Jon Lawrence Rivera News

Latino Theater Company and Playwrights’ Arena will present the world premiere of an epic World War II odyssey inspired by an astonishing, little-known true story.

Join Playwrights' Arena for their Annual Gala on April 28, 2024. Celebrate the art of playwriting and support the development of new plays in this festive event.

L.A.’s Latino Theater Company has unveiled its 2024 Spring Season. See full programming and learn how to purchase tickets.

Playwrights’ Arena and Los Angeles LGBT Center are presenting the world premiere co-production of THREE by Nick Salamone. Check out production photos here!

Rubicon Theatre has announced a special benefit staged reading of J FOR J, a poetic, powerful and poignant family story written by Jenny Sullivan and Barry Sullivan and directed by Jenny Sullivan.

Playwrights' Arena and Los Angeles LGBT Center have announced the world premiere co-production of THREE by Nick Salamone. Learn more about the upcoming show here!

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) announced the results of its 2023 Executive Board election at its Annual Membership Meeting on Monday night, November 13.

Artemisia Theatre, Chicago's feminist theatre dedicated to empowerment of women and female-identifying people through outstanding performances, is excited to announce its Fall production, 'A Hit Dog Will Holler.' 

Discover how the Colony Theatre has responded to crisis and embraced resilience in the face of challenges. Gain insights into their strategies and learn about the performing arts sector's adaptation in uncertain times.

Next up at A Noise Within, Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman beginning April 1, 2023 (with previews starting March 26th). Michael Michetti directs this classic two-hander with Adrián González and Ed F. Martin. Ed, a familiar face on the Los Angeles stages, managed to squeeze out some time between rehearsals to answer a few of my queries.  

An unusual coalition of management and labor launched a kick-off event on Friday, January 27 to secure budgeting for SB 1116, the groundbreaking arts funding bill that passed the state legislature and was signed into law last year, but remains unfunded in the most recent budget. See photos from the event.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE has released production photos from the California premiere of the hilarious KIM’S CONVENIENCE, written by Ins Choi and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera. KIM’S CONVENIENCE begins previews on Wednesday, September 21; will open on Sunday, September 25 at 5:30pm and perform through Sunday, October 9, 2022 at the Laguna Playhouse.

Taffeta’s dialog is often an attack on the audience rather than a composition about Lincoln.  A passive character study with a blow-horn built in so that you don’t doze off into your own fantasy about who she is and what SHE represents.

LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE opens its 2022-2023 season with the Orange County premiere of the hilarious KIM'S CONVENIENCE, written by Ins Choi and directed by Jon Lawrence Rivera.

Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights’ Arena join creative forces to present their second world premiere offering, Boni B. Alvarez’ APARTMENT LIVING opening March 12, 2022, live at the Skylight Theatre. Jon Lawrence Rivera directs the cast of Gabriel Leyva, Geri-Nikole Love, Charrell Mack,  Gigette Reyes, Andrew Russel and Rachel Sorsa. I had the opportunity to field a few queries to Boni on APARTMENT LIVING and his previous relationships with Skylight and Playwrights’ Arena.

Advancing to their second World Premiere this season, live performance returns to the stage at Skylight Theatre on March 12th, in partnership with Playwrights' Arena. Award winning playwright Boni B. Alvarez captures the pulse of the times we’re living in as he gives audiences a bird’s eye view of Apartment Living.

Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights' Arena announce the cancellation of Fluff by Sigrid Gilmer, originally scheduled to be the second show of their collaborative season. Uncertainty about the Omicron variant and its impact on mounting the production were cited as reasons for the schedule change.

In partnership, Skylight Theatre Company and Playwrights' Arena have launched the first of four World Premiere productions for the 2021/2022 Season with Inda Craig-Galván's play A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER. Read my interview with her about the process of bringing the play to life onstage at the Skylight Theatre.

The play explores the friendship between Gina, a self-proclaimed “wordsmith” whose liberal “activism” channels through her popular podcast and a pending book deal, and Dru, the young “Banksy of the Black Lives Matter movement”.

This partnership with Gary Grossman's Skylight Theatre Company and Jon Lawrence Rivera's Playwrights' Arena realizes a simpatico focus on nurturing and developing playwrights and their new works.