The Actors Theatre News

Black Box Acting, Chicago's premier actor training program, today announced a change in ownership. Andrew Cutler, Amanda Fink and Eric Gerard will succeed co-founders and longtime co-owners Audrey Francis and Laura Hooper. Black Box will remain at its current headquarters at 2625 W. North Ave. near Chicago's Logan Square, Wicker Park and West Town neighborhoods. Francis and Hooper will remain active in the organization.

After his hit production of King Charles III, David Muse returns to Shakespeare Theatre Company to direct Shakespeare's Richard the Third, a mesmerizing chronicle of the megalomaniac's rampage to the throne. The production will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 5-March 10, 2019.

Shattered Globe Theatre and Theater Wit are pleased to present the Chicago premiere of Will Eno's heartbreaking new comedy THE REALISTIC JONESES, directed by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler, who has directed the Chicago premieres of four of Eno's plays.

Mark St. Germain's Gertrude and Claudius, based on the novel by John Updike, commissioned and produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF runs from February 20 - March 23, 2019. Gertrude and Claudius will play in repertory with Shakespeare's Hamlet. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

Actors Theatre of Louisville announces Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol, based on the book by Charles Dickens, adapted by Barbara Field and directed by Drew Fracher. Celebrate the warmth of the holidays with Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. A beloved tradition for more than four decades and the nation's second-longest continuously running production of A Christmas Carol, Actors Theatre's rendition of Dickens' classic tale is brought to life with visual splendor and joyous music. A Christmas Carol will play November 20-December 23 in the Pamela Brown Auditorium.

Actors Theatre of Louisville announces The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough, onstage from November 15-December 23. Described last year as "the adventurous yuletide theater-goers should check out!" by Arts Louisville, Sedaris's holiday tale will play to new audiences with an increased number of performances, in the 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. The Santaland Diaries is brought to you in part by BB&T.

American Theater Group proudly announces the full cast and creative team for its World Premiere production of Tell Them I'm Still Young, a new play by Julia Doolittle, at the South Orange Performing Arts Center January 24 - February 3, 2019. Joining the previously announced Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Streets, Men of a Certain Age, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) and Michele Pawk (Hollywood Arms, Hairspray, Mamma Mia) are Janice Amaya (Seen/Unseen) and Seth Clayton (The Madrid).

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) presents How to Write a Musical That Works, part 1: The World and The Want, the first workshop in a 3-part series. One of the programs in TRU Beginnings: Opportunities for Early Development of New Work, it will take placeon Sunday, December 9, 2018.

Artists at Play's production of Two Mile Hollow by Leah Nanako Winkler will be extending due to popular demand. The story of the very White Donnelly family is told with an all-Asian American cast and presented by Artists at Play (AAP) as part of a series of world premieres across the country, each receiving much critical acclaim. AAP's production of Two Mile Hollow will now perform through Nov. 11 at the Lounge Theatre. Tickets are available online at http://bit.ly/AAPTMH.

Actors Theatre of Louisville announces The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough, onstage from November 15-December 23. Described last year as 'the adventurous yuletide theater-goers should check out!' by Arts Louisville, Sedaris's holiday tale will play to new audiences with an increased number of performances, in the 159-seat Victor Jory Theatre. The Santaland Diaries is brought to you in part by BB&T.

Actors Theatre of Louisville announces Fifth Third Bank's A Christmas Carol, based on the book by Charles Dickens, adapted by Barbara Field and directed by Drew Fracher. Celebrate the warmth of the holidays with Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. A beloved tradition for more than four decades and the nation's second-longest continuously running production of A Christmas Carol, Actors Theatre's rendition of Dickens' classic tale is brought to life with visual splendor and joyous music. A Christmas Carol will play November 20-December 23 in the Pamela Brown Auditorium.

Actors Theatre of Louisville and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore are thrilled to announce the return of Fifth Third Bank's Dracula, in the Bingham Theatre from September 7-October 31, 2018. With fangs bared and eyes aglow, Louisville's favorite vampire is back! Based on Bram Stoker's gothic tale of the immortal Transylvanian count and his unexpectedly feisty human prey, this fast-paced, fright-filled adaptation is a Halloween treat that drips with suspense-and even more blood.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin previews for the MOBILE UNIT's production of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM on Sunday, October 28. Directed by Jenny Koons, the free sit-down run of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM follows a three-week tour to five boroughs bringing Shakespeare to audiences who have limited or no access to the arts. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM will run through Saturday, November 17 with an official press opening on Friday, November 2.

THE BITTER GAME,  a 'high-impact' immersive theater experience ripe with pain, poetry, and laughter that explores the experience of being black in America, debuts at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday, November 14 through Saturday, November 17, 2018, outdoors on The Wallis' Promenade Terrace.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2018-19 season with the regional premiere of Tracy Thorne's, "Good Children." CRT Artistic Director, Michael Bradford, will direct. Performances will be held in the Studio Theatre from October 25th - November 4th, 2018. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113. "Good Children" continues Artistic Director Michael Bradford's commitment to producing new work.

Get a first look below at Actors Theatre of Louisville's production of A Doll's House, Part 2, onstage from October 2 - November 4, presented as part of the Brown-Forman Series. Obie Award-winning playwright and Humana Festival alumnus Lucas Hnath's work takes the stage in Louisville once again with A Doll's House, Part 2, imagining protagonist Nora's return 15 years after the final, iconic moments of Henrik Ibsen's seminal masterpiece A Doll's House.

Actors Theatre of Louisville presents A Doll's House, Part 2, onstage through November 4, presented as part of the Brown-Forman Series. Obie Award-winning playwright and Humana Festival alumnus Lucas Hnath's work takes the stage in Louisville once again with A Doll's House, Part 2, imagining protagonist Nora's return 15 years after the final, iconic moments of Henrik Ibsen's seminal masterpiece A Doll's House.

The Kesselring Prize, the annual $25,000 award to a rising U.S. playwright, will be given this year to the James Ijames, it has been announced by The National Arts Club, which has bestowed this prestigious honor since 1980. 

Actors Theatre of Louisville is thrilled to announce the upcoming production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time from September 18 - October 10, 2018, presented as part of the Brown-Forman Series. In this Tony Award-winning adaptation of the bestselling novel, autistic teenager Christopher investigates the mysterious death of his neighbor's dog after he's wrongly accused of the crime.

Broken Nose Theatre is pleased to launch its seventh season with the world premiere dark comedy PLAINCLOTHES, written by company member Spenser Davis* and co-directed by Kanome Jones and Davis. Developed with much of the team behind BNT's runaway 2017 hit At The Table, PLAINCLOTHES will play November 9 - December 15, 2018 at its resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood.