American Playwrights News

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 6/24/2021 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

This week (June 14-20) in live streaming: Rita Moreno visits Backstage Live, Show of Titles on demand, a Kerry Butler master class, a Guys and Dolls reunion, and so much more!

Donja R. Love (he/him/his) is Black, Queer, HIV-Positive, and thriving. A Philly native, his work examines the forced absurdity of life for those who identify as Black, Queer, and HIV-positive –  a diverse intersection filled with eloquent stories that challenge the white supremacist, heteronormative structures that exist in American culture.

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 6/10/2021 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

In partnership with The Episcopal Actors' Guild, Leviathan Lab will present readings of three new plays by rising Asian American playwrights.

Leviathan Lab, in partnership with The Episcopal Actors' Guild, will present readings of three new plays by rising Asian American playwrights.

Theater Resources Unlimited (TRU) announces the 22nd annual series of new plays, now virtual, by TRU writers produced by TRU producers, as part of TRU Voices New Plays Virtual Reading Series. Presented with generous support from The StoyLine Project, the plays will be performed on Sundays, June 20, June 27, and July 11, 2021 at 3:00pm.

Theater Resources Unlimited announces the 22nd annual series of new plays, now virtual, by TRU writers produced by TRU producers, as part of TRU Voices New Plays Virtual Reading Series.

The Dramatists Guild of America has announced they will present the 2021 Horton Foote Playwriting Award to five amazing playwrights – Carla Ching, Kia Corthron, Aleshea Harris, Donja R. Love, and Mfoniso Udofia - at the Dramatists Guild’s awards presentations later this summer. 

The Downtown Urban Arts Festival (Reg E. Gaines, artistic director; Creative Ammo Inc., producer) today announced its 19th year of new works for the stage by 16 playwrights at the Abron Arts Center (466 Grand Street, New York City) from Thursday, June 10 through Saturday, June 26, 2021. For the first time, theatre tickets will be free of charge.

This Week's New Classified Listings on BroadwayWorld for 6/3/2021 include new jobs for those looking to work in the theatre industry.

Jeffrey Lo seems to be just about everywhere these days. As if his day job as TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Director of Community Partnerships / Casting Director weren’t enough, he is also enjoying quite a successful career as a director and playwright. With the recent, tragic spike in prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Lo decided to take action by calling on his own Filipino American heritage. He spearheaded TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s efforts to stream a benefit reading of his play Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community. The comedic play is an unapologetically Filipino American story about art, family, and culture. The top-flight cast includes stage veteran Emily Kuroda, perhaps best known for playing Mrs. Kim on TV’s Gilmore Girls. Co-presented by more than 40 leading theatres and arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, the reading will benefit Compassion in Oakland, a nonprofit formed in response to the surge of anti-Asian attacks and dedicated to promoting safety and community in Oakland Chinatown and beyond. Writing Fragments Home will be streamed live at 7pm PDT, Saturday, June 5, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access available June 6 to June 9). For more information, visit TheatreWorks.org.  BroadwayWorld with Lo last week about his impetus to write the play, how the benefit reading came together, his thoughts about Asian American representation in the theatre, and his experience working with some of his personal heroes. Lo is very easy to talk to – laid-back, thoughtful and self-effacing with an underlying gentle humor – all qualities which likely serve him well in his roles at TheatreWorks. At the same time, I got the impression he is someone who knows how to step up to the plate and get the job done.

The Old Globe today announced plans for the long-awaited full reopening of its three theatres in Balboa Park. Audiences will be able to once again gather in the Globe’s outdoor theatre starting June 4 and in the two indoor theatres in September.

The Old Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein today announced the appointments of Lamar Perry and Kim Montelibano Heil as Associate Producers. These new positions will be central to the Globe's artistic producing operation. Heil returns to the Globe, where she previously worked in the Artistic Department and then served as Education Programs Manager, and she joins the recently promoted Perry, who has been at the Globe since 2018.

The 2021-2022 McKnight National Residency and Commission has been awarded to James Anthony Tyler and the 2021-2022 McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting recipients are JuCoby Johnson and Cristina Luzárraga.

In celebration of Pride Month, Palm Beach Dramaworks' Contemporary Voices series will shine the spotlight on playwright Michael McKeever in June. This free, online series features live readings and discussions of plays by a cross-section of some of the finest American playwrights working in theatre today.

Irish Repertory Theatre announced today performers and presenters for The Indomitable Irishry: An Online Celebration, this season's Gala benefit production, which will stream online on Monday June 14, 2021 at 7:30pm ET.

Woodie King, Jr., Founder and Producing Director of New Federal Theatre (NFT), will retire from leadership of the famed theater company on June 30, 2021, handing the baton to NFT's newly appointed Artistic Director, Elizabeth Van Dyke.

To mark Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May, Theater Mu announced NEW EYES FESTIVAL: UN(SCENE) as part of the current 2020-2021 season. Theater Mu's longest-running tradition, the New Eyes Festival, has become a much-anticipated annual series of staged readings of new works from Asian American playwrights.

Second Stage Theater has confirmed three Broadway productions at the Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street) and two Off-Broadway productions at the Kiser Theater (305 West 43rd Street) for the return season, beginning performances in fall of 2021.