American Place Theatre News

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) presents Fefu and Her Friends, one of the most beloved plays of the late, nine-time Obie Award-winning Cuban-American playwright and director María Irene Fornés. Lileana Blain-Cruz, winner of two Obie Awards (Suzan-Lori Parks' The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World and Jackie Sibblies Drury's Marys Seacole) stages the play in her TFANA directing debut, the first Off-Broadway revival of Fefu and Her Friends since American Place Theatre's 1978 staging. Fefu plays on the Samuel H. Scripps Mainstage at TFANA's home, Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn), November 16-December 8, 2019.

Rubicon Theatre opens the company's 22nd Season with an environmental production of the musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, opening October 26 at 7pm and continuing through November 10, 2019. Directed by Kirby Ward, with a company of 23, the production runs Wednesdays through Sundays in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District at the company's home at 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA  93001. 

The Civilians, under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Steve Cosson and Managing Director Margaret Moll, is proud to announce a series of lively and engaging post-show salons that will follow select performances of Claire Kiechel's Paul Swan is Dead and Gone. Luminaries from the world of arts and letters will speak on various themes relevant to Paul Swan's life and work including his residency in the Carnegie Hall studios, queer performance, and mid-century ideas of camps.

The Queens College Evening Readings series is back for the spring season with highly anticipated readings by acclaimed writer Brad Gooch and performer Cherita Armstrong.

Compagnia de' Colombari, an international collective of performing artists founded and directed by Karin Coonrod,celebrates the bicentennial of the birth of America's most influential poet, Walt Whitman, with a revival of their acclaimed production More Or Less I Am. Performances begin May 18, 2019 at multiple venues throughout the five boroughs, with most performances being free and open to the public. More information can be found at www.colombari.org.

What is Black theater? How is it defined and by whom? What is the relationship between the Black dramatist, their creation and the Black community at large? 'Looking for Leroy' by Larry Muhammad explores these questions through the legacy of LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, who was one of the most important dramatists the 20th century and who defined the role of the Black playwright for our age. This two-character play imagines five encounters between Baraka, a literary lion now in his 60s, and an intern in his 20s who idolizes him, challenges him and aims to be like him.

Garry Marshall Theatre presents the West End and Broadway play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall.  The Mountaintop is directed by Gregg T. Daniel, who recently staged A Raisin in the Sun at A Noise Within (Ovation Award nomination for Best Director) and Her Portmanteau at Boston Court.

Theatre for a New Audience presents About Alice, the world premiere of a new play by Calvin Trillin, inspired by his 2007 memoir of the same name. The production, directed by Leonard Foglia, plays January 8-February 3, 2019 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn). 

Garry Marshall Theatre presents the West End and Broadway play The Mountaintop by Katori Hall.  The Mountaintop is directed by Gregg T. Daniel, who recently staged A Raisin in the Sun at A Noise Within (Ovation Award nomination for Best Director) and Her Portmanteau at Boston Court.

Theatre for a New Audience presents About Alice, the world premiere of a new play by Calvin Trillin, inspired by his 2007 memoir of the same name. The production, directed by Leonard Foglia, plays January 8-February 3, 2019 at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place, Brooklyn). 

 Understand you? I don't even understand myself. Elina de Santos directs a playful play of ideas that challenges our fundamental understanding of reality. The world premiere of A Misunderstanding by Matt Chait (Disinherit the Wind) opens on Friday, Jan. 4 at The Complex in Hollywood, where performances continue through Feb. 3. Leave all your preconceived notions at the door… this play is sure to turn them inside out.

Join Keen Company for the first public reading of three new plays, developed through the Keen Playwrights Lab. The 2018 Playwrights Lab features playwrights Kia Corthron, Rinne Groff, and Edwin Sanchez. Tickets are FREE and open to the pubic! Space is limited, so reservations are a must.

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) continues its 2018-19 season with the regional premiere of Tracy Thorne's, "Good Children." CRT Artistic Director, Michael Bradford, will direct. Performances will be held in the Studio Theatre from October 25th - November 4th, 2018. For tickets and information please visit crt.uconn.edu or call (860) 486-2113. "Good Children" continues Artistic Director Michael Bradford's commitment to producing new work.

Audible Inc., has announced the upcoming slate of productions at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The slate includes dynamic writing and performances from Patti Smith, Aasif Mandvi and Isaac Gomez, as well as Chisa Hutchinson. All performances will be recorded as Audible Original productions.

HISTORY MATTERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE presents an evening of scenes from women's plays of the past, performed by renowned actors April Matthis (Lear; The Sound and the Fury; April Seventh, 1928), Maryann Plunkett (Blue Valentine, The Apple Family Plays) and Jay O. Sanders (Blindspot, The Apple Family Plays) directed by Joan Vail Thorne, founder of History Matters/Back to the Future.

HISTORY MATTERS/BACK TO THE FUTURE presents an evening of scenes from women's plays of the past, performed by renowned actors April Matthis (Lear; The Sound and the Fury; April Seventh, 1928), Maryann Plunkett (Blue Valentine, The Apple Family Plays) and Jay O. Sanders (Blindspot, The Apple Family Plays) directed by Joan Vail Thorne, founder of History Matters/Back to the Future.

Peak Performances kicks off its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of Hatuey: Memory of Fire, a rousing Afro-Cuban-Yiddish opera performed in English, Yiddish and Spanish, with music by Frank London, libretto by Elise Thoron, direction by Mary Birnbaum, and choreography by Maija Garcia.

Now playing, Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of The Roommate by Jen Silverman, directed by Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad. Ensemble members Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez star in this celebration of female friendship and midlife renaissance.

Now in rehearsals, Steppenwolf Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere production of The Roommate by Jen Silverman, directed by Tony Award Winner Phylicia Rashad. Ensemble members Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez star in this celebration of female friendship and midlife renaissance.

'A Blanket of Dust' is the story of a modern day Antigone.  The daughter of a U.S. Senator seeks justice for her husband, who has died in the World Trade Center. Her ordeal drives her to the outer fringes of society.  After struggling to establish facts that the government, the media, her family and her countrymen deny, she protests with a harrowing act of sacrificial tragedy.  The play's world premiere will be presented Off-Broadway by Delphi Film from June 6 to 30 at The Flea Theater Mainstage,  20 Thomas Street, directed by Chris Murrah.