Anne Washburn News

Soho Rep will present while you were partying (November 3-28), created by Peter Mills Weiss and Julia Mounsey with Brian Fiddyment, the acclaimed company’s first full production since before the COVID-19 shutdown

When I was visiting the Sistine Chapel several decades ago, an elderly American couple walked up to me and said, 'We don't understand any of this. Can you explain it to us?' So, I toured these two tourists, complete strangers, around Michelangelo's masterpiece, describing everything from the Creation of Man to the Drunkenness of Noah.

This imaginative dark comedy by Anne Washburn asks what will endure when the cataclysm arrives—when the grid fails, society crumbles, and we’re faced with the task of rebuilding? The play features music composed by Michael Friedman. 

Helen Hayes Award-winning performer Mason Alexander Park (they/them/theirs) returns to Olney Theatre Center in November to play the title role in Olney's production of the internationally acclaimed rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

City Theatre at Sacramento City College remounts Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, the play that closed shortly after opening in March 2020 due the pandemic. This imaginative dark comedy by Anne Washburn asks what will endure when the cataclysm arrives—when the grid fails, society crumbles, and we’re faced with the task of rebuilding?

Soho Rep. today announced a robust 2021-22 season with which it will reopen its home at 46 Walker Street. The company welcomes full-capacity in-person audiences back for the first time since late 2019 with the presentation of works-in-progress from the Writer/Director Lab, a signature program of the theater for over two decades.

It’s not just fitting that MR. BURNS is a play about a post-apocalyptic world, but also one that deeply underscores why art is so important to humanity. Indeed, this production demonstrates that art is what makes us human and empowers us to survive. After such a long time without live theater here in Chicago, I can think of few better ideas to ponder than that.

CATCO held a their 2021-22 Season Announcement Reception and announced they will resume theatre productions in its theatres this fall and produce six shows - four for adults and two for young audiences - for the 2021-22 season. For more information, visit catco.org.

Miriam Weisfeld most recently served as Director of Artistic Development for the Tony-winning Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis. She assumes the position on Sept. 1, 2021 but is in Glens Falls Aug. 1-15 observing production of ATF's final show of the season, 'Traffic and Weather,' which opens Aug. 5.

Since 2001, MTC has awarded a total of 100 commissions through the Sloan Foundation Program. Learn more about this year's commissions here!

Wit’s 2015 Chicago premiere of Mr. Burns was one of the company’s most acclaimed productions ever, and post-pandemic, it couldn’t be more prescient. Wit’s new production revival also reunites many of the original cast and creative team.

Cherry Lane Theatre, the oldest continuously running Off-Broadway theatre in New York City, has a new owner, it has been announced by Angelina Fiordellisi, the theatre’s Executive Director since having acquired the building in 1996.  Cherry Lane is located at 38 Commerce Street in Greenwich Village.

This week (July 12-18) in live streaming: it's Encores! week at Stars in the House, Next on Stage: Dance Edition Season 2 kicks off, the Jimmy Awards are back, and so much more!

On May 20, Off-Broadway theater company The Civilians will host Life Studies, a livestreamed benefit concert supporting the company and its artistic community. This year’s virtual event will celebrate risk-taking artists who look deeply into our world to reveal new truths.

Texas Theatre and Dance presents Year of the Tiger, a newly-developed work that explores our shared reality of the past year. On the eve of the anniversary of the COVID-19 global pandemic, a news anchor is preparing for a special transmission commemorating the year that has gone by when she is visited by a tiger who really wants her to get the story straight, no matter what the cost. 

On the eve of the anniversary of the COVID-19 global pandemic, a news anchor is preparing for a special transmission commemorating the year that has gone by when she is visited by a tiger who really wants her to get the story straight, no matter what the cost.

Red Bull Theater today announced that submissions will begin for their 11th annual festival of 10-minute plays of heightened language and classic themes. Six brand new plays, inspired by this year’s theme: “Restoration,” will be selected through an open submission process to premiere alongside commissions from C. A. Johnson and José Rivera.

Following its debut on May 6, 2020, The Homebound Project has announced the lineup for a surprise sixth edition airing January 13–17, 2021. Co-creators Catya McMullen and Jenna Worsham, along with their all-volunteer team, have also announced that this online theater initiative brought together 137 artists, and premiered 56 new theater works.

The release of Dom O’Hanlon’s Theatre in Times of Crisis: 20 Scenes for the Stage in Troubled Times is certainly timely, even without COVID. Written in response to the coronavirus pandemic, the collection of twenty play excerpts compiled by the Senior Commissioning Editor of Methuen Drama explores the theme of crisis in plays previously staged.

While not exactly a moment of déjà vu, I did feel a sense of the familiar while listening to director Saheem Ali's new podcast production of Anne Washburn's provocative play of Trump-era liberal ideology, SHIPWRECK, subtitled 'a History Play about 2017'. It was followed almost immediately by an internal debate as to whether or not it was okay to mention in in this review.