at One on One Studios, 34 West 27th Street, 11th floor (between Broadway and Sixth Avenue). The reading will be directed by Roger Danforth.

Canal Park Playhouse will launch THE BACK ROOM READING SERIES, a new monthly play reading series, with Susan Bernfield's TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN, directed by Portia Krieger. The reading of TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN TANIA IN THE GETAWAY VAN takes place on Wednesday, April 18 at 7 PM at Canal Park Playhouse (508 Canal Street, between Greenwich and West Streets in Tribeca).

Red Fern Theatre Company (Melanie Moyer Williams, Executive Artistic Director, Ken Hall, Managing Director) will present the World Premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's (Lunchblocked with Ars Nova; Camp Monster at Williamstown Theatre Festival) MARCH, directed by Kel Haney(Assistant Director, Manhattan Theatre Club's Wit; Good Egg with Red Fern Theatre Company) with Scenic Design by Caite Hevner, Costume Design by Sydney Maresca, Sound Design and Original Music by Anthony Mattana, and Lighting Design by Marie Yokoyama. The production will be cast by Darragh Garvey and Stage Managed by Michal V. Mendelson. March was originally workshopped at the Bay Area Playwright's Festival and was a 2010 finalist for the Yale Drama Series Competition.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents Laughing Stock, written by PTC Artistic Director Charles Morey, March 23 - April 7, 2012.

An initial line-up of organizations that will present 2011 American Theatre Critics Association Francesca Primus Prize winning playwright Caridad Svich's new play THE WAY OF THE WATER has been announced. This work, which is about the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and its effects on human health and the environment in the US Gulf region, is being made available for local presentations during the month of April (and selected venues in May) to mark the two-year anniversary of the spill and to raise increased awareness toward health and environmental concerns, by NoPassport theatre alliance & press, an unincorporated collective dedicated to the advocacy, production and publication of works expressive of cross-cultural and aesthetic diversity in the arts.

The World Premiere production of playwright Patrick Link's Headstrong, directed by William Carden, tackles the subject of football-related brain damage. It opens April 29 at the Ensemble Studio Theatre.

Boston Playwrights' Theatre's 30th Anniversary season comes to a close with Joyce Van Dyke's story of the Armenian genocide in Deported / a dream play, presented in association with Suffolk University.

SOHO Rep announces public presentations of work from its two signature development programs: The Writer/Director Lab and The SOHO Rep Studio.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) presents the world premiere of STOREFRONT CHURCH, written and directed by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award® winner John Patrick Shanley and starring Bob Dishy, Giancarlo Esposito, Zach Grenier, Ron Cephas Jones and Tonya Pinkins. STOREFRONT CHURCH will begin previews Wednesday, May 16; officially open Monday, June 11; and play a limited engagement through Sunday, June 24 Off-Broadway as the first production to return to Atlantic's main stage Linda Gross Theater in Chelsea following completion of a historic $8.3M renovation.

Bristol Riverside Theatre concludes its 25th Anniversary Season with the Broadway mega-hit Rent by Jonathan Larsonplaying at Bristol Riverside Theatre on May 8-June 3. Directed by Jose Zayas, the cast features Julian Alvarez, Mark Willis Borum, Tracie Franklin, James LaRosa, Meera Mohan, Brendan Norton, Tyrone Roberson, Jamila Sabares-Klemm, Tara Tagliaferro, Brit West, and Nadine Zahr with local actors Michael Hogan, Joseph Michael O'Brien, and Carl Nathaniel Smith.

The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Project for New Plays on Science and Technology will tackle Post-Concussion Syndrome when it presents the world premiere of 27-year-old playwright Patrick Link's Headstrong. The play, directed by Ensemble Studio Theatre Artistic Director William Carden, begins previews April 18 for an opening April 30 at The Ensemble Studio Theatre, 549 West 52nd Street.

People's Light & Theatre presents John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, running through March 25, 2012 on the Main Stage.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents Laughing Stock, written by PTC Artistic Director Charles Morey, March 23 - April 7, 2012.

Greenway Arts Alliance has announced the world premiere production of THE BEWILDERED HERD by LA Weekly Award and Ovation Award nominee Cody Henderson, directed by Laurie Woolery. There will be two preview performances on April 12 and 13, and opening night is set for Saturday, April 14 at 8:00. The limited engagement will run through Sunday, May 6.

Annie Elias brings her years of experience in documentary theater to Cutting Ball with the World Premiere of TENDERLOIN, a piece about the people and places in Cutting Ball Theater's neighborhood. Written by Annie Elias, with theater documentarians Tristan Cunningham, Siobhan Doherty, Rebecca Frank, Michael Uy Kelly, Leigh Shaw, and David Sinaiko (with additional writing by David Westley Skillman), and directed by Elias, TENDERLOIN plays April 27 - May 27 at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco.

The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle has announced the winners and special awards for excellence in Los Angeles and Orange County theatre for the year 2011. The 43rd Annual Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards ceremony took place Monday, March 19 at A Noise Within in Pasadena, and was co-hosted by Jason Graae and Lesli Margherita.

The Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Science and Technology Project awarded commission grants today for new plays to ten playwrights and two theatre companies to develop new works exploring science and technology.