New Repertory Theatre News

The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theatres that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 42nd Rolling World Premiere: Robert Caisley's Lucky Me will receive four productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2014/15 season. Lucky Me will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Core Member New Jersey Repertory Company (Long Branch, NJ, August 2 - 31, 2014), followed by performances at Core Member Curious Theatre (Denver, CO, dates TBA), Core Member Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA, January 24 -February 15, 2015), and Associate Member 6th Street Playhouse (Santa Rosa, CA January 30-February 15, 2015).

The Nominating Committee of the Independent Reviewers of New England has just announced nominees for the 2014 IRNE Awards. The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Awards, founded by Beverly Creasey of the Journal Newspapers and Larry Stark of TheaterMirror in 1997, recognize the extraordinary wealth of talent in the Boston theatre community.

BILL W. AND DR. BOB - the critically acclaimed play by Samuel Shem and Janet Surrey that Variety calls 'deeply human, audience embracing, [and] a remarkable story' will have its run extended for a third time Off-Broadway at the Soho Playhouse (15 Vandam Street), now through April 27, 2014, it has been announced by Dr. Shem and Dr. Surrey, and General Manager Darren Lee Cole.

New Repertory Theatre announces the first show in the inaugural NEXT REP BLACK BOX FESTIVAL, TONGUE OF A BIRD, MARCH 8 - 30, 2014. Directed by Emily Ranii, TONGUE OF A BIRD performs in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, in Watertown, MA. Tickets are $36 and may be purchased by calling the box office at 617-923-8487 or online at newrep.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available. The press performance is Monday, March 10 at 7:30pm.

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, announces its 40th Rolling World Premiere: Carson Kreitzer's Lasso of Truth will receive three productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2013/14 season. Lasso of Truth will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA, tonight, February 20 - March 16, 2014), followed by performances at Synchronicity Theatre (Atlanta, GA, March 20 - April 13, 2014) and Unicorn Theatre (Kansas City, MO, January 21 - February 8, 2015).

From March 7 through April 5, 2014, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England premiere of the acclaimed Off-Broadway drama THE WHALE by Samuel D. Hunter.

New Repertory Theatre announces the inaugural NEXT REP FESTIVAL: five plays and three staged readings in two Black Box Theaters, March through June, 2014, co-curated by Jim Petosa and Elaine Vaan Hogue.

New Repertory Theatre announces that Academy Award winning actress Olympia Dukakis will play Flora 'Sissy' Goforth in Tennesee Williams' THE MILK TRAIN DOESN'T STOP HERE ANYMORE, in April/May 2015. THE MILK TRAIN... is one of 10 productions featured as part of 2014-2015, New Rep's 30th Anniversary Season PARADOX: HEROES & ANTIHEROES, VIRTUES & VICES.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents DEATH OF A SALESMAN, running tonight, February 14 - March 15, 2014. The play, by Arthur Miller, will be directed by Spiro Veloudos.

San Jose Repertory Theatre announces its 2014-2015 season with two world premieres, a mix of new work and reimagined classics and larger than life characters sizzling with international flair for a theatrical journey that spans more than 2,000 years, multiple continents and spectacularly diverse music.

Stage & Screen, a collaboration between Coolidge Corner Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company that explores the depictions of shared themes in Huntington productions and acclaimed films continues its second season on Monday, March 10 at 7pm with the 2011 Cuban zombie comedy Juan of the Dead. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Becoming Cuba playwright Melinda Lopez and director M. Bevin O'Gara moderated by Huntington dramaturg Charles Haugland.

Playwright Matthew Lopez uses the Passover Seder as a framing device, paralleling the escape of the Jews from bondage in ancient Egypt with the freeing of American slaves at the end of the Civil War. A Jewish Confederate soldier returns home to navigate the new world order with two former slaves in his household, revealing long-buried secrets and resentments. THE WHIPPING MAN is a moving and thought-provoking drama with a trio of exceptional performances.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage today, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.

The Lyric Stage Company of Boston presents DEATH OF A SALESMAN, running February 14 - March 15, 2014. The play, by Arthur Miller, will be directed by Spiro Veloudos.

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, announces its 39th Rolling World Premiere: Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's The Totalitarians will receive three productions through the Network's Continued Life of New Plays Fund in 2014. The Totalitarians will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Southern Rep (New Orleans, LA, January 29 - February 23, 2014), followed by performances at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (Washington, DC, June 2 - 29, 2014) and Z Space (San Francisco, CA, November 17 - December 14, 2014).

CEW Productions, the producers of the hit off-broadway musical Mama and her boys will present a staged reading of Stopgap, a new play by Danielle Mohlman.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE presents the world premiere of THESE PAPER BULLETS!, a modish ripoff of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, adapted by Rolin Jones, with songs by Billie Joe Armstrong, and directed by Jackson Gay, March 14-April 5 at the University Theatre (222 York Street). Opening Night is Thursday, March 20.

New Repertory Theatre presents the New England Premiere of THE WHIPPING MAN, today, January 25 through February 15, 2014.