Susan Smith News

From October 3 to 28, 2013 The Drilling Company will present an Off-Broadway run of its hit comedy from last season, 'The Norwegians' by C. Denby Swanson, directed by Elowyn Castle. Performances will be at The Drilling Company Theatre, 236 West 78th Street, featuring the original cast.

Critically acclaimed theatre company The Playwrights Realm presents the New York premiere of Lauren Yee's new play The Hatmaker's Wife, directed by recent OBIE Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812). The Hatmaker's Wife marks the first Playwrights Realm production at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street) in midtown Manhattan, following previous engagements in several downtown Off-Broadway venues. Previews begin tonight, August 27, for an opening Thursday, September 5.

Artists Repertory Theatre's 2013/14 season will continue our vision of finding and producing adventurous, provocative work that challenges audiences and artists alike. Next season's play offerings will enhance Artists Rep's role as Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre company by offering nine of the most cutting-edge plays available today, written by internationally prestigious playwrights, guided by esteemed directors and featuring casts who will unleash these stories onto our stages.

Theatrical licensor Music Theatre International (MTI) www.mtishows.com, has secured worldwide licensing rights to three of Broadway and Off-Broadway's most recent hits, SISTER ACT, AMERICAN IDIOT and MURDER BALLAD. The three shows are the newest productions to join MTI's global theatrical licensing catalogue.

The original New York cast -- Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, Private Practice), Beth Dixon, Virginia Kull, Kellie Overbey andLee Tergesen (Monster, Wayne's World, Weird Science) - are set for the West Coast premiere of Rapture, Blister, Burn, written by Gina Gionfriddo, in the Gil Cates Theater at the Geffen Playhouse, opening tonight, August 21, 2013 (previews began August 13).

Lark Play Development Center is proud to announce that seven plays have been chosen for its 20th annual Playwrights' Week, which will take place September 23rd - 28th.

Last week, I had the opportunity to drop in on the cast of Horse Head Theater Productions upcoming presentation of Annie Baker's THE ALIENS. Drake Simpson empathically said that the group is excited to present the Houston premiere of the play. Annie Baker is an up and coming and award winning playwright, who had her Houston premiere with Stark Naked Theatre Company's production of her first full length play BODY AWARENESS. Her second play CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION shared the 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play with her third play THE ALIENS. Annie Baker's THE ALIENS was also a finalist for the 2010 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. In March 2013, Annie Baker was awarded the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize at Houston's Alley Theatre for her fifth play THE FLICK. Needless to say, the enthusiasm surrounding this Houston premiere is high, and the cast was thrilled to chat about Horse Head Theater Company's upcoming production of THE ALIENS.

The world premiere of multi-award-winning playwright Elizabeth Kuti's FISHSKIN TROUSERS will receive a four week run at the Finborough Theatre, opening on Tuesday, 3 September 2013. The production is complemented by the return of the FINBOROUGHFORUM, a series of events, discussions and debates, both on the play itself and the current state of new writing for the theatre in the UK, following every performance on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9.00pm from 11 September 2013.

Detroit runs September 9, 2013 to October 6, 2013, with performances Tuesday-Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 3pm and 8pm (September 14 at 8pm only), and Sunday at 2pm and 7pm (September 15 at 7pm only). Monday and Tuesday, September 9 and 10, will be Pay-What-You-Can performances and begin at 8pm.

Founded in 1975, Main Street Theater is a fully professional theater which operates out of 2 spaces: the Times Blvd. location in Rice Village and the Chelsea Market space on Montrose.

Hampstead Downstairs / The Peter Wolff Trust are delighted to announce three new plays by three exciting voices in theatre today, Alexandra Wood, Deborah Bruceand Ali Taylor.

Shattered Globe Theatre has announced its 22nd Season, to be performed in its new artistic home as a resident theatre company at Chicago's Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. The 2013-14 Season kicks off this fall with Jerry Sterner's provocative play OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY, directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Emeritus Dennis Zacek. In the winter, SGT presents six-time Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD by Timberlake Wertenbaker, directed by SGT Artistic Director Roger Smart. The season concludes in the spring with Sally Nemeth's searing drama MILL FIRE, directed by Sandy Shinner. Tickets for SGT's 2013-14 Season will go sale at a future date at www.shatteredglobe.org, in person at the Theater Wit Box office or (773) 975-8150.

BODY AWARENESS tells the story of an unconventional, modern American nuclear family. Phyllis has organized 'Body Awareness Week' at the local college where she teaches. She and her partner Joyce, a high school teacher, are hosting Frank, a guest artist whose nude photos are being shown as part of the event. When Joyce's grown son Jared - who swears he doesn't have Asperger's Syndrome - turns to Frank for advice, and Joyce considers posing for Frank, tensions rise!

The play will have one performance, tonight, July 30, 2013, at 8:00pm, at the Douglas Morrisson Theatre, 22311 N. Third St. in Hayward, CA. Tickets are $10 (open seating), and are available through the Box Office at (510) 881-6777 or online at www.dmtonline.org.

Critically acclaimed theatre company The Playwrights Realm has announced the cast and creative team for the New York premiere of Lauren Yee's new play The Hatmaker's Wife, directed by recent OBIE Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812). The Hatmaker's Wife marks the first Playwrights Realm production at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street) in midtown Manhattan, following previous engagements in several downtown Off-Broadway venues. Previews begin Tuesday, August 27, for an opening Thursday, September 5.

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE (James Bundy, Artistic Director; Victoria Nolan, Managing Director) has announced that two-time OBIE Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812) will direct THE FAIRYTALE LIVES OF RUSSIAN GIRLS by 2012 Whiting Writers' Award winner Meg Miroshnik, January 31-February 22, 2014.

Thanks to a generous grant from the Time Warner Foundation, South Coast Repertory is launching its new CrossRoads Commissioning Project-a community-based initiative within the theatre's renowned new work program. As part of the project, SCR has commissioned eight playwrights, locally and nationally, to create new work inspired by residencies that explore the incredible diversity of Orange County.

From Chicago's Steppenwolf theatre comes a new x-ray of the embattled American psyche. In a "first ring" suburb outside a mid-sized American city, Ben and Mary fire up the grill to welcome the new neighbors who've moved into the long-empty house next door. The fledgling friendship soon veers out of control, shattering the fragile hold Ben and Mary have on their way of life. Winner of the 2013 Obie Award for Best New American Play and a finalist for the 2012 Pulitizer Prize, DETROIT is a fresh, off-beat look at what happens when we dare to open ourselves up to something new. DETROIT runs September 19-October 5, 2013.

To conclude its 45th season, Berkeley Repertory Theatre welcomes back a pair of acclaimed collaborators: Sarah Ruhl and Les Waters, the creators of Eurydice, Three Sisters, and In the Next Room (or the vibrator play), return to Berkeley Rep with another tale of love and longing in Dear Elizabeth.