Amro Salama

The annual ORIGINKC Festival of new plays presented by the Kansas City Repertory Theatre kicked off Friday, May 3 with a baffling yet engrossing piece titled 'Unreliable' by playwright Dipka Guha. 'Unreliable' explores the characters and relationships between three individuals who are initially presented as a female attorney, a man held without formal charge as an enemy combatant, and the attorney's Mother.

2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, Oslo, by J.T. Rogers, is Repertory Theatre St. Louis' artistic director Steven Woolf's final directing project before his retirement begins. It is the story of the Norwegian couple-an academic and social scientist, Terje, who has developed a new approach to conflict resolution, and his clever wife, Mona, who is a dignitary in the office of the Foreign Ministry-who together initiated and facilitated clandestine peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1992 and 1993; talks that would highlight the past and decide the futures of two peoples, each having reasonable grievances, though each striving to find resolution.

For longtime Repertory Theatre of St. Louis artistic director Steven Woolf, Oslo is his final directing project before his retirement at the end of this season. So it's no surprise that The Rep is pulling out all the stops in its production of the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, assembling an all-star cast and design team to bring this grand political epic to The Rep stage.

In mounting Bess Welden's new play Refuge Malja, Portland Stage seeks to tell the story of contemporary Syrian war refugees in the context of history, the Holocaust, and personal conflict. Set largely in Greece and the Middle East, it intertwines the story of two journalists, their failed romance, and the struggles they have in coming to terms with past demons and the present suffering they witness. The intersection of these dramas is laden with potential for fine storytelling, but somehow Welden never manages to weave the threads into a coherent tale. Admirable in its intent, Refuge Malja remains a puzzling, under developed theatrical experience.

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces an extension of 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas adapted by David Kersnar and Althos Low, from the books by Jules Verne, directed by Ensemble Member David Kersnar. Due to high ticket demand, additional dates, August 30 - September 9, 2018, have been added. 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas plays at Lookingglass Theatre Company, located inside Chicago's historic Water Tower Water Works, 821 N. Michigan Ave. at Pearson. This marks the second and final extension of the production.

Chicago-based playwright Rohina Malik and director Ann Filmer reunite for the 'downtown debut' of Yasmina's Necklace at Goodman Theatre, running now through November 19th in the Owen Theatre. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Goodman Theatre announces the casting and creative teams for its 2017/2018 Albert and Owen Theatre season openers.

Chicago-based playwright Rohina Malik and director Ann Filmer reunite for the downtown debut of Yasmina's Necklace at Goodman Theatre, beginning October 20 in the Owen Theatre.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (RTE), Chicago's only Equity theatre dedicated to producing new work with women at the core, in association with Brian Nitzkin, announces the extension of the world premiere production of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, adapted for the stage by Jennifer Blackmer, and directed by RTE Co-Founder Karen Kessler.

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (RTE), Chicago's only Equity theatre dedicated to producing new work with women at the core, presents the world premiere of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, adapted for the stage by Jennifer Blackmer, and directed by RTE Co-Founder Karen Kessler. Alias Grace runs now through October 14, 2017, at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. The press opening is Today, September 13. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (RTE), Chicago's only Equity theatre dedicated to producing new work with women at the core, presents the world premiere of Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood, adapted for the stage by Jennifer Blackmer, and directed by RTE Co-Founder Karen Kessler. Alias Grace runs now through October 14, 2017, at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 N. Ridge Avenue in Chicago. The press opening is Wednesday, September 13. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Goodman Theatre announces the casting and creative teams for its 2017/2018 Albert and Owen Theatre season openers.

Goodman Theatre announces the casting and creative teams for its 2017/2018 Albert and Owen Theatre season openers.

Sullivan Serials has announced the release of the audiobook Emperor, a political thriller featuring voice-over actor Steve Downes as an authoritarian American ruler. The audiobook is available on commercial platforms including Amazon, iTunes and Audible, as well as on platforms used by public libraries including Access 360, Hoopla and Overdrive. Emperor is the fourth episode of the audiobook serial The American Fathers.

A new series of professionally shot web videos promoting Chicago's neighborhood theater scene is debuting online today, the work of a new non-profit named Friends of Chicago's Neighborhood Theatres. The group's plan is to release one You Tube video every two to three months as part of a new viral marketing campaign promoting Chicago theater titled 'A City of Stories.'

Rohina Malik, author of last year's Jeff Nominated The Mecca Tales and writer/performer of the powerful and popular one-woman show Unveiled, comes back to her artistic home to open 16th Street Theater's ninth season with the world premiere of YASMINA'S NECKLACE written by Rohina Malik and directed by Ann Filmer, January 21 - February 27, 2016 at North Berwyn Park District's 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, with a press opening of Today, January 28 @ 7:30 PM.

Rohina Malik, author of last year's Jeff Nominated The Mecca Tales and writer/performer of the powerful and popular one-woman show Unveiled, comes back to her artistic home to open 16th Street Theater's ninth season with the world premiere of YASMINA'S NECKLACE written by Rohina Malik and directed by Ann Filmer, tonight, January 21, through February 27, 2016 at North Berwyn Park District's 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, with a press opening of Thursday, January 28 @ 7:30 PM.

Rohina Malik, author of last year's Jeff Nominated The Mecca Tales and writer/performer of the powerful and popular one-woman show Unveiled, comes back to her artistic home to open 16th Street Theater's ninth season with the world premiere of YASMINA'S NECKLACE written by Rohina Malik and directed by Ann Filmer, January 21 - February 27, 2016 at North Berwyn Park District's 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, with a press opening of Thursday, January 28 @ 7:30 PM.

Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners presents the World Premiere dramedy, COUNTER MEN written by Chuck Faerber, directed by Richard Kuhlman.