American Playwrights News

Following its critically acclaimed production of THE SEAGULL earlier this season, the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), in collaboration with Theater Mitu, presents the World-Premiere of A PLAY ON WAR, by Jenny Connell and Rubén Polendo

Join us for the first developmental reading of Working Theater's 25th Anniversary Season: PROGRESS IN FLYING a staged reading with music by LYNN ROSEN, directed by DANIELLA TOPOL, music by MARY KELLY, with HEIDI SCHRECK (Circle Mirror Transformation), KEIRA KEELEY (Roundabout's upcoming The Glass Menagerie opposite Judith Ivey) and JOEL DE LA FUENTE (Law & Order: SVU)

The OBIE Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) - now in its 20th season - in collaboration with Theater Mitu, presents the World-Premiere of Rubén Polendo and Jenny Connell's new play MAMA CORAJE.

The African American Playwrights Exchange (AAPEX) & Jaz Dorsey will present a reading of the 2008 AAPEX Award winner for 'Best Family Drama,' Mrs. Streeter, written by Merrill D. Jones, on Monday, February 8th at the Dramatist Guild.

The Attic Theatre company, an emerging ensemble in their fourth season, proudly presents Dark Rapture by Eric Overmyer. Directed by Laura Braza (Company Manager, Keen Company; Director/Teacher at Pius XI Theater Lab), Eric Overmyer's noir thriller returns to New York City for a limited engagement January 22 - February 6, 2010.

More than 7,500 strikers walked out of nearly 100 coal mines in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal fields of West Virginia during the bloody 1912-1914 labor war. Coal Creek is the story of one family's turmoil, caught in the cross hairs of that struggle.

The passionate world of opera comes to life in Philadelphia Theatre Company's world premiere of Terrence McNally's Golden Age on January 22 - February 14.

Off-Broadway's Abingdon Theatre Company continues its 17th Season with the world premiere of PHANTOM KILLER. A new thriller by Jan Buttram, author of 'Texas Homos'

The Repertory East Playhouse is proud to open its 2010 Season with Lost In Yonkers, by Neil Simon and sponsored by Mission View Public Schools, opening on January 22 and running through February 20.

Aya Cash, Isabel Keating, Austin Lysy, and Christopher Evan Welch will be a part of the Valentine's Day presentation of EATING THEIR WORDS. The event will take place at Tocqueville Restaurant and will present a menu with each course based on one of three different plays. The plays will be presented in tandem with the different courses. Marlo Hunter will direct the evening.

More than 7,500 strikers walked out of nearly 100 coal mines in the Paint Creek and Cabin Creek coal fields of West Virginia during the bloody 1912-1914 labor war. Coal Creek is the story of one family's turmoil, caught in the cross hairs of that struggle.

Transport Group (TG), the winner of a special 2007 Drama Desk Award and a 2007 Obie Award, will present Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band, directed by artistic director Jack Cummings III, beginning Friday, February 12, and opening Sunday, February 21, at 5pm in a site-specific production at 37 West 26 Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, Penthouse.

Following critical acclaim and popular demand, Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) has announced a three-week extension for the World Premiere of THIS, the new play by Obie Award winner Melissa James Gibson (Suitcase, [sic]). Directed by Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin ([sic], eight seasons as Artistic Director of Soho Rep), the production opened Wednesday, December 2. Originally set to run through Sunday, December 13, the limited engagement will now play through Sunday, January 3, 2010 at the theater company's Mainstage Theater (416 West 42nd Street). This date represents the latest extension possible for the show.

The Australian is reporting that actress Cate Blanchett and her husband, playwright, screenwriter and director Andrew Upton have jointly re-upped as artistic director of the Sydney Theater Company until 2013. There's no word yet on any impact that this might have on the potential transfer of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' to Broadway.

Arena Stage presents Stick Fly, a thought-provoking comedy that explores the role of race and privilege in the African-American social aristocracy.

Off-Broadway's Abingdon Theatre Company continues its 17th Season with the world premiere of PHANTOM KILLER. A new thriller by Jan Buttram, author of 'Texas Homos'

The Pulitzer Prize and Obie Award-winning Theatre for the New City (TNC) will hold its 7th Annual LOVE 'N' COURAGE Gala on Monday, February 22nd at the National Arts Club, this year honoring the beloved acting couple Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson, as well as Martha Coigney, director of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in the U.S. for over 35 years, it has been announced by Crystal Field, co-founder and artistic director of Theater for the City. The LOVE 'N' COURAGE celebration will begin with cocktails at 6:30pm, Dinner at 7:00pm, and performances at 8:00pm.

As we celebrate Christmas and await the New Year, here's a new audio interpretation of 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry, written and recorded by local DC actors and designers who make up The Audible Group. It is Christmas Eve, 1935. In a small apartment in the H Street NE neighborhood of Washington, DC where James and Della Young, a young couple who, though rich in love, but down to their last pennies, still manage to give each other the perfect gift. It will fill you - from head to mistletoe - with the holiday spirit. Listen here

The passionate world of opera comes to life in Philadelphia Theatre Company's world premiere of Terrence McNally's Golden Age on January 22 - February 14.

Theatre Development Fund, the not-for-profit performing arts service organization, announces the publication of OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE NEW AMERICAN PLAY. The book was written by Todd London, who is the Artistic Director of New Dramatists.