Howard Shalwitz News

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has announced new trustees and an updated list of officers for its board of directors.

National New Play Network will host its second fully virtual Annual Conference this Friday June 11 and Saturday June 12. The event - free and open to the public - is hosted on the Hopin event platform.

Theater J, the nation's largest and most prominent Jewish theater cancels all previously scheduled in-person programming through May 2021 due to the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today's subject was kind enough to give me an hour of his time in the balcony of the place he lived his theatre life for almost 40 years.  I'm sure there isn't a person here in DC who would argue that Howard Shalwitz was one of the most influential minds in the DC theatre community as the Artistic Director of Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. Under Shalwitz, Woolly Mammoth produced some of the most thought provoking, wild, and sometimes shocking pieces of theatre this area has ever seen. Shalwitz stepped down in 2018 and the company is now run by Maria Manuela Goyanes. Mr. Shalwitz remains as Artistic Director Emeritus.

The Jewish Plays Project (David Winitsky, Artistic Director) is proud to announce that In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi has won the 2019 Jewish Playwriting Contest.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, in association with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and Stanford University's National Center for New Plays, announce the 14th Annual MFA Playwrights' Workshop. The Kennedy Center will host more than 60 theater-makers from July 27-August 4, 2019 as part of the week-long Workshop featuring new works by graduate students or recent MFA graduates from the University of California, San Diego, Iowa Playwrights' Workshop, Boston University, National Theatre School of Canada, and Brown University. 

Today's subject Mike Daisey is probably best known here in the DC area for his many magnificent monologues that he has performed at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. These appearances include The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, How Theater Failed America, and The Trump Card. He is currently living his theatre life at Arena Stage where he is performing his epic A People's History as part of Capital Fringe's Curated Series. The show runs through July 21st.

DirectorsLabChicago, in partnership with Haven and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, are the recipients of a $5,000 grant from Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) to support a series directing master classes to be presented free of charge in different Chicago neighborhoods throughout the 2019-20 season. The grant is one of 17 projects receiving a total of $320,000 in sector-building funds from DCASE as part of the 2019 Year of Chicago Theatre initiative.

Notable for being the final selection of Woolly's incomparable Founding Artistic Director Howard Shalwitz, Rajiv Joseph's 'Describe the Night' is a must-see for any serious DC area theatergoer

Wild Home: An American Odyssey is a new theatre project by Notch Theatre Company that brings to the stage the hopes, struggles, and experiences of local communities in areas under serious threat from extractive industries. After Wild Home's recent performance in The North Fork Valley of Colorado, Ashley Teague, Artistic Director of Notch Theatre Company and playwright Jessica Kahkoska discuss the program and look to its next steps.

In Conversation with Ashley Teague of Notch Theatre Company and Jessica Kahkoska about Wild Home: An American Odyssey

Stripped Scripts ('Tomorrow In The Battle, an Ars Nova Fling), in association with Long Island City Artists Inc. and The Plaxall Gallery ('Garden Of Delights'), has announced that it will present Aaron Posner's STUPID F##KING BIRD, a satirical spin on the Chekhov's classic text, 'The Seagull', directed by Adam Knight ('In The Room, 'Naperville'), running July 6th - July 21st, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays 8pm at The Plaxall Gallery (5-25 46 Avenue, Long Island City).

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the third production of its 2017-2018 season, Familiar. Written by Danai Gurira and directed by Theatre J artistic director Adam Immerwahr, Familiar will run from February 5 to March 11, 2018.

Everyday Inferno Theatre Company is thrilled to announce their production of Carol Lashof's The Melting Pot will play a limited run at The Access Theater in March. The play, directed by Alex Keegan and produced by Ana?s Koivisto and Katherine Sommer, features John Blaylock (The Metropolitan Playhouse), Matt DaSilva (Beauty and the Beast National Tour), Ty Gaines, Maya Jasmin (Manhattan Repertory Theatre), Franz Jones (Big River, Original Broadway production), Isaac Allen Miller, Talia Reich, and Rochelle Slovin (Russian Arts Theatre).

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the third production of its 2017-2018 season, Familiar. Written by Danai Gurira and directed by Theatre J artistic director Adam Immerwahr, Familiar will run from February 5 to March 4, 2018.

On Sunday, November 5, The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts hosted the 25th Anniversary Cabaret Dinner + Auction, the premiere event of the organization's milestone year. Held for the first time at the Ritz Carlton Washington, this year's Cabaret brought together around 500 artists, supporters, and friends of The Theatre Lab to enjoy great food and entertainment, and raise money to support educational programs. Through the generosity of guests, the evening raised more than $325,000 to bring the transformational power of theatre education to low-income children and teens, incarcerated and at-risk youth, homeless women in recovery, LGBTQ teens, older adults, wounded veterans, and more.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company announces the second production of its 2017-2018 season, The Second City Presents Nothing to Lose (But Our Chains). Written by Felonious Munk and directed by Anthony LeBlanc, Nothing to Lose (But Our Chains) will run from November 11 to December 31, 2017.

Today's subject Kimberly Gilbert is currently living her theatre life onstage at one of her local theatrical homes. She portrays the slightly deranged, tux shirt-wearing arsonist Billie Irons in The Arsonists at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company. The production plays through October 14th.

Do you ever feel like we're all just sitting around watching the world burn? If you would like to do that in the presence of like-minded theatre goers, then head down to Woolly Mammoth and experience the sensation that is THE ARSONISTS. Written by Max Frisch in 1958 and commonly interpreted as a metaphor for the rise of Communism and Nazism, this new translation by Alistair Beaton directed by Michael John Garc s feels frighteningly contemporary.