Touchstone Theatre News

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors)

La MaMa ETC is proud to present, as part of its Poetry Electric Festival, a revival performance of FOOD OF LIFE, written and performed by Clea Rivera, and directed by Sara Berg, with live music accompaniment by Harry Mann and Red Wierenga. Performance will be on Sunday, October 4, at 5:30 PM at 74A East 4th St., NYC.

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic Theatre Ensemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors)

New York's OBIE Award-winning Epic TheatreEnsemble (Zak Berkman, Melissa Friedman, Ron Russell, Founding Executive Directors) has announced its 9 th Anniversary Season of new works: the world premiere of Mahida's Extra Key To Heaven by Russell Davis, and the New York Premiere of Passion Play by Sarah Ruhl. Also scheduled is Shakespeare Remix MacBeth a collaboration with Epic's unrivaled After School Shakespeare Program at Chelsea High School.

Between May 11-16 Sandglass Theater will be hosting acclaimed actress and dancer, Lyena Strelkoff who will be in Putney to perform Caterpillar Soup, a searingly honest, irreverently funny, and irresistibly uplifting play about her life after a spinal chord injury.

This February, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia is celebrating the theatre community's commitment to the development of new works. The month of February will be the perfect time to check out a Premiere in America's First Great Theatre City! There are a number of fully staged productions running throughout the month, as well as readings, workshops and discussions. In the coming weeks the Theatre Alliance will be sending information highlighting new play development activities happening in February throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. Stay tuned for our weekly updates about what is coming to your local stages!

This February, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia is celebrating the theatre community's commitment to the development of new works. The month of February will be the perfect time to check out a Premiere in America's First Great Theatre City! There are a number of fully staged productions running throughout the month, as well as readings, workshops and discussions. On Monday, February 23, starting at 6:00 PM, the Theatre Alliance is hosting a celebration party, sponsored by Philadelphia Weekly, to honor the new works being developed and premiered right here. While the Theatre Alliance has devoted February to new play development, this commitment to producing new works is not limited to any one month of the year. This past December, the Theatre Alliance of Greater Philadelphia commissioned a Theatre Snapshot report, with funding, guidance and support from The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage through the Philadelphia Theatre Initiative and additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. This Theatre Snapshot report, based upon data in the Pennsylvania Cultural Data Project (PACDP), found that, in 2006, 81 world premieres were presented in Philadelphia; a total that accounts for 26% of all productions. This total is significantly higher than the 12% proportion of world premieres-to-total productions from a comparative set of TCG theatres. In addition, 2006 boasted 63 workshops or readings of new works and Philadelphia Theatres also commissioned 17 new works.

Writers' Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce William Inge's Picnic directed by David Cromer. The production runs September 16-November 16, 2008, at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (David Van Asselt, Artistic Director; Sandra Coudert, Managing Director) presents the New York premiere of a provocative new play by Christopher Denham (star of Red Light Winter), directed by Adam Rapp (Red Light Winter, 'Winter Passing').