Maren Bush News

DISTRICT MERCHANTS, Aaron Posner's new adaptation of Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, explores the 'other-ness' of being outside the white male stations of power. Setting the work in post-Civil War Washington, D.C., the premiere takes a uniquely American look at race, religion, class and gender. DISTRICT MERCHANTS at the Folger Theatre is an important and compelling work that deftly balances humor among weightier, thought-provoking moments.

Check out BroadwayWorld's first look of District Merchants now playing at the Folger Theatre until July 3, 2016. 

Concluding its highly successful 2015/16 season, Folger Theatre stages the world premiere of District Merchants, a variation of Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice. Commissioned by Folger Theatre as part of the 2016 celebration of 400 years of Shakespeare and in tandem with the Folger exhibition America's Shakespeare, playwright Aaron Posner sets this new exploration of class and difference in our own political place of power, Washington, D.C., just after the Civil War.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US debut of BirdLand Theatre with the NYC premiere of WIDE AWAKE HEARTS, written by Brendan Gall and directed by Stefan Dzeparoski. WIDE AWAKE HEARTS begins performances on Thursday, January 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, February 7.  Press opening is Thursday, January 21 at 7:15 PM.  The performance schedule is Tuesday - Thursday at 7:15 PM; Friday at 8:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 8:15 PM; and Sunday at 3:15 PM. Please note: there is an added performance on Sunday, January 17 at 7:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison Avenues). Tickets are $35 ($24.50 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or go to www.59e59.org. 

59E59 Theaters  has announced the line-up of shows for Winter 2016.  All performances take place at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park & Madison Avenues). Ticket prices and performance schedules vary. For tickets, call Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 or visit www.59e59.org. 

Is there any way to understand what it is like for a person to sit at home, living in a personal hell of a cocoon and watching the world turn while there seems little hope or chance for that one person? If only for a day or as long as ten years, the time spent waiting in despair, hoping for the anticipated change that never comes, is the existential hell that many people cannot comprehend, but may only observe in others without so much an as explanation as to why or how to help. So saying, Chekhov's plays are filled with downtrodden characters facing an array of issues - inescapable sorrow rooted deep in the core of their beings that cannot comprehend anything but sadness and the gradual decay of their lives - lives so sought after and now left so bitterly complacent. So, instead of mulling over the misery of Chekhovian characters and their somewhat pitiful lives, The Cape Playhouse has decided to present to its audience a tour-de-force of Chekhov's world in a happier, more enjoyable light: through Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, winner of the 2013 Tony Award for Best Play. To say that Durang's talent in writing a play that showcases all that Chekhov can convey through his writings while allowing people to laugh at the misfortunes of others in a lighthearted way is profound, and to hereby present it on a Cape Cod stage is a treat that everyone is bound to enjoy.

The Cape Playhouse follows its sold-out run of My Fair Lady with the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Christopher Durang's laugh-out-loud comedy, directed by Shear Madness director and co-writer, Bruce Jordan, opens tonight, August 11, and runs through August 22 only.

The Cape Playhouse follows its sold-out run of My Fair Lady with the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Christopher Durang's laugh-out-loud comedy, directed by Shear Madness director and co-writer, Bruce Jordan, opens on August 11 and runs through August 22 only.

Geva Theatre Center presents Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike - Christopher Durang's laugh-out-loud, Tony Award-winning comedy, directed by Bruce Jordan. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike begins performances May 5, opens May 9, and runs in the Elaine P. Wilson Mainstage through May 31.

As the lights came up at the start of Cleveland Play House's VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE, the audience is exposed to a comfortable large morning room, backed up by a piano area, and stairs to an upstairs. On stage left is a patio, on stage right the house's entrance. Were in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in a home situated on a lake.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long present the world premiere of Ode to Joy, written and directed by Craig Lucas, which just opened last night at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. The cast features Kathryn Erbe ('Law & Order: Criminal Intent'), Roxanna Hope (Frost/Nixon) and Arliss Howard (Moneyball, Natural Born Killers). Ode to Joy is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 30. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from opening night below!

With "Tom Jones," his dramatizing of Henry Fielding's 1749 novel "A History of Tom Jones, a Foundling," Jon Jory seems less interested in making the sort of grand splash of a Humana Festival entry and more focused on having some pure fun.

After an acclaimed premiere in San Diego, Wonderlist Productions and Neighborhood Productions presents the New York Premiere of BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS by award-winning playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the production begins previews begin tonight, June 14 at New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theater. Opening is slated for June 19.

After an acclaimed premiere in San Diego, Wonderlist Productions and Neighborhood Productions presents the New York Premiere of BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS by award-winning playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the production begins previews begin June 14 at New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theater. Opening is slated for June 19.

After an acclaimed premiere in San Diego, Wonderlist Productions and Neighborhood Productions presents the New York Premiere of BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS by award-winning playwright Lila Rose Kaplan. Directed by Sarah Rasmussen, the production begins previews begin June 14 at New York Theatre Workshop's 4th Street Theater. Opening is slated for June 19.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's production of the world premiere of Jesse Eisenberg's The Revisionist, starring Eisenberg and Vanessa Redgrave, and directed by Kip Fagan, has been extended for three weeks though Sunday, April 21, at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. The Revisionist opened on February 28, and BroadwayWorld was there for the special night. Check out photos from the arrivals below!

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of St. Petersburg in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's American premiere of A Summer Day, a play written by Jon Fosse (International Ibsen Award in 2010), and directed and translated by Sarah Cameron Sunde, will end its extended run today, December 8.