American Playwrights News

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its production of Tiger Style!, by La Jolla native Mike Lew, directed by Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda, running September 6 - October 2 (press opening: Wed, September 14 at 7:00pm) in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

?Actor's Express stages the Atlanta premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' raucous dark comedy Appropriate October 29 - November 20, 2016.

Corn has begun to grow again at a remote farmhouse where the Fields have been fallow for decades. A young man returns to his family home only to discover that no one recognizes him. The time has come for a twisted secret to come to light. Equal parts dark comedy, family drama, and mysterious ceremony of renewal, Buried Child is the play that vaulted Sam Shepard into the First rank of American playwrights and won him the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Honoring his work and dedication to the Off-Broadway community, numerous Off-Broadway theatres will dim their lights on Thursday at 7:45PM, in memory of theatre legend James (Jim) Houghton, who died on August 2nd at the age of 57.

Houghton stepped down as the company's artistic director last month.

The Riant Theatre's Strawberry One-Act Festival (Van Dirk Fisher, Artistic Director) is proud to announce the finalists of the 2016 summer one-act play competition.

Evenings of short one-acts are the rage at Equity-waiver theatres! In the black box theatre upstairs at Group rep you you are invited to come see Nine Winning One-Acts, plays that stretch a mere ten-fifteen minutes in length. The mini plays were chosen from over 160 entries from across the United States and written by various unknown playwrights. The evening is divided into two acts with five plays comprising Act One and four in Act Two. There is no single theme running through them, so if I had to describe the conflicts ...why ... life, death, dating, marriage, love, gay relationships, infidelity, euthanasia...and even cat abuse, though mild, thrown into the fray. The evening is Group rep's way of utilizing more company actors and directors, many of whom work less on the theatre mainstage, and for the most part, it's pleasantly stimulating and entertaining fare.

Capital Stage presents its annual new works festival PLAYWRIGHTS' REVOLUTION with staged readings of four brand-new plays. As Sacramento's leader of bold, thought-provoking theatre, Capital Stage created Playwrights' Revolution to identify and develop new plays and playwrights.

PA'I Foundation, in association with Kumu Kahua Theatre, presents a 3-day Playwriting Workshop for island writers, with Native American playwrights Larissa FastHorse and Ty Defoe. The workshop ? designed to serve writers of all levels, from novice to experienced ? will focus on jump-starting the writing process, exercises for the imagination, writing from your cultural perspective, and practical tips for completing and developing your work. Think of it as a crash course in getting started!

Capital Stage presents its annual new works festival PLAYWRIGHTS' REVOLUTION with staged readings of four brand-new plays. As Sacramento's leader of bold, thought-provoking theatre, Capital Stage created Playwrights' Revolution to identify and develop new plays and playwrights.

Many of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lanford Wilson's plays found life at a New York City coffeehouse, Caffe Cino, in the 1960's.  The venue established itself as one of the first Off-Off-Broadway theatres.  These early plays were often one-act ensemble pieces or, later, sharply drawn character studies less concerned with plot as with revelatory behavior.  Wilson liked the format and Cesear's Forum, Cleveland's small professional "minimalist" theatre company, is pleased to present five such works entitled Lanford Wilson: TAKE 5.  The 90 minute evening utilizes eight actors, sometimes together, sometimes individually, to reflect on aspects of American life.  The writing is at once heartfelt and funny.  The characters' struggles are our struggles, their stories told simply but complicated by societal concerns replete with emotional baggage.  Ideals and illusions are sustained tenuously.  The five plays (in order of appearance) are: WANDERING, SEXTET (YES), A BETHROTHAL, BRONTOSAURUS and A POSTER OF THE COSMOS.  The limited engagement production runs late September through October at Kennedy's Down Under, Playhouse Square, Cleveland, Ohio.  

The Dramatists Guild Fund (DGF) announces it will continue expanding the Fellows Program through collaboration with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center.

Playwrights Horizons has announced new details for its upcoming 2016/2017 Season.

Juilliard Drama announces its 2016-17 season of fully staged productions featuring Juilliard's Group 46 acting students in their fourth and final year in the drama program at Juilliard.

Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC) continues its significant commitment to new play development under the co-leadership of Artistic Directors Vivienne Benesch and Andrew Borba with Signature Staged Readings of TINY HOUSES by Chelsea Marcantel, and directed by Joshua Kahan Brody, running tomorrow, July 14, through July 16 as part of the 2016 season's New Play Workshop.

Artistic Director Anda Winters today announces Print Room at the Coronet's forthcoming season running through until December 2016. The season opens with Tennessee Williams' A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur, directed by Michael Oakley. The production opens in the main theatre space on 15 September, with previews from 12 September, and runs until 7 October.

David Rainey, Executive Artistic Director of The Landing Theatre Company (LTC), announces the company's sixth season, and first full season in their new venue downtown: Landing Theatre @ the Docks (formerly home of Catastrophic Theatre and DiverseWorks).

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced that the Ninth Annual "Mimi" Awards will be presented on Monday, November 14, 2016 at Lincoln Center Theater.  The "Mimi" Awards are presented annually to honor the outstanding artistry and accomplishments of some of the most gifted American playwrights.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is pleased to announce the publication of Thornton Wilder's adaptation of Ibsen's classic A Doll's House.

Woodie King Jr.'s New Federal Theatre (NFT) held a festive Gala Benefit on Sunday, June 26 from 2:00 to 5:30 PM at Trump Place, 220 Riverside Boulevard (enter West 70th Street) honoring Novella Nelson and Melvin Van Peebles, two of many actors and directors who have worked at NFT over the theatre's 46 year history. Mr. Van Peebles was introduced by Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons. Ms. Nelson was introduced by former Mayor David Dinkins. Scroll down for photos from the event!