American Playwrights News

Luna Stage closes its 20th anniversary season with a revival of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten.

Formed in 2012 by Tony Award-nominated actress, Hallie Foote, and her siblings, Daisy Foote, Walter Foote, and Horton Foote, Jr., the HORTON FOOTE LEGACY PROJECT (HFLP) is a new not-for-profit endeavor whose mission is to support emerging and established American playwrights and to preserve and advance the legacy of Horton Foote and his body of work. In an effort to achieve this mission, the organization is launching its inaugural Horton Foote Writer's Retreat, a program that gives writers the rare opportunity to reside and write undisturbed in Horton Foote's preserved Wharton, Texas home.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize honors 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fifth year.

Visionbox, a professional actors' studio and intermedia production company in Denver, will present A True Thing: Scenes from the plays of Tennessee Williams, tonight, March 17th, 2013 at 6:00pm. This free Visionbox event will feature Visionbox Ensemble Members and Visionbox Actors. Join Visionbox at their location in the heart of the Santa Fe Arts District, the 910 ARTS Gallery.

Visionbox, a professional actors' studio and intermedia production company in Denver, will present A True Thing: Scenes from the plays of Tennessee Williams, Sunday, March 17th, 2013 at 6:00pm. This free Visionbox event will feature Visionbox Ensemble Members and Visionbox Actors. Join Visionbox at their location in the heart of the Santa Fe Arts District, the 910 ARTS Gallery.

Due to popular demand, Playwrights Horizons has announced an extension of its critically-acclaimed, sold out World Premiere production of The Flick, a new play by the heralded Obie Award-winning playwright Annie Baker (Circle Mirror Transformation at PH, The Aliens, her recent adaptation of Uncle Vanya). Originally set to play a limited engagement through Sunday, March 31, the production has extended to Sunday, April 7 at Playwrights Horizons' Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street).

The Juilliard School today announced a $10 million gift that completes the endowment of the School's new four-year masters-level graduate program in Drama. The gift supports increased instructional costs and new faculty, and provides full scholarships plus stipends for actors in their final and fourth year of the master of fine arts program in Drama. Juilliard's Board Chairman and his wife, Bruce and Suzie Kovner initiated a matching challenge grant of up to $5 million to endow Juilliard Drama's MFA program, with donors John A. and Carole Moran and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust completing that challenge.

Casting has been announced for the Cherry Lane Theatre's 2013 Mentor Project plays LAWNPEOPLE by Natalia Naman and EXILE by Nastaran Ahmadi. Both plays debut as part of Cherry Lane Theatre's 15th anniversary MENTOR PROJECT (38 Commerce St. in Manhattan), the award-winning season which began February 20 and concludes April 13.

Local playwrights compete for a chance to win $1,000 cash and bragging rights for an entire year. SMU/Meadows Prize Winner Will Power facilitates.

Marin Theatre Company Teen Advisory Board and Director of Education Daunielle Rasmussen previously announced the eight finalists of the fourth annual Marin Young Playwrights Festival.

Webster University's Conservatory of Theatre Arts presents 'Eurydice' by Sarah Ruhl. The production runs April 5-7, in the Emerson Studio Theatre in the Loretto Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Rd, St. Louis, Mo.

Cleveland Play House will produce the hit Broadway comedy Good People, written by one of the most important new American playwrights. Nominated for a 2011 Tony Award for Best Play, Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire's Good People takes an affectionate look at the 'haves' and 'have-nots' through the eyes of characters who won't be ignored. Actress Kate Hodge returns to the CPH stage (Dinner with Friends, Bright Ideas) to play the tough-talking, blue-collar Margie Walsh, a role that won Frances McDormand a 2011 Tony Award for Best Actress. Also returning to the CPH stage to play Dottie, Margie's landlord, is actress Denny Dillon (Well), a Cleveland native and former CPH Curtain Puller. Directed by Laura Kepley, CPH Associate Artistic Director,Good People will run in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare starting Friday, March 22 through Sunday, April 14, 2013. Tickets are available by calling 216-241-6000 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Good People is produced with support from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council.

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day 2013, RCP's Irish Players present: Is Life Worth Living?, a comical exaggeration by Lennox Robinson; directed by Jean Gordon Ryon. The production will run March 15-30, 2013 at MuCCC Theater, 142 Atlantic Avenue, Rochester NY.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh will play Marin Theatre Company, directed by Mark Jackson and featuring Joy Carlin,* Rod Gnapp,* Joseph Salazar and Beth Wilmurt (* member, Actor's Equity Association), from May 23 to June 16, 2013. Opening night is Tuesday, May 28, with previews Thursday, May 23 - Sunday, May 26.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fifth year.

Native Voices at the Autry continues its vital role as the country's only Equity theatre company dedicated exclusively to developing the work of Native American playwrights with the world premiere of THE BIRD HOUSE by DIANE GLANCY (Cherokee*). The play opens tonight, March 1 and closes Sunday, March 17, 2013, (previews begin February 27) at the Autry National Center's Wells Fargo Theater, Los Angeles.

Marin Theatre Company, in a co-production with Virginia Stage Company, will stage the regional premiere of Matthew Lopez's Civil War drama The Whipping Man in Mill Valley from March 28 to April 21, 2013. MTC's artistic director Jasson Minadakis directs the production. Featuring popular Bay Area actors L. Peter Callender, Nicholas Pelczar and Tobie Windham, as well as the design team from MTC's 2011 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award nominated production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, this co-production will rehearse and run at VSC in Norfolk, Virginia, from February 26 to March 17, 2013, before moving to MTC. Opening night at MTC is on Tuesday, April 2.

The OBIE Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) -- now in its 23rd season of presenting classics and new works performed by Asian American actors -- will present August Strindberg's A DREAM PLAY in a new adaptation by Sung Rno and Andrew Pang, directed by Mr. Pang, with previews set to begin March 22 prior to an official opening night of March 27 at HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring).

Representatives from 23 states flocked to the Mile High City to attend a marathon of new plays at the 8th Annual Colorado New Play Summit, presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company (DCTC) February 8 - 10, 2013. With a stunning representation of today's top American playwrights, DCTC demonstrated its commitment to new work and solidified its position as one of the nation's top tier new play festivals. This year's Summit hosted artistic directors, literary managers, and dramaturgs representing 31 theatre organizations from across the country, plus media, playwrights, directors, and members of the public, all eager to discover "the next Great American Play." The 2013 Colorado New Play Summit took place at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 14th and Curtis Streets, in downtown Denver, February 8 - 10, 2013.

The OBIE Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) -- now in its 23rd season of presenting classics and new works performed by Asian American actors -- will present August Strindberg's A DREAM PLAY in a new adaptation by Sung Rno and Andrew Pang, directed by Mr. Pang, with previews set to begin March 22 prior to an official opening night of March 27 at HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue (entrance on Dominick, 1 Block South of Spring). A DREAM PLAY runs through April 13. Tickets are priced from $15 (for preview performances, March 22nd- 26th) - $25 (for performances March 27th - April 13th). For Tickets & Information, please visit www.here.org or call 212-352-3101. This production of A DREAM PLAY is a part of SubletSeries@HERE, HERE's curated rental program, which provides artists with subsidized space and equipment, as well as technical support.