Naomi Iizuka News

Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA) has announced its 2014/15 season: George Orwell's Animal Farm, adapted for the stage by Althos Low, directed by SYA Artistic and Educational Director Hallie Gordon; and the world premiere of This Is Modern Art by Kevin Coval and Idris Goodwin, directed by Lisa Portes.

The National New Play Network (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, in collaboration with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and Stanford University's National Center for New Plays, will host nearly fifty playwrights, directors and dramaturgs July 26 - August 3, 2014 as part of a week-long workshop for new works by MFA students from New York University-Tisch School of the Arts, Hunter College, University of California-San Diego, and the Juilliard School. A committee of NNPN Core Members has selected six scripts written by Hilary Bettis, Nathan Cann, Bennett Fisher, David Jacobi, Georgette Kelly, and Amy Witting. The Workshop will also feature projects by the National Theatre School of Canada's Geoffrey Simon Brown and Atlanta's Alliance Theatre's Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Prize-winner Tsehaye Geralyn Hebert.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company presents Keen Teens, the educational theatre partnership between Off-Broadway's Keen Company and the theatrical publishing company Samuel French. The writers for the program's eighth season are Kristoffer Diaz, Halley Feiffer, and Kenny Finkle, who have been commissioned to write thirty-minute, large cast plays, which will be produced with student actors Off-Broadway.

Cutting Ball Theater closes its 15th season with the American Premiere of COMMUNIQUE N°10 by French playwright Samuel Gallet, in a translation by Cutting Ball Artistic director Rob Melrose, who also helms this new work. Featuring Damien Seperi, Ponder Goddard, Maura Halloran, Wiley Naman Strasser, Paris Hunter Paul, Hugo Cabajal, and Aaron Malberg, COMMUNIQUE N°10 plays tonight, April 25 through May 25 (Press opening: May 1) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco.

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble, are proud to announce the Chicago premiere of Grounded, by George Brant and directed by Lisa Portes, June 6 - July 13 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. The running time is approximately 80 minutes. Pink Previews, where tickets sales benefit the Lynn Sage Foundation for breast cancer research, are Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, June 8 at 2:30 p.m. Opening Night is Thursday, June 12 at 7 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $19 - $49 and are available at 773.404.7336 or americanbluestheater.com.

Marin Theatre Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, will stage August Wilson's Fences, the 1950s entry into his Century Cycle (also known as his Pittsburgh Cycle) - a decade-by-decade exploration of the black experience in 20th century America. Directed by Derrick Sanders, the Pulitzer Prize and two-time Tony Award-winning play will feature veteran film and television actor Carl Lumbly as Troy Maxson, Steven Anthony Jones, the artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, as Jim Bono and award-winning actor, playwright and director Margo Hall as Rose, as well as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Eddy Ray Jackson as Cory, Adrian Roberts as Gabriel, Tyee Tilghman as Lyons and two Marin City youths - Jade Sweeney, who attends Willow Creek Academy, and Makaelah Bashir, Bayside Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy - splitting the role of Raynell.

Cutting Ball Theater closes its 15th season with the American Premiere of COMMUNIQUE N°10 by French playwright Samuel Gallet, in a translation by Cutting Ball Artistic director Rob Melrose, who also helms this new work. Featuring Damien Seperi, Ponder Goddard, Maura Halloran, Wiley Naman Strasser, Paris Hunter Paul, Hugo Cabajal, and Aaron Malberg, COMMUNIQUE N°10 plays April 25 through May 25 (Press opening: May 1) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco.

The readings kick off Monday, March 24 and will be held on consecutive Mondays through April 7. The readings will take place at New York City Center - Stage I (131 West 55th Street). All readings are free and open to the public, but space is limited and RSVPs are required. To RSVP, visit https://www.formstack.com/forms/?1685583-1KMR9JvsKh or call (212) 399-3000 x 4163.

Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith reveals the 2014/15 season lineup for the company's 65th season and fifth year in the Mead Center for American Theater. As a national center focused on showcasing American voices and artists, this season is designed with range through productions that are emotional, uplifting, funny and thought-provoking.

Today, in the midst of preparations for one of the nation's most influential festivals of new work, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein proudly announce Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2014-2015 Season. The 51st Season lineup will include a world-premiere reimagining of Love's Labour's Lost, the musical The Last Five Years, a production of Nina Raine's emotionally-charged drama Tribes, award-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size, and the return of Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point-a beautifully-observed portrait of Butchertown with an original score by Ben Sollee. From the exhilaration of infatuation to the heart-wrenching tale of lost love, from one person's fight to find a voice to the dreams and voices of an entire community, the lineup features powerful stories and some of the most exciting artists working in theatre today.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company today announced the Keen Teens, the educational theatre partnership between Off-Broadway's Keen Company and the theatrical publishing company Samuel French, has selected the writers for the program's eighth season: Kristoffer Diaz, Halley Feiffer, and Kenny Finkle, who have been commissioned to write thirty-minute, large cast plays, which will be produced with student actors Off-Broadway.

La Jolla Playhouse will bring back its acclaimed new play development initiative, the DNA New Work Series, a two-week run of workshops and readings of new works, taking place February 17 - March 2, 2014.

Marin Theatre Company, in association with Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, announces the casting of its spring production of August Wilson's Fences, directed by Derrick Sanders. Fences, which won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize and 1987 and 2010 Tony Awards, will feature veteran film and television actor Carl Lumbly as Troy Maxson, Steven Anthony Jones, the artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, as Jim Bono and award-winning actor, playwright and director Margo Hall as Rose, as well as Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Eddy Ray Jackson as Cory, Adrian Roberts as Gabriel and Tyee Tilghman as Lyons. MTC's production of Fences will run from April 10 through May 4.

First Floor Theater will kick off their second season with POLAROID STORIES, Naomi Iizuka's masterful mash-up of Roman myth and documentary theatre, directed by FFT Artistic Producer Hutch Pimentel, playing tonight, November 21 - December 21, 2013 at Red Tape Theatre.

First Floor Theater will kick off their second season with POLAROID STORIES, Naomi Iizuka's masterful mash-up of Roman myth and documentary theatre, directed by FFT Artistic Producer Hutch Pimentel, playing November 21 - December 21, 2013 at Red Tape Theatre. Tickets for POLAROID STORIES will be available at http://firstfloortheater.com/. Check out a first look at the cast in action below!

First Floor Theater will kick off their second season with POLAROID STORIES, Naomi Iizuka's masterful mash-up of Roman myth and documentary theatre, directed by FFT Artistic Producer Hutch Pimentel, playing November 21 - December 21, 2013 at Red Tape Theatre. Tickets for POLAROID STORIES will be available at http://firstfloortheater.com/. The press opening is Thursday, November 21, 2013 at 8:00 p.m.

Intersection for the Arts and the California Shakespeare Theater come together this fall to co-produce the Califas Festival, a six week-long immersive, story-filled play yard of music, visual art, performance, and more in the area in and around Intersection's headquarters. The Festival is the culminating event of the Califas Project, a year of multimedia creative exploration in communities around the state including productions of Richard Montoya's The River at Campo Santo this past March, and American Night at Cal Shakes in June.

Constellation Theatre has mounted a breathtakingly beautiful production of Naomi Iizuka's labyrinthine play, 36 VIEWS. The play draws inspiration from legendary Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's renowned series of woodblock prints, "36 Views of Mt. Fuji," created between 1826 and 1833. The narrative, like the 36 views, revolves around ever-shifting points of focus, leading the audience on a dizzying journey across centuries of Japanese history, art and culture. Simple this production is not, but oh what spectacular views along the way.