Samuel Beckett News

James Wolk, who recently appearded in USA's POLITICAL ANIMALS, has officially signed on to join Robin Williams in CBS' upcoming comedy pilot CRAZY ONES.

The American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theater Training continues its 2012-13 Season with Will Eno's The Flu Season, directed by Marcus Stern. The production runs February 22, 23, 27, 28, March 1 and 2 at7:30pm at the Zero Church Street Performance Space, Harvard Square, Cambridge.

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 14th season with Eugene Ionesco's THE CHAIRS, in a new translation by Rob Melrose. This tragic farce, in the tradition of Cutting Ball's hit productions of Ionesco's The Bald Soprano (2010) and Victims of Duty (2008), is as comedic as it is heartbreaking. Annie Elias (Tenderloin) directs THE CHAIRS, featuring David Sinaiko, Tamar Cohn, and Derek Fischer, March 1 through 31 (Press opening: March 7) at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco. For tickets ($10-50) and more information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

Robin Williams is set to star in the upcoming pilot, CRAZY ONES, for CBS, TV Line announced today.

The Catastrophic Theatre's fifth anniversary season is also the twentieth anniversary of artistic director Jason Nodler and associate director Tamarie Cooper's first collaboration for the stage. And if that weren't cause enough for celebration already it is also Catastrophic's inaugural season in its new facility at 1119 E. Freeway.

If you watch Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot," you're going to want to think about it. Don't. In the words of the classic play's title, wait. The key to appreciating this much-debated work comes in the audience's willingness to take it as is. Vladimir and Estragon sit by a bare tree, looking for ways to pass the time while they wait for a man named Godot. Time has given us the advantage in that we already know Godot will never appear. You're going to be tempted to dwell on why he doesn't appears and what he represents, and when you actually experience the play for the first time, you're going to want to know who these ridiculously unrealistic characters really are.

This March at Jermyn Street Theatre, Christopher Timothy stars in the first major revival of Graham Greene's 1953 drama The Living Room for sixty years. This powerful and shocking story of sex, sin and guilt was Greene's first work for the stage and prompted the critic Kenneth Tynan to describe it as 'The best first play of its generation'. At the time it launched the career of a young Dorothy Tutin and enjoyed acclaimed runs in the West End and Broadway.

Violinist and artistic director Gil Morgenstern's acclaimed Reflections Series continues the 2012-2013 season on Tuesday, February 26 and Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 7:30pm with The Voice of the Violin, Part 2. Celebrating five years of innovative programming in its intimate home at WMP Concert Hall (31 East 28th Street, NYC), Morgenstern will be joined by pianist Benjamin Hochman. The Voice of the Violin, Part 2 expands on the theme of Gil Morgenstern's opening concert at WMP in 2010. Mr. Morgenstern has crafted a second program showcasing the singularly expressive range of the violin and the diverse manner in which composers have exploited it. The program includes: Beethoven's Violin Sonata No. 1 in D Major; Webern's Four Pieces for violin and piano, Op. 7; selections from Bach's Partita in E Major for solo violin; Eugene Ysaÿe' Obsession: Prelude from Sonata No. 2 for solo violin; selections from Bartók's Improvisations on Hungarian Peasant Songs; and Ravel's Tzigane.

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will star on Broadway in a limited season repertoire of Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, directed by Sean Mathias, in the fall of 2013.

National Theatre Wales's third season will include four new productions by Welsh writers alongside four residencies - in Butetown, Cardiff; in Japan; on Anglesey and in Treorchy - and two large-scale productions - a touring gig with Neon Neon's Gruff Rhys & Boom Bip, and an adaptation of Terry Jones' children's book Fairy Tales staged at Cardiff Castle.

Multiple Tony Award-winner JULIE TAYMOR will direct and ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL will compose original music for William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the inaugural production in Theatre for a New Audience's first home in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District, 262 Ashland Place between Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Streets. Previews begin October 19, 2013 for an opening November 2.

Today in 1957 Waiting for Godot opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, where it ran for 6 performances. An absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, it revolves around two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, who wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere. Since its US premiere in 1956, several notable revivals have been produced, including the 1988 production featuring Robin Williams and Steve Martin, and the 2009 revival starring Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin.

The Theatre School at DePaul University proudly presents LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY, based on the book by Gary D. Schmidt, adapted by Cheryl L. West, and directed by John Jenkins, as the second piece in the 2012-2013 Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences Series. This production opens today, January 19, and runs through Saturday, March 2, 2013, at DePaul's historic Merle Reskin Theatre.

Today, January 18th Tides Theatre Company will open their new home with a bold interpretation of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Director Jennifer Welch takes a modern eye to the Hubbard Family and their insatiable hunger for wealth and dominance.

Akvavit Theatre presents two Chicago and one United States premieres of the work of Europe's most-produced living playwright, Norway's Jon Fosse, under the unified title of Gjenganger, February 28 - March 24, 2013 at the DCASE Storefront Theater, 66 East Randolph St.

The Ornery Theatre will present an original work, Cthulhu: A Puppet Play, at local art space 14 Pews from February 14-18th. Cthulhu: A Puppet Play is based on the cosmology created by the master of horror, H.P. Lovecraft (author of seminal classics The Call of Cthulhu, The Dunwich Horror , and The Dreams in the Witch House). Borrowing from Lovecraft's themes and characters, Cthulhu: A Puppet Play uses puppets, film, and an original score to capture the feeling of impending doom intrinsic to Lovecraft's works and place it in a modern setting.

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 14th season with the adventurous RISK IS THIS…THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL, one of the only play festivals in America solely dedicated to experimental works for the stage. Pushing the boundaries of what theater can be, this year's festival features three new works and two new "Risk Translations" in staged readings. Like the 2012 edition, which featured five new "Risk Translations" of August Strindberg's Chamber Plays, which were performed this fall as part of the main stage season as Strindberg Cycle: The Chamber Plays in Rep, this year's festival offers a unique opportunity to see plays in development, alongside the artists creating them, as the works find their theatrical voice.

Previews begin on Thursday, January 10th for the World Premiere of Michael Puzzo's Spirits of Exit Eleven at The Lion Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd Street, NYC). Presented by Justin Reinsilber and directed by Frank Licato, this new American play is directed by Frank Licato and opens on January 17th at 8pm. The production runs through February 2nd. Tickets are $19.25 (which includes a $1.25 restoration charge) and can be purchased online at www.telecharge.com, by phone at 212-239-6200 / 800-432-7250 or in person at Theatre Row Box Office.

Robin Williams has officially signed on to star in Dito Montiel's upcoming film BOULEVARD, Camellia Entertainment announced this evening.