A Contemporary Theatre opens its 55th Season with Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Sweat. Hailed by The New Yorker Magazine as 'The first theatrical landmark of the Trump Era,' Sweat is the gritty, heartbreaking story of factory workers who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets, and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, and union jobs and factory machinery can disappear overnight, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a gut-wrenching fight to stay afloat. Nottage poignantly captures the roots of our current national economic insecurity; and the political fury and racial tensions in our political climate today.
TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, recipient of the 2019 Tony Award for Regional Theatre, has announced the appointment of Tim Bond as its new Artistic Director. Bond will join the company officially in March 2020, stepping in as Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley winds down his 50th and final season at the helm of the theatre he created, ending one of the longest tenures in American theatre. Kelley previously announced his retirement at the conclusion of the company's current season in June 2020. Said Bond upon accepting the appointment, a?oeI am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue Robert Kelley's great work, and to lead this spirited company into its next exciting phase.a??
La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its upcoming presentation of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival production of Cambodian Rock Band, by UC San Diego MFA Playwriting alumna Lauren Yee, directed by Chay Yew, featuring music by Dengue Fever. A co-production with Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Cambodian Rock Band will run November 12 a?" December 15 (press opening: Sunday, November 17 at 7pm) in the Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.
Love dies. Friendship never ends. GIRLS LIFE tells the story of three young women growing up in a big city. They share drunken nights out and have scandalous affairs, as they search to find their identity. After making its world premiere at Pinch 'N' Ouch back in 2016, GIRLS LIFE is back with a vengeance, illuminating the stage with powerhouse performances and poignant writing by Atlanta-native Grant McGowen.
Peter Levine's new play, APPLE, TABLE, PENNY, opened at Emerging Artist Theatre's Fall New Work Series on October 3. The production runs until October 13 at TADA Theater in mid-town and is directed by Jennifer Tuttle. Emerging Artists Theatre previously produced Levine's one-act The Gipper and his full-length play, The Kitchen Table.
Steven Dietz's Dracula stars Keith Contreras-McDonald (Dracula) and Sarah Kimberley Becker (Mina). Commissioned for A Contemporary Theatre (ACT), Steven Dietz's Dracula makes its regional premiere at ZACH this October before it premieres at ACT this fall. In Dracula, Dietz gives us a new look at this love story through Mina's perspective, looking at Bram Stoker's work with a female-focused 21st Century lens. Dracula plays The Topfer at ZACH, September 25–November 3, 2019, under the direction of playwright Steven Dietz.
Peter Levine's new play, APPLE, TABLE, PENNY, opens next week at Emerging Artists Theatre's Fall New Work Series. The limited engagement runs October 3 – 13 at TADA Theater and is directed by Jennifer Tuttle.
ACT a?' A Contemporary Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director John Langs, officially announces its 55th seasona?'a celebration of five contemporary plays including ACT's 50th Mainstage world premiere. The 2020 mainstage season will open with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sweat by Lynn Nottage, followed by The Effect, a scintillating, pill-popping love story by Lucy Prebble. Summer 2020 will feature a co-production with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts with the soaring coming-of-age musical-drama Choir Boy by the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Moonlight, Tarell Alvin McCraney. Fall at ACT will feature the world premiere of The Laugh Track by Wendy MacLeod, inspired by the true story of the first female Hollywood writer on the I Love Lucy Show. Closing the season, will be the weirdly wonderful and witty Witch by Jen Silverman, an updated version of The Witch of Edmonton, where the Devil comes to bargain for souls and things go awry when he meets up with the town outcast.
Peter Levine's humorous and poignant new play, APPLE, TABLE, PENNY, will headline Emerging Artist Theatre's Fall New Work Series. The limited run will play October 3 - 13 at TADA Theater and is directed by Jennifer Tuttle.
ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Connecticut has announced the cast for its upcoming production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Directed by Jason A. Sparks, this global phenomenon lands in Ridgefield on October 3rd with performances through November 3rd.
ACT a?" A Contemporary Theatre Dracula marks the return of award-winning playwright Steven Dietz to ACT. Dietz's bold adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic tale of terror and seduction will mark his twelfth production at ACT. An all-star cast of Seattle actors will join director John Langs, including five of ACT's Core Company Members with Brandon O' Neil in the title role.
ACT (A Contemporary Theatre) of Connecticut announces the first show of its second season, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. Following its wildly-successful inaugural season, ACT of CT will kick-off the 2019-2020 lineup with a bang a?" or shall we say a SCREAMa?" when this global phenomenon lands in Ridgefield.
A Contemporary Theatre People of the Book, a world premiere play by award-winning playwright and ACT 2018 Core Member, Yussef El Guindi,takes its audience on an emotional thrill ride of secrets, hidden truths, jealousy, and the lies we tella?"to ourselves, to the ones closest to us, and about our country.
East West Players (EWP) announces that its signature EWP Night Market fall event on Saturday, September 14, 2019 will honor actor and playwright Jeanne Sakata and actor Aaron Takahashi. EWP Night Market will feature tasting stations hosted by local restaurants, followed by an evening of performances. Proceeds of EWP Night Market support EWP's artistic and educational programs.
The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company (Tom Oppenheim, Artistic Director) has announced a limited engagement of William Shakespeare's King Lear. Under the direction of Nike Doukas, the production will feature H. Richard Green in the title role, Mark Bramhall as Gloucester, Stephen Caffrey as Kent, and David Sussman as The Fool. Opening is set for Thursday, July 18, at 8pm.
A Contemporary Theatre announces its summer production of The Year of Magical Thinking written by acclaimed reporter, essayist, and literary icon, Joan Didion.
Young People's Theatre closes their season with the world premiere of Jeff Ho's ANTIGONE, which stands as an impressive contemporary take on Sophocles' classic play. The story begins with the title character's brother Neikes (Jeff Yung) leading a breakout from the re-education facility he's held in alongside his friend Haemon (Simon Gagnon). Before he can escape and lead the demonstration against the facility in the city's sacred square, he is met by the headmistress Tiresia (Soo Garay) who allows him to leave relatively easily, swayed by the memory of his mother who's been left as a "ghost in a shell" after heavy re-education. Yung offers an intense yet endearing depiction of the rebel, and regardless of his placement within the in-the-round theatre commands attention.
