American Playwrights News

Eleven diverse independent artists have been selected to receive support from the 2017 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship. These Fellowships and accompanying grants are part of the non-profit Institute's year-round efforts to discover and support independent artists from diverse backgrounds in getting their work made and seen by a wide audience.

The Sol Project, the new theater initiative dedicated to producing the work of Latinx playwrights, has announced the New York premiere of OEDIPUS EL REY by MacArthur Fellow Luis Alfaro, directed by longtime collaborator Chay Yew, the OBIE award-winning director.

Morgan Freeman – Academy Award® winning actor, producer, voice actor and activist – has been named the 54th recipient of SAG-AFTRA's highest tribute: the SAG Life Achievement Award for career achievement and humanitarian accomplishment.

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre (NBT) has selected the resident artists for  two of its  signature programs: I Am Soul Playwright Residency and the Soul Producing Program.

Previews begin tonight, August 18, for the Playwrights Horizons New York premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, a new play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss, Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House).

Five-time nominee and winner of the 2017 Hollywood Fringe Festival Solo Performance, Pick of the Fringe, and Encore! Producer's Awards Under The Jello Mold, written and performed by Jennie Fahn, will return for an extended run beginning September 9 at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks. Directed by Tom Cavanaugh, Under The Jello Mold will play on Saturdays at 8pm with two added performances on Sunday, November 12 at 3pm and 7pm.

A friendly reminder! Previews begin this Friday, August 18 at 7:30 PM for the Playwrights Horizons New York premiere production of For Peter Pan on her 70th birthday, a new play by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss, Dead Man's Cell Phone at Playwrights; In the Next Room, or the vibrator play; The Clean House). 

"My first supervisor was a African girl named Ann, and she had the nerve to tell me that I don't have a right to call myself African American. I had to tell that heffa just because your people sold my people doesn't mean I don't got African roots."

Shakespeare's The Tempest, a production by The Drilling Company in Bryant Park, with new music by Natalie Smith and arrangements by Michael Chorney (of Hadestown), will run for three weeks, beginning August 25th.

Due to popular demand, Ars Nova, in association with Ma-Yi Theater and Woodshed Collective, has released a new block of tickets and has added performances (September 16 & 30 at 3pm) to the world premiere of KPOP, a high-octane immersive event that gives you a backstage pass to a K-pop music factory.

Capital Stage will launch its 2017-18 Season: Future Tense with the Obie Award Winner and Sacramento Premiere of An Octoroon by Branden Jacob-Jenkins. This poignant adaptation of a 19th century anti-slavery melodrama will be directed by star of stage and screen, and UCLA's professor of Theatre, Film and Television, Judith Moreland. An Octoroon will be the first production of Capital Stage's 13th Season, and will run from August 30 - October 1, 2017 with a Press Opening on Saturday, September 2, 2017 at 8pm.

Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director, Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced complete casting for its upcoming production of Harvey Fierstein's TORCH SONG, directed by Moises Kaufman.

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) begins accepting entries today, Monday, August 7 at 12 Noon, for the LIVEforFIVE online lottery for $5 tickets to the New York premiere production of FOR PETER PAN ON HER 70th BIRTHDAY

On the heels of winning its second Ross Wetzsteon Award for Sustained Excellence at the 2017 OBIE Awards, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) have just announced its 2017-18 season.

Kansas City Actors Theatre has completed casting for its production of Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind," the second show of its thirteenth season, which will run from September 13th to October 1st at the H&R Block City Stage in Union Station. The production will be directed by Cinnamon Schultz and will star Forrest Attaway, Hillary Clemens, Merle Moores, Gary Neal Johnson, Brian Paulette, Jan Rogge, Christina Schafer and Jake Walker. The production team includes Bret Engle (scenic designer), Bill Christie (properties designer), Gretchen Halle (costumer designer), Ashley Kok (lighting designer), Jonathan Robertson (sound designer), and Kyle Dyck (technical director). The production will also feature the original music of local band The Country Duo (Kasey Rausch & Marco Pascolini).

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Andrew Borba and Managing Director Sarah Clare Corporandy, will continue its support of new play development with the 2017 New Play Workshop of Birthday Candles by Noah Haidle, directed by Vivienne Benesch.

Artistic Director of Sheffield Theatres Robert Hastie today announced casting for three productions in his inaugural season - Of Kith and Kin, Desire Under the Elms and Uncle Vanya.

With a vibrant color palate and a cast of larger-than-life characters, Drilling Company Shakespeare brings Twelfth Night to the stage in all of its anarchic, festive glory. Directed by Jane Bradley, with music by Andrew Gombas (who also plays Feste the Clown in this production).

The Riant Theatre's 30th Annual Strawberry One-Act Festival has announced the finalists of the 2017 summer one-act play competition.

Second Stage Theater, the preeminent home for American plays and living American playwrights, has announced new Board of Trustees members Elin Nierenberg, Tamara Harris Robinson, Ira Schreck, Brooke Shields, Susan Wasserstein and Kara Young.