Susan Smith News

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs tonight, June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.

13P, the innovative collective of 13 playwrights, is about to culminate the mission it set forth upon its founding in 2003: to produce one play by each of its members. Pulitzer Finalist, TONY Award nominee and MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship recipient Sarah Ruhl (P#13) is creating a new, chamber version of her Melancholy Play (2001) with the composer Todd Almond and Davis McCallum, who directed a version of the work in 2002.

Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie has set the 2012-2013 season at the CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In a season of contrasts - of surprising comedy and startling drama, the 2012-2013 season at the Kirk Douglas Theatre will include the magical and mystical hi-jinks of the CTG-commissioned "Elephant Room" by Trey Lyford, Geoff Sobelle and Steve Cuiffo; the acclaimed Gate Theatre Dublin production of the Beckett classic "Krapp's Last Tape" with one of Britain's greatest actors, John Hurt; the comic genius of The Second City with their unique, satirical twist on a Dickens's favorite - "A Christmas Carol: Twist Your Dickens!" written by Peter Gwinn and Bobby Mort; the world premiere of the otherworldly drama "The Nether" by the 2012 Susan Blackburn Smith prize-winning playwright Jennifer Haley; and the world premiere of the powerful boxing drama "The Royale" by Los Angeles playwright Marco Ramirez.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn and directed by Steven Cosson. Armageddon has struck and the grid is down: no TV, no radio, no internet-how will life go on?

Off-Broadway's The New Group has just announced its 2012-2013 season, featuring three world premiere productions. As the season launch in Fall 2012, Scott Elliott, Artistic Director of The New Group, directs Francine Volpe's The Good Mother, featuring Gretchen Mol. Jonathan Marc Sherman's new work Clive arrives in Winter 2013, directed by and featuring Ethan Hawke in the title role. Spring 2013 ushers in the premiere of a new musical at The New Group, Bunty Berman Presents..., by Ayub Khan Din (music, book, lyrics) and Paul Bogaev (music), directed by Scott Elliott.

Lisa D'Amour's play Detroit premiered at Steppenwolf Theatre in 2010, directed by Austin Pendleton, and was scheduled to open on Broadway in the 2011/12 season.

Mirror Stage presents the West Coast premiere reading of Mia McCullough's The Anatomy of Pain tonight, May 19 at 8pm and tomorrow, May 20 at 2pm at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre in Seattle. Feed Your Mind: The Anatomy of Pain will be directed by Suzanne M. Cohen and feature McKenzie Clifford (Maty), Ryan Dominguez (Detective Gutierrez), Macall Gordon (Grace), TRoy Johnson (Lt. Burch/Bruce), Eleanor Moseley (Nancy) and John Wray(Fredrik).

To celebrate the centennial year of the Authors League, The Dramatists Guild of America unveils archived audio unheard by the public since its initial recording. Over the next year, In the Room will host some of the most celebrated playwrights, composers and lyricists in the American theatre discussing craft while sharing their influences and experiences creating some of their most celebrated work. Currently featured is a session with Tina Howe and Sarah Ruhl, originally recorded in 2007.

Central Square Theater announces that Underground Railway Theater, one of the resident companies, has been awarded the rights to Katori Hall's The Mountaintop which finished an extended Broadway run in January. This production will now replace Tanya Barfield's Blue Door in the previously announced 2012-2013 Season.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater produces the 2011 Tony Award-winning production of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart, directed by George C. Wolfe. Wolfe, who directed the show's sold-out Broadway engagement last season, mounts the professional D.C.-area premiere of this production, which features returning Broadway cast members Patrick Breen and Luke MacFarlane, among others. Presented by special arrangement with Daryl Roth, The Normal Heart runs June 8-July 29, 2012 in the Kreeger Theater.

Mirror Stage continues reflecting the diversity of the community on stage in high quality, progressive productions that play it smart without always playing it safe with West Coast premiere reading of The Anatomy of Pain on Saturday, May 19 at 8pm and Sunday, May 20 at 2pm at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre in Seattle. Feed Your Mind: The Anatomy of Pain will be directed by Suzanne M. Cohen and feature McKenzie Clifford (Maty), Ryan Dominguez (Detective Gutierrez), Macall Gordon (Grace), Troy Johnson (Lt. Burch/Bruce), Eleanor Moseley (Nancy) and Kevin Tighe (Fredrik).

Mirror Stage will present the West Coast premiere reading of Mia McCullough's The Anatomy of Pain on Saturday, May 19 at 8pm and Sunday, May 20 at 2pm at the Ethnic Cultural Theatre in Seattle. Feed Your Mind: The Anatomy of Pain will be directed by Suzanne M. Cohen and feature McKenzie Clifford (Maty), Ryan Dominguez (Detective Gutierrez), Macall Gordon (Grace), Troy Johnson (Lt. Burch/Bruce), Eleanor Moseley (Nancy) and John Wray(Fredrik).

Award-winning theatre company, Son of Semele Ensemble (SOSE), will present the West Coast premiere of Sheila Callaghan's Roadkill Confidential: A Noir-ish Meditation On Brutality, opening June 8 at the Son of Semele Theater in Silver Lake. This biting satire about the connection between voyeurism, sadism, and paranoia is a hilarious and exhilarating mash-up of styles and genres.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University has announced the 2012 five-play repertory for its 22nd season of producing and developing new American theater. The season will feature new plays from Johnna Adams, Bob Clyman, Neil LaBute, Evan M. Wiener, and Bess Wohl. The four-week festival, consisting of 94 performances and other programming, will be held July 6 - 29 in Shepherdstown, WV.

Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, announces its new season of exciting plays created by a diverse group of playwrights who have collectively earned three Pulitzer Prizes, multiple Tony and Olivier Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Academy Award.

Central Square Theater and its resident companies, The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater, have announced their 2012-2013, and 5th anniversary, season.

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn and directed by Steven Cosson. Armageddon has struck and the grid is down: no TV, no radio, no internet-how will life go on?

Pipeline Theatre Company will present THE ASH GIRL by Tony Award nominee Timberlake Wertenbaker (Our Country's Good). Jessika Doyel will direct this unconventional adaptation of Grimm's Cinderella tale. Previews begin April 18 at The Connelly Theater with opening slated for April 21.