Patrese McClain

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has announced the casts for the final two plays featured in the 2022 National Playwrights Conference: House of India by Deepak Kumar and Nightwatch by Max Yu.

Syracuse Stage today announced adjustments to the schedule for the remainder of the 2020/2021 season. These adjustments include replacing previously announced shows with new titles and come in direct response to the evolving situation concerning the Covid-19 pandemic.

Black Lives, Black Words International Project, in partnership with Goodman Theatre and Artistic Directors of the Future, is proud to announce the festival line-up for "I AM…FEST: A Celebration of Women of Color in Arts, Activism and Leadership." Curated by Black Lives, Black Words Co-founders Reginald Edmund and Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway, "I AM…FEST" is a first-of-its-kind international festival that shines a spotlights on female voices across the globe through three days of innovative and inspiring events.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the lineup for the 2017 IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including Tuvalu, or The Saddest Song by Antoinette Nwandu; This Land Was Made by Tori Sampson; Spin Moves by Ken Weitzman; Tell Them I'm Still Young by Julia Doolittle; Wolf Play by Hansol Jung; and Suspension by Kristiana Rae Colon.

Victory Gardens Theater announces the lineup for the 2017 IGNITION Festival of New Plays, including Tuvalu, or The Saddest Song by Antoinette Nwandu; This Land Was Made by Tori Sampson; Spin Moves by Ken Weitzman; Tell Them I'm Still Young by Julia Doolittle; Wolf Play by Hansol Jung; and Suspension by Kristiana Rae Colon.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce casting for the final production of its 2016-17 Season, the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm.

Following hit performances of I Am My Own Wife and The Temperamentals, About Face Theatre concludes its 2016-17 Season with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm, playing now through July 1, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. The press opening is tomorrow, June 1, and BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Following hit performances of I Am My Own Wife and The Temperamentals, About Face Theatre concludes its 2016-17 Season with the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm, playing May 26 - July 1, 2017 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at Theater Wit Box Office. 

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce casting for the final production of its 2016-17 Season, the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce casting for the final production of its 2016-17 Season, the Chicago premiere of Pulitzer Prize nominee Tanya Barfield's contemporary love story BRIGHT HALF LIFE, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm.

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's newest Equity theater, announces the cast for its third production, the riotous Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight: A Comedy in Three Beds from Peter Ackerman, co-author of 20th Century Fox's hit animated film Ice Age. This contemporary sex farce is directed by William Brown, fresh off his successful run of Doubt at Writers Theatre. Brown directs a stellar cast of Broadway veterans and rising stars including Emily Tate, Peter Meadows, Patrese McClain, Shane Kenyon, Chris Sheard and Robert Spencer. Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight runs August 12-October 4 at Windy City Playhouse, 3014 W. Irving Park. Opening night is Saturday, August 15. windycityplayhouse.com/things/

The St. Louis Theater Circle has just announced the nominees for the 2013 Louie Awards, honoring excellence in professional theater. The ceremony is set to take place on March 11 at the Gaslight Theater (358 North Boyle Avenue). To reserve tickets, email stltheatercircle@sbcglobal.net.

I'm lucky enough to see over a hundred shows every year, and I'm happy to report that 2012 was an excellent year for theatre in St. Louis. So, here I am again, offering up my lists for the best productions of 2012. While I'm not going to include the touring companies that came through town this year in my listings, I'd like to give them a shout out just the same.

Entering its 12th year, Collaboraction's SKETCHBOOK festival has expanded to include 5 programs of world premiere theatre in rotating rep in Collaboraction's two venues in the Flat Iron Arts Building.

Entering its 12th year, Collaboraction's SKETCHBOOK festival has expanded to include 5 programs of world premiere theatre in rotating rep in Collaboraction's two venues in the Flat Iron Arts Building.

With NO CHILD, playwright Nilaja Sun brings to light the troubling failure of the "No Child Left Behind" program. It's a fascinating look at one teacher/artist's attempt to reach a group of student who describe themselves as the worst in the school. Conceived as a one woman play, the work gives an actress the opportunity to portray a number of characters from teachers, to students, to the principal herself, as well as a sage old custodian who acts as a sort of narrator for this play within a play within a play. The Black Rep's thoughtful production is superbly performed and directed, and is so socially relevant that it demands to be seen.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM is one of the few Shakespearean plays that's considered totally original, not owing its story to any other source other than the Bard's imagination. It's a delightful romantic comedy with fun, supernatural elements, and unlike his many tragedies and histories, nobody dies. In the hands of The Black Rep, it's been transformed into an absolutely funkadelic experience. Director Chris Anthony has set this version in the 1970's, and as such, it's filled with wildly colored clothing from that period, and features snippets of dialog and music anyone who grew up in that era will recognize. It's also superbly performed.

RUINED is one of those plays that lingers in your mind long after it's over. There's a reason that playwright Lynn Nottage won the Pulitzer Prize for drama with this powerful story, and once you've seen it yourself, it may well haunt you too. Because, even though this tale about the plight of civilians caught in a civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may seem far removed from your own sense of reality, the kinds of atrocities that are being related here are still happening all around the world, and with far-reaching consequences. The Black Rep's current production of this disturbing and harrowing work is buoyed by fine performances and insightful direction.

Twenty-two St. Louis theater companies are represented in the nominations for the Sixth Annual Kevin Kline Awards. Thirty plays and musicals produced in the St. Louis area during 2010 now share 112 nominations in 22 different categories for the coveted award.