Walker Arts Center News

Stage Left Theatre is pleased to announce the programming for its 35th season. The season begins with the world premiere of The Bottle Tree by Beth Kander directed by ensemble member Amy Szerlong. The Bottle Tree was developed through Stage Left's Downstage Left program, at the Ashland New Plays Festival and and has received an Honorable Mention on The Kilroys List for the past two years. Next, in the winter, Stage Left and Cor Theatre present a co-production of What of the Night? by Maria Irene Fornes, directed by Carlos Murillo. This epic meditation on poverty in America was a Pultizer finalist in 1990. Cor Theatre Artistic Director Tosha Fowler says of the partnership, 'With admiration for Stage Left's longevity and the exciting opportunities they provide to artists through their strong commitment to mission, we at Cor are thrilled to announce a collaboration of theatre that is bound to leave you breathless. Combining Stage Left's strength with our fearless aesthetic, Fornes' poetically primal voice, and Carlos Murillo's passionate vision, What of the Night is going to be our biggest leap yet.' Finally, the company will present LeapFest, its annual developmental festival featuring workshop productions of new plays, at a time to be announced later.

MEN ON BOATS, the critically-acclaimed comedy which premiered at Clubbed Thumb's 2015 Summerworks Festival, announced today casting for its return this summer in a co-production by Clubbed Thumb and Playwrights Horizons.

Target Margin Theater presents The ICEMAN Lab, a radical new reimaging of The Iceman Cometh, with four diverse theater artists each tackling a separate act of the play. This fresh take on O'Neill's classic will give audiences the opportunity to see each act as a separate experiment or all together in a single sitting. The four acts of The ICEMAN Lab play a varied schedule at the HERE Arts Center (145 6th Avenue) beginning today, June 2 through June 25, with special marathon performances on June 11 and June 18.

Target Margin Theater presents The ICEMAN Lab, a radical new reimaging of The Iceman Cometh, with four diverse theater artists each tackling a separate act of the play. This fresh take on O'Neill's classic will give audiences the opportunity to see each act as a separate experiment or all together in a single sitting. The four acts of The ICEMAN Lab will play a varied schedule at the HERE Arts Center (145 6th Avenue) from June 2 through June 25, with special marathon performances on June 11 and June 18.

This April, Dancehouse, Carriageworks and the Keir Foundation present the premieres of eight works by outstanding commissioned artists for the 2016 Keir Choreographic Award (KCA), Australia's first major choreographic award. Performing in two programs over five days (April 26-30) at Melbourne's Dancehouse, the eight choreographers compete for the prestigious award and a $30,000 first-place cash prize, with four finalists to be announced on the final evening.

The Kitchen is pleased to present The Tear Drinkers, the second musical work from beloved performer and Bessie-Award-winning composer Mike Iveson. The Tear Drinkers is a suite of sci-fi songs for six performers and piano; it follows four humans who have been abducted by the United States government and brought to an underground holding tank in New Mexico, so that the government can determine which of them is actually an alien from another planet masquerading as an earthling. Downtown performer Mike Iveson leads a team of exceptional artists, including pioneering video artist Charles Atlas, in a look at the private heartaches and private bathroom rituals of humans and aliens alike.

This April, Dancehouse, Carriageworks and the Keir Foundation present the premieres of eight works by outstanding commissioned artists for the 2016 Keir Choreographic Award (KCA), Australia's first major choreographic award. Performing in two programs over five days (April 26-30) at Melbourne's Dancehouse, the eight choreographers compete for the prestigious award and a $30,000 first-place cash prize, with four finalists to be announced on the final evening.

A classic Mabou Mines feat is to take a theatrical classic, reimagine it from top to bottom, then turn it inside out; the result is a production so spanking new that the original gleams with fresh and unexpected relevance. The tradition continues in a collaboration with Trick Saddle and the 45-year old company. The two companies combine forces in the world premiere of 'Imagining the Imaginary Invalid,' inspired by 'The Imaginary Invalid,' Moliere's piercing satiric take on the pretension, gullibility and vulnerability of we poor mortals. Presented by La MaMa, a production of Mabou Mines and Trick Saddle, the play runs January 21-February 7 at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre.

A classic Mabou Mines feat is to take a theatrical classic, reimagine it from top to bottom, then turn it inside out; the result is a production so spanking new that the original gleams with fresh and unexpected relevance. The tradition continues in a collaboration with Trick Saddle and the 45-year old company. The two companies combine forces in the world premiere of 'Imagining the Imaginary Invalid,' inspired by 'The Imaginary Invalid,' Moliere's piercing satiric take on the pretension, gullibility and vulnerability of we poor mortals. Presented by La MaMa, a production of Mabou Mines and Trick Saddle, the play runs January 21-February 7 at La MaMa's Ellen Stewart Theatre.

In response to popular demand and critical acclaim, Soho Rep. and Ars Nova announce a second and final extension of the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's Futurity to November 22. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, Futurity, which opened on October 20, is a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. The production, which features 13 actor-musicians, is presented at the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.) and in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

Soho Rep. and Ars Nova present the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's FUTURITY, opening tonight, October 20, and running through November 15, 2015. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, FUTURITY is a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. The production, which features 13 actor-musicians, is presented at the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.) and in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

The Aviva Players will begin its 40th season tonight, October 16 with 'Songs, Piano Rags & Chamber Music by Women Composers, including the Piano Trio by Fanny Mendelssohn,' the first installment of a three-part concert series at Opera America, 330 Seventh Ave.  The concert will include piano rags by May Frances Aufderheide, Irene Giblin and Adeline Shepard; songs by Mira J. Spektor, and 'Vocal Duets' and 'The Piano Trio' by Fanny Mendelssohn.  The evening is presented in conjunction with Downtown Music Productions.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. and Ars Nova extend the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's FUTURITY to November 15. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, FUTURITY is a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. The production, which features 13 actor-musicians, is presented at the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.) and in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

At the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.), Soho Rep. and Ars Nova present the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's Futurity, a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, the production will feature 13 actor-musicians. The production is presented in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays. Performances begin tonight, October 6, 2015.

At the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.), Soho Rep. and Ars Nova will present the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's Futurity, a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, the production will feature 13 actor-musicians. The production is presented in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

The Aviva Players will begin its 40th season on October 16 with 'Songs, Piano Rags & Chamber Music by Women Composers, including the Piano Trio by Fanny Mendelssohn,' the first installment of a three-part concert series at Opera America, 330 Seventh Ave.  The concert will include piano rags by May Frances Aufderheide, Irene Giblin and Adeline Shepard; songs by Mira J. Spektor, and 'Vocal Duets' and 'The Piano Trio' by Fanny Mendelssohn.  The evening is presented in conjunction with Downtown Music Productions.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Sarah Benson and Executive Director Cynthia Flowers, Soho Rep. has continually produced work by bold artists who harness the intimate power of the organization's own 73-seat black box theater, as well as other spaces, to create transformative experiences. Soho Rep.'s 2015-16 season, announced today, comprises two more ambitious new works-both characterized by irreverent humor, wild theatricality, and extraordinarily inventive language-and Write with Us, a series of open-to-the-public writing workshops led by acclaimed, Soho Rep.-produced playwrights.

Peregrine Theatre Ensemble will be performing its entire 2015 season in the old high school auditorium at Provincetown Schools, 12 Winslow Street in Provincetown, MA. This allows Peregrine to transform the space into Carrie's high school in Chamberlain, Maine. During this interactive theatrical experience they invite the audience to attend prom and fully commit to the world of CARRIE the musical for a night they will never forget.

Peregrine Theatre Ensemble will be performing its entire 2015 season in the old high school auditorium at Provincetown Schools, 12 Winslow Street in Provincetown, MA. This allows Peregrine to transform the space into Carrie's high school in Chamberlain, Maine. During this interactive theatrical experience they invite the audience to attend prom and fully commit to the world of CARRIE the musical for a night they will never forget.

Aurora Theatre Company closes its 23rd season with the Bay Area Premiere of Lisa D'Amour's (Anna Bella Eema, Airline Highway) wicked Obie-winning satire about our uncertain economic times, DETROIT. Josh Costello (Wittenberg) directs this explosive dark comedy, featuring Amy Resnick (Body Awareness, Collapse), Jeff Garrett, Luisa Frasconi, and Patrick Kelly Jones (Metamorphosis), that brilliantly captures our current economic moment. DETROIT plays tonight, June 19 through July 19 at the Aurora Theatre in Berkeley.