American Playwrights News

The Phoenix Theatre's inaugural season of dreams continues with the company bringing new life to Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. This memory play runs January 17- February 2, 2020 in Chester County at SALT Performing Arts in Chester Springs, PA. Members of the media are invited to Opening Night, Saturday January 18 at 7 p.m. If Media are not able to attend, they are welcome to review another performance date. The theatre is dedicated to re-envisioning and reinvigorating the classics, making theatre accessible and affordable for all. The Phoenix Theatre is in residence at SALT Performing Arts, 1645 Art School Road, Chester Springs. Tickets for The Glass Menagerie are already on sale online at www.thephoenixtheatrepa.com. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students. There will be an accessible relaxed matinee performance on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m.

In March, New Conservatory Theatre Center is pleased to present the world premiere of The Book of Mountains and Seas, directed by Bay Area favorite Becca Wolff and written by Yilong Liu. Named one of the a?oe10 Contemporary Asian and Pacific Islander American Playwrights You Should Knowa?? by ArtsBoston, Liu is the latest playwright to be produced by NCTC's New Voices/New Work program. For this production, NCTC is proud to partner with Chinese Culture Foundation of San Francisco, Chinese Historical Society of America Museum, and Gay Asian Pacific Alliance.

Steinberg Playwright Awards took place Monday, January 13, 2020.

In the world premiere of 'Lipstick Lobotomy,' John F. Kennedy's little sister, Rosemary Kennedy, and the playwright's Great Aunt Ginny develop a friendship at an exclusive high-end sanitarium for women in the fall of 1941. The women undergo the peculiar cutting-edge treatments on offer by a society desperate to find the cure for womanhood in this incisive comedy.

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) has announced this year's recipients of grants through the CreateNYC Language Access Fund. 36 NYC-based nonprofits will receive grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 in support of programming that increases access to arts and culture for those whose primary language is not English. The awarded programs represent 12 languages a?" including Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and American Sign Language a?" and will serve audiences in all five boroughs.

New York's Cherry Lane Theatre has partnered with Vermont's JAG Productions to present the World Premiere of Nathan Yungerberg's Esai's Table, directed by Obie Award Winner Stevie Walker-Webb (Jordan Cooper's Ain't No Mo' at the Public) which will begin performances on March 19 before its opening night on April 1 running through April 25, 2020 at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street).

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces four additional commissioned playwrights as a part of Power Plays, an ambitious initiative commissioning and developing 25 new plays and musicals from a diverse mix of writers, composers and lyricists over the course of 10 years. Playwrights Lauren Yee, Zack Zadek, Emily Feldman and Karen Zacarías join previously commissioned playwrights with projects underway, including Eduardo Machado, whose Power Play Celia and Fidel, a perceptive and authentic look at Fidel Castro's most trusted confidant and political partner, Celia Sánchez, enjoys its world premiere in Arena's Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle, February 28 through April 12, 2020.

Seattle Rep today announced complete casting for its revival of beloved playwright Sam Shepard's Pulitzer Prize-nominated story of sibling rivalry, True West. Seattle Rep Artistic Director Braden Abraham directs the play, which is set to star Kevin Anderson (Seattle Rep's Last Of The Boys) and Zachary Ray Sherman (Seattle Rep debut) on the Bagley Wright stage. Single tickets are on sale now (starting at $17) and available through the Seattle Rep Patron Services Office at 206.443.2222 or online at SeattleRep.org.

MCC Theater (Bob LuPone, Bernie Telsey, Will Cantler, Artistic Directors; Blake West, Executive Director) announced today the complete casting for the New York premiere of All the Natalie Portmans by C.A Johnson (MCC Theater's 2019/20 Tow Playwright in Residence) with direction by Kate Whoriskey.

The Riant Theatre (Van Dirk Fisher, Artistic Director), a nonprofit theatre supporting playwrights and theatremakers of diverse cultural backgrounds, is holding the Launch Party for its annual Strawberry One-Act and Theatre Festival on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 4:30pm at the Thalia Studios at Peter Norton Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th St, NYC. The evening will begin with a reception with food, drinks and a screening of the Video Diaries Project: a series of short films about the artists in the festival.

Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its commissioned world premiere production of Revenge Song: A Vampire Cowboys Creation, written by Qui Nguyen (Vietgone, She Kills Monsters) and directed by Robert Ross Parker (Mothers, Disgraced).

Trinity Rep continues its 2019-20 Season with the final play from American theatrical legend August Wilson - Radio Golf. Directed by resident acting company member Jude Sandy, the show features resident acting company member Joe Wilson, Jr., as Harmond Wilks, a man determined to revive his childhood neighborhood without considering the emotional cost. Both moving and funny, Radio Golf is the culmination of August Wilson's ten-play American Century Cycle chronicling each decade of African-American life in the twentieth century. Radio Golf runs January 31 - March 1, with press opening on Monday, February 3 at 7:30 pm. Tickets start at $27. More information can be found at www.TrinityRep.com/radiogolf.

We're taking a in-depth look at some of the country's most prestigious college theatre programs to help students learn all about the variety of options they have at their disposal to further their education. With the help of the schools' faculty, we're highlighting insights about everything from audition advice to real world experience and more. Today we're taking a look at the Middlebury College's Department of Theatre, including its Off-Broadway theatre company and more.

The Phoenix Theatre's inaugural season of dreams continues with the company bringing new life to Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. This memory play runs January 17- February 2, 2020 in Chester County at SALT Performing Arts in Chester Springs, PA. Members of the media are invited to Opening Night, Saturday January 18 at 7 p.m. If Media are not able to attend, they are welcome to review another performance date. The theatre is dedicated to re-envisioning and reinvigorating the classics, making theatre accessible and affordable for all. The Phoenix Theatre is in residence at SALT Performing Arts, 1645 Art School Road, Chester Springs. Tickets for The Glass Menagerie are already on sale online at www.thephoenixtheatrepa.com. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students. There will be an accessible relaxed matinee performance on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m.

The Phoenix Theatre's inaugural season of dreams continues with the company bringing new life to Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie. This memory play runs January 17- February 2, 2020 in Chester County at SALT Performing Arts in Chester Springs, PA.  Members of the media are invited to Opening Night, Saturday January 18 at 7 p.m. If Media are not able to attend, they are welcome to review another performance date. The theatre is dedicated to re-envisioning and reinvigorating the classics, making theatre accessible and affordable for all. The Phoenix Theatre is in residence at SALT Performing Arts, 1645 Art School Road, Chester Springs. Tickets for The Glass Menagerie are already on sale online at www.thephoenixtheatrepa.com. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students. There will be an accessible relaxed matinee performance on Saturday, January 25 at 2 p.m.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, will complete ten years of its annual series of short, commissioned world-premiere plays at the IRT Theater as part of their 3B Development Series in Manhattan's West Village with The Spring Fling: Happily Ever After, ten new short plays by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC's This Is Us, The Cake), Matthew Lee Erlbach (Showtime's Masters of Sex, The Doppelganger), Monet Hurst-Mendoza (NBC's Law and Order: SVU ), Daniel K. Isaac (Fullerton), Chelsea Marcantel (Airness), Gregory S. Moss (Indian Summer, punkplay), Leah Nanako Winkler (NBC's New Amsterdam, Kentucky, God Says This), Larry Powell (Lost Dog), Daniel Talbott (ABC's The Conners), & Pia Wilson (National Geographic's Genius).

LAByrinth Theater Company (John Ortiz, Artistic Director; Aaron Roman Weiner, Associate Artistic Director) announces the selections for their 20th Annual Barn Series, the award-winning company's developmental play reading series. This year's series features seven new plays written and directed by LAB company members and friends. All readings are free and open to the public, and run from January 6-12, 2020 at Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, between Barrow and Bedford), where LAByrinth is the Company in Residence. Reservations will open to the public on Dec 20th, 2019.

To celebrate the Mentor Project's 22nd Season, Cherry Lane Theatre (Angelina Fiordellisi, Executive Director; Seri Lawrence, Artistic Director) has announced a workshop presentation by poet/ performer Shawn Randall of his original work (The Making Of) How to Save the World in 90 Minutes. He will be mentored by Diana Oh ({my lingerie play}) in the StudioTheatre, March 4 -14, 2020. Cherry Lane then continues its season in partnership with J.A.G. Productions for the rolling World Premiere of Esai's Table by Nathan Yungerberg, originally produced in workshop format by Mentor Project in 2017. Performances of Esai's Table begin March 19, 2020, on the Cherry Lane Main Stage.For tickets, schedule and more information, please visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.

Today, Headlong have announced their programme for 2020/21, the final season under current Artistic Director, Jeremy Herrin.

Today Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein announced his plans for Keen's Playwrights Lab, including readings from this year's participants as well as the playwrights for the 2020 Lab.