Rajiv Joseph News

What is the path we take to find love in a harsh world? Colleen Camp Productions and CRAZYface Productions LLC present a fresh new production of GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES, directed by John Hindman and starring Sara Rae Foster (Showtime's Masters of Sex) and Jeff Ward (Lifetime's Manson's Lost Girls). Rajiv Joseph's poignant and darkly comic tale about love, pain and friendship opens May 20 at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Hollywood. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Theatre Exile presents an explosive ending to their 19th season with a timely political thriller THE INVISIBLE HAND by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar. Nick, an American banker in Pakistan, is imprisoned and must trade shares when his $10M ransom can't be met. The global tale examines how society, money and power shape the good and evil within.

The Farm Theater will present Bullpen Sessions: Work of the Actor to kick-off The Artist Co-Op's Pop-Up Event, with special guests Raul Castillo ("Looking" on HBO; "Gotham" on Fox), Marin Ireland (Ironbound at Rattlestick), and Florencia Lozano ("Narcos" on Netflix) on Tuesday, June 7 from 6-8pm at the Centre for Social Innovation (601 West 26th Street, Suite 325). Admission is FREE, but seating is limited. Please RSVP at bullpen@thefarmtheater.org. 

INSIDE THE BOX by Cecilia Copeland is set for its first public presentation in the Planet Connections Festivity, with proceeds to benefit Planned Parenthood.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley closes its 2015/2016 season with the explosive new dramatic comedy, The Velocity of Autumn. This tender-hearted play by Eric Coble centers on an elderly artist locked in a volatile showdown with her family over where she'll spend her remaining years. In a wry, spirited quest to 'not go gently' into a retirement home, Alexandra barricades herself in her brownstone with enough homemade Molotov cocktails to blow the entire block sky-high as she negotiates the terms of her future with a long-estranged son who has battles of his own. The Velocity of Autumn was declared 'Wickedly funny and wonderfully touching' by Broadway World and 'A tale that could resonate with a broad range of audiences as it touches on a sobering dilemma faced by families every day' by Variety. This production will be directed by Giovanna Sardelli with performances June 1-June 26 (press opening: June 4) at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. For tickets ($19-$80) and information the public may visit www.TheatreWorks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

The CHICAGO ONE-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL (#1MPF) returns with a twist: the sixth annual event will celebrate the works of all women and women-identified playwrights and directors.

The 2016 Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were handed out last night to recipients in 18 categories, with two special awards and two honorary awards also bestowed. The Lortel Awards were distributed in a ceremony at NYU Skirball Center hosted byZachary Levi, star of Broadway's She Loves Me. This year's event was once again a benefit for The Actors Fund. BroadwayWorld is taking to backstage with the evening's winners and presenters below!

The Off-Broadway League tonight presents the 31st Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway at NYU Skirball Center. BroadwayWorld will be bringing you the full list of winners below. Stay tuned to find out who will win big!

They're dishing up some tasty Rumors at Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre - along with the bountiful buffet of Southern delicacies - while at Donelson's The Larry Keeton Theatre, the last two performances of Beth Henley's The Miss Firecracker Contest are served up this weekend, and the national touring company of Mamma Mia! winds up its weeklong stand at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center's Andrew Jackson Hall. And the intrepid Nashville Repertory Theatre Professional Interns present their very own production of Gruesome Playground Injuries.

Dallas Theater Center announced today complete details for the world-premiere of DEFERRED ACTION. A co-production with Cara Mia Theatre Co. and directed by Cara Mia's Artistic Director David Lozano, DEFERRED ACTION features company members from both DTC and Cara Mia. DEFERRED ACTION will begin previews with a Pay-What-You-Can performance on Wednesday, April 20 and will run through Saturday, May 14. Press Opening will be Today, April 29 at 8 p.m.

 Interrobang Theatre Project is pleased to conclude its 2015-16 Season, exploring "Unnatural Disasters," with the Midwest premiere of the psychological drama THE NORTH POOL by Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost*, playing May 27 - June 26, 2016 at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio 2), 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatre.org, by calling (773) 935-6875 or in person at The Athenaeum Theatre Box Office. The press opening is Sunday, May 29 at 2 pm.

The National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT) has announced eleven awards granted from their National Fund for New Musicals, a major funding program to support NAMT member not-for-profit theatres in their collaborations with writers to create, develop and produce new musicals. Now in its eighth year, the Fund will provide grants totaling $43,000 to twelve organizations across the country.

Sometimes it seems there is so much theater happening that it's difficult to keep track of it all. From personal experience, despite all the datebooks, smart phones, tablets, desktop computers and laptops...it's hard to keep everything straight in this wacky business of the show.

Theatre Exile presents an explosive ending to their 19th season with a timely political thriller THE INVISIBLE HAND by Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar. Nick, an American banker in Pakistan, is imprisoned and must trade shares when his $10M ransom can't be met. The global tale examines how society, money and power shape the good and evil within.

AMERICAN PSYCHO, which began previews on March 24th, just celebrated its Opening Night on Broadway last night, April 21, 2016, at the Gerald SchoenfeldTheatre (236 West 45th Street). The American premiere of a new musical based on the iconic novel by Bret Easton Ellis, which recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of its publication, stars Benjamin Walker (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson) as Patrick Bateman. BroadwayWorld was on hand for the special night and you can check out photos from the after party below!

Rajiv Joseph's quirky and dark love story of Gruesome Playground Injuries, an engaging drama that follows childhood friends Kayleen and Doug over the course of 30 years of physical and emotional bumps and bruises - will be presented by members of Nashville Repertory Theatre's Professional Internship program April 29-30 at Nashville Public Television's Studio A.

Nashville Repertory Theatre's Professional Internship Program is proud to produce the quirky and dark love story of Gruesome Playground Injuries, an engaging drama that follows childhood friends Kayleen and Doug over the course of 30 years of physical and emotional bumps and bruises. Gruesome Playground Injuries will run April 29-30 in Studio A at Nashville Public Television

Capital Stage is proud to announce its 2016-17 Season: Love & War. Capital Stage's 12th Season, and Michael Stevenson's inaugural Season as Producing Artistic Director, explores the fierce human struggle to connect - and the turbulent forces that keep us apart. These unique stories will include Capital Stage's 3rd National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, a Pulitzer Prize and 5 time Tony Award Winner, 4 Sacramento Premieres and two theatre classics.

Over the last several years much attention has been drawn to the abduction of children and, in rare cases, their return. A short time ago, the Cleveland area had the spotlight placed on it when three young ladies, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus, were freed after their many years of captivity in the Tremont home of Ariel Castro. This event makes one of the basic tenets of MR. WOLF, now on stage at Cleveland Play House's Outcalt Theatre, quite inciting to local audiences.