American Playwrights News

Continuing its artistic mission of promoting new work in contemporary theatre, Firehouse Theatre Project presented its Tenth Annual Festival of New American Plays the weekend of June 28, and by the end of the weekend, the audience had selected the first place and runner up winners!

Repertorio Español announces July, August and September listings. It is located at 138 East 27th Street New York, NY 10016

The Playwrights Foundation today announced the 35th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) will take place July 20 -29 2012 at the Thick House Theater in San Francisco.

he Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust today announced that the Fifth Annual Steinberg Playwright "Mimi" Awards will be presented on Monday, October 29, 2012. The Mimi Awards promote theater as a vital part of our culture by nurturing American playwrights and encouraging the development and production of new American plays. The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust will present the 2012 Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award at this year's ceremony, which will be held at the Lincoln Center Theater in New York City. The Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award is presented biennially to honor and encourage the artistic excellence and achievement of an American playwright whose body of work has made significant contributions to the American theater. The recipient of the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award will receive a cash award of $200,000. The Steinberg Playwright Awards and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Awards are presented in alternate years. Past recipients are: · Lisa D'Amour and Melissa James Gibson, Steinberg Playwright Award, 2011 · Lynn Nottage, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2010 · David Adjmi, Tarell Alvin McCraney and Bruce Norris, Steinberg Playwright Awards, 2009 · Tony Kushner, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, 2008 These playwrights were each presented with a monetary award along with "The Mimi," a statuette designed by Tony Award-nominated scenic designer and architect David Rockwell. The Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award honors the artistic achievement of a playwright whose work has made a significant impact on American theater. The Steinberg Playwright Award is awarded to playwrights who exhibit exceptional talent and tremendous promise in earlier stages of their careers. In 2008, the Board of Directors of The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust established an Advisory Committee of prominent theater professionals responsible for establishing the criteria for the Steinberg Playwright Awards, as well as the nomination and selection processes. The 2012 Advisory Committee is comprised of continuing members; Susan Booth, Artistic Director of the Alliance Theater; Jeremy Cohen, Producing Artistic Director, The Playwrights' Center; Todd London, Artistic Director of New Dramatists; and Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director, Manhattan Theater Club. Additionally, this year there are three new members; Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director, CENTERSTAGE; Bill Rauch, Artistic Director, Oregon Shakespeare Festival; and Neil Pepe, Artistic Director, Atlantic Theater Company. The members of the Board of Directors of The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust are Carole A. Krumland, James D. Steinberg, Michael A. Steinberg, Seth M. Weingarten and William D. Zabel. About The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust: The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust was created by Harold Steinberg in 1986 in the names of himself and his late wife Miriam. The Trust's primary mission is to support and promote the American theater as a vital part of our culture by nurturing American playwrights, encouraging the development and production of new American plays, and by providing significant support to theater companies across the country. Since its inception, the Trust has given in excess of $65 million to more than one hundred not-for-profit theater organizations. These gifts have funded countless productions, as well as the commissioning of playwrights, playwriting programs and arts-in-education outreach programs for thousands of children in an effort to create and educated new generations of theatergoers. The Trust also collaborated with the American Theater Critics Association to create and fund the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. The award is presented annually during the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theater of Louisville. Recent winners of this award include Craig Lucas, Lynn Nottage, Lee Blessing and Nilo Cruz.

The Board of Directors of the Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Keen Company today announced the appointment of Jonathan Silverstein as Artistic Director. Mr. Silverstein succeeds Carl Forsman, founder and Artistic Director, who has been named Dean of Drama at UNC School of the Arts, beginning July 1st.

Penumbra Theatre Company, Minnesota's only African American theatre, proudly announced today the fourth annual Word(s)PLAY!, a forum designed to develop new plays by African American playwrights. Word(s)PLAY! will introduce two plays to the Twin Cities tonight, June 16 & July 28, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

Mosaic is pleased to be just the second theater in the United States to present The Birds by Tony Award nominee Conor McPherson. Kicking off this season will be the Southeastern Premiere of the recent New York sensation, The Diary of a Madman which featured Geoffrey Rush.

Check out these summer offerings in the Raleigh/Durham area soon!

Penumbra Theatre Company, Minnesota's only African American theatre, proudly announced today the fourth annual Word(s)PLAY!, a forum designed to develop new plays by African American playwrights. Word(s)PLAY! will introduce two plays to the Twin Cities June 16 & July 28, 2012 at 7:30 PM.

Mosaic is pleased to be just the second theater in the United States to present The Birds by Tony Award nominee Conor McPherson. Kicking off this season will be the Southeastern Premiere of the recent New York sensation, The Diary of a Madman which featured Geoffrey Rush.

Repertorio Espagnol and the General Consulate of Spain bestow upon Artistic Director Rene Buch The Order of Isabella the Catholic. This honor is a Spanish civil order granted to non-Spanish citizens in recognition of services that benefit foster Spanish culture and cultural exchange. Buch will be presented the award at Repertorio Español's June 5th Gala at Repertorio's Gramercy Arts Theater located at 138 East 27th Street in Manhattan, NY.

Marin Theatre Company announces today that, due to extraordinary ticket demand, it will extend God of Carnage by eight performances. Bay Area audiences now have the opportunity to experience the critically acclaimed production of Yasmina Reza's award-winning play through Sunday, June 24.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theatre company, continues its tradition of excellence, developing works by new and established Native American playwrights at its highly regarded PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, and culminating in staged public readings of three intriguing new works tonight, June 1, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 2, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at the Autry National Center's Wells Fargo Theater.

Jan Buttram's LOST ON THE NATCHEZ TRACE swept the recent 6th Annual Ab*ie Award ceremony garnering seven of the eight awards. Voted outstanding play, LOST ON THE NATCHEZ TRACE also took bows for outstanding male actor (Peter Brouwer) and direction, Kate Bushmann. Outstanding design awards went to Andrew Lu (set), Travis McHale (lighting), Catherine Siracusa and Sidney Levitt (co-costume design), and David M. Lawson (sound). Lori Gardner took outstanding actress for her role as Wendy in John Morogiello's comedy, BLAME IT ON BECKETT. See below for photo highlights of this year's Ab*ie Awards!

The last production of the American Repertory Theater of WNY 2011-12 season features the annual Local Playwrights One-Act Showcase. The showcase has been a highlight of ART's programming for a majority of this young theater's history and reflects the creative side of ART's mission to support a new generation of American playwrights and to utilize unknown or unproven talent.

Playwrights Foundation and Cultural Services of the Consulate General of France/SF is spear-heading a major new international exchange project, Des Voix...Found In Translation, that supports the translation of vanguard French and American Playwrights and promotes their work to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic. The San Francisco festival features translations of new plays by three emerging playwrights working in France today. Plays by Marion Aubert (pink picture), Nathalie Fillion (blue picture), and Samuel Gallet (yellow picture) will be performed in English during a Festival, scheduled from today, May 25 through May 27, 2012, in a producing partnership with Z Space, a theater located in San Francisco's vibrant, cutting-edge Mission District and Deborah Taylor/FireMused Productions, LLC.

The last production of the American Repertory Theater of WNY 2011-12 season features the annual Local Playwrights One-Act Showcase, on May 24 to June 2 at Buffalo East, 1410 Main Street, Buffalo. The showcase has been a highlight of ART's programming for a majority of this young theater's history and reflects the creative side of ART's mission to support a new generation of American playwrights and to utilize unknown or unproven talent.

Stephanie Roosa was awarded 'Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role' honors at the 2012 Acting Irish International Theatre Festival (AIITF) in Dublin, Ireland, May 20, 2012, for her performance as 'Josie' in the Rochester Community Players' Irish Players production of A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill. The festival was held at the Axis Theatre, Ballymun, Dublin; six community theater companies from the United States, Canada and Ireland participated in this year's festival.

Tony Award-nominee Nancy Opel is set to host Abingdon Theatre Company's Sixth Annual AB*IE Award Presentation at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's June Havoc Theatre (312 West 36th Street, First Floor) tonight, May 21, beginning at 7:00 pm. The event is free and open to the public.

Native Voices at the Autry, America's leading Native American theatre company, continues its tradition of excellence, developing works by new and established Native American playwrights at its highly regarded PLAYWRIGHTS RETREAT AND FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS, and culminating in staged public readings of three intriguing new works on Friday, June 1, 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, June 2, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., at the Autry National Center's Wells Fargo Theater.