American Playwrights News

Today, American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s Associate Artistic Director Andy Donald announced the lineup for A.C.T.'s third annualNew Strands Festival taking place at A.C.T.'s Strand Theater (1127 Market Street, San Francisco) May 17-20, 2018. Sponsored by Mozilla, the New Strands Festival is a free festival that features new theatrical pieces, works-in-progress, and readings, as well as live music, comedy, panel discussions, a master class series, and special happy hours to celebrate and share the artistry and expertise of the creative community within A.C.T.'s Conservatory, as well as from New Strands artists from the local and national theater scene.

One of the theater world's most prestigious playwriting prizes, the Yale Drama Series Prize, will be given to Leah Nanako Winkler for her play God Said This. The 2018 award recipient was chosen by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar. The winning play will receive a private staged reading at Lincoln Center Theater's Claire Tow Theater onOctober 30, 2018.

Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb (Maria Striar, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Bulger, Associate Artistic Director) will honor director and outgoing board chair Pam MacKinnon (The Parisian Woman, Amelie) at the 2018 Clubbed Thumb Gala on Monday, April 30, 2018 at the Etsy Headquarters (117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201).

Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) presents the world premiere production of THIS FLAT EARTH, a new play by Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies the Bone, the current Amy and the Orphans). Directed by Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman (Familiar, Stage Kiss, Milk Like Sugar at Playwrights; Indecent), the play is the fourth production of the theater company's 2017/2018 Season. See photos from the production here!

Florida Studio Theatre announces its 36th annual Richard and Betty Burdick New Play Reading Series, which will present three new staged readings by modern American playwrights. Part of FST's Sarasota Festival of New Plays, this three-day series will take place in Bowne's Lab Theatre on April 29, May 6, and May 13 at 3 PM each day. This series is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. Reservations can be made online at www.floridastudiotheatre.org, by phone at (941) 366-9000, or by visiting the FST Box Office.

Hot off the success of the critically acclaimed KPOP last fall, Drama Desk and Obie Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company and The Public Theater announce TEENAGE DICK, a new play by Mike Lew (Tiger Style!), being given its world premiere Off-Broadway, June 12 - July 15, 2018, at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.

The New Black Fest and The Lark, two theater organizations dedicated to celebrating and advocating for stories that explore the intersection of art and social justice, are proud to announce the fifth annual The New Black Fest at The Lark. This week-long event is aimed at showcasing diverse and provocative work in a festival of Black theater artists from throughout the Diaspora, and will feature talkbacks, a panel event, and staged readings of four plays-in-progress. The festival will take place April 9-13, 2018, and will include works by 2017 Djerassi Writer in Residence France-Luce Benson (Deux Femmes On the Edge De La Revolution), 2018 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award recipient Donja R. Love (soft), 2015 Princess Grace Award-Winner Jonathan Payne (Brother Rabbit), and artist, activist, and The New Black Fest alum Liza Jessie Peterson (Sistergurls and the Squirrel) who has performed excerpts of her one-person play The Peculiar Patriot in over 35 penitentiaries across the country.

Blackboard Plays presented a workshop reading of Camille Darby's Queen Nanny, directed by Miranda D. Haymon, as part of the cell's Third Annual C-MORE Festival at the cell, 338 W. 23rd St. in Chelsea.

Writer-actor, Dan Ruth, 2018 Bistro Award winner for Solo Play, has been awarded the 2018 Martha Hill Newell Playwright's Fund. Ruth's Play, "A Life Behind Bars" was universally praised by critics during his 2017 runs at the Laurie Beechman Theater. Ruth has also been nominated for a 2018 MAC Award in the category of Spoken Word, the results of which will be announced on March 27th at the annual MAC Awards show at B.B. King's in Times Square, NYC.

Nuffield Southampton Theatres, Theatr Clwyd and English Touring Theatre today announce casting for their co-production of Tennessee Williams' masterpiece A Streetcar Named Desire. 2017 RTST Sir Peter Hall Director Award winner Chelsea Walker directs Nicole Agada (Woman/Nurse), Will Bliss (Steve), Dexter Flanders (Mitch), Kelly Gough (Blanche), Amber James (Stella), Patrick Knowles (Stanley), Marai Louis (Eunice) and Joe Manjon (Pablo/Doctor/Paperboy). The second production in the inaugural season at NST City, A Streetcar Named Desire opens at Nuffield Southampton Theatres on 28 March with previews from 23 March, running until 31 March. The production will tour the UK with English Touring Theatre ahead of opening at Theatr Clwyd, where it plays from 15 March until 2 June, before returning to NST City.

Mad Horse Theatre Company explores the power of words; their capacity to hurt, to heal, to deceive and to expose the illusions and fragility of love and romance in their March production of Neil LaBute's REASONS TO BE PRETTY. 

Previews begin this Friday, March 16 for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) world premiere production of THIS FLAT EARTH, a new play by Lindsey Ferrentino (Ugly Lies the Bone, the current Amy and the Orphans).  Directed by Tony Award winner Rebecca Taichman (Familiar, Stage Kiss, Milk Like Sugar at Playwrights; Indecent), the play is the fourth production of the theater company's 2017/2018 Season.  

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to present the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Br'er Cotton, a poetic and timely new play by Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, directed by Jennifer L. Nelson. Br'er Cotton is onstage March 29 - April 21, in CPT's historic Gordon Square Theatre.

Juilliard today announced that Obie-award winning director Evan Yionoulis, currently professor in the practice of acting and directing at Yale School of Drama and a resident director at Yale Repertory Theatre, will become the school's Richard Rodgers Director of Drama at Juilliardstarting with the 2018-19 academic and performance season. The Juilliard Drama Division, celebrating its 50th anniversary this season, offers a program that encompasses one of this country's most respected conservatory educations for actors as well as highly successful pre-professional mentoring for playwrights.

Motherhood is a rewarding journey with ups, downs, humor, and touching moments along the way. The Carnegie is closing out the 2017-18 season with MOTHERHOOD OUT LOUD, an insightful and funny take on motherhood of all forms, running weekends April 14-29, 2018.

On March 14, Lindsey Ferrentino will be the honorary guest author at the "American Dramaturgies for the 21st Century" International Theatre Conference at the Sorbonne. The evening will give Parisian audiences a chance to familiarize themselves with modern American Playwrights and will feature readings from contemporary plays and a conversation with Ms. Ferrentino, a gifted and truly brilliant member of the young generation of American dramatists.

Rabbit Hole is the first production of Breach Once More 2018-2019 season. Rabbit Hole is a family drama that charts a grieving family through a empathic search for comfort in the darkest of places and a path that will lead them back into the light of day. Becca and Howie Corbett have everything a family could want, until a life-shattering accident turns their world upside down and leaves the couple drifting perilously apart. The entire family finds themselves lost as they attempt to recovery from the loss of their son. The Corbett's have become strangers in their own home; inhabiting isolated space.

Second Stage Theater has announced that Tony Award winner BLAIR BROWN will join the previously announced EMMA GEER, TATIANA MASLANY and SUSAN POURFAR in the New York Premiere of TRACY LETTS' acclaimed play, MARY PAGE MARLOWE, directed by LILA NEUGEBAUER.

Raven Theatre is pleased to continue its 35th anniversary season with the world premiere of Philip Dawkins' provocative drama THE GENTLEMAN CALLER, directed by Artistic Director Cody Estle, playing March 28 - May 13, 2018 in Raven's intimate 55-seat West Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago.

Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced that EMMA GEER will join the previously announced TATIANA MASLANY and SUSAN POURFAR in the New York Premiere of TRACY LETTS' acclaimed play, MARY PAGE MARLOWE, directed by LILA NEUGEBAUER.