Ashley Taylor News

Caeneus and Poseidon, by Bay Area playwright Bridgette Dutta Portman, is a world premiere play in verse about a transgender hero from Greek mythology.

When Jack, a New York banker, suddenly shows up at his parents' Cincinnati home in the middle of the night with a sack full of ice cream and no wife, his sister Lorna wants to know what's going on. Where's his socialite wife? Is he home for good? And why is he giving away so much money? Theresa Rebeck's (Bad Dates, Dragon 2011) dark comedy examines the conflict between Main Street and Wall Street, flyover state values versus coastal state values, and the humor within a family in turmoil. 

This notion is the driving force behind Fiction, a mind-bending work by PEN U.S.A. Award-winning playwright Steven Dietz, whose cunningly plotted play has been called a "mental Rubik's cube." Fiction creates and then destroys a seemingly conventional love triangle involving long-married writers Linda and Michael Waterman, and their mutual muse, Abby Drake.

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's joyous, time-honored celebration of the true meaning of the holidays, a tradition enjoyed by multiple generations of Cincinnatians each year, returns for its 26th season as U.S. Bank presents Charles Dickens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The beloved, iconic story will be performed Nov. 23 through Dec. 31 in the Playhouse's Robert S. Marx Theatre.

Eric Overmyer was born in Boulder, Colorado. He spent most of his youth in Seattle and eventually earned a B. A. in Theatre in 1973 at Reed College in Portland. Aside from On the Verge, his plays include The Heliotrope Bouquet, In a Pig's Valise, Don Quixote de la Jolla, Native Speech, Mi Vida Loca, In Perpetuity Throughout the Universe, and Aliki (an adaptation of Ibsen's play Peer Gynt). Mr Overmyer writes extensively for television, including for St. Elsewhere, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Wire and Law & Order, and has been nominated for two Emmy Awards. He received an Edgar Award for the television feature Rear Window. Overmyer was also a co-creator of the HBO series Treme, about musicians in post-Katrina New Orleans. More recently he's written for and executive producedBoardwalk Empire, executive produced The Affair, and written and produced Amazon's new series Bosch, based on the popular novels by Michael Connelly. 

Voted 'the most significant English language play of the 20th century" in a survey of playwrights, Waiting for Godot is considered a masterpiece of surrealist existentialism. Two wandering vagabonds, Vladimir and Estragon, wait by a lonely tree, to meet up with Mr. Godot, an enigmatic figure in a world where time, place and memory are blurred and meaning is where you find it. The men hope that Godot will change their lives for the better. Instead, two eccentric travelers arrive, one man on the end of the other's rope. The results are both surprisingly funny and somehow touching, and the trip will bend your brain in this vigorous conception of Samuel Beckett's classic.

?Based on the critically acclaimed memoir Not Even Wrong, Wild Boy tells two stories - that of Paul and Jennifer Collins, who learn that their toddler, Morgan, may be autistic, and that of Peter "the Wild Boy," an 18th century boy found mute and feral in the woods by King George I. Written by Oliver Goldstick, Wild Boy looks at what it really means to be human.

Written by up and coming playwright Meghan Kennedy, Too Much, Too Much, Too Many is a look at two women who are grieving the loss of a loved one. More than six months ago Rose (played by Mary Price Moore) lost her husband James (played by W. Scott Whisler) of more than 40 years. She locks herself in her bedroom and refuses to leave it. Her daughter Emma (played by Kelly Battcher) becomes her mother's caregiver and invites the local pastor (played by Felix Abador) to the house to talk to Rose.

Two young women in Manhattan are trying to figure out life after college, but they'll settle for making rent. They join a community advocacy group called SAFE ('Stay Away From Ed') named for an elusive serial attacker terrorizing the city, when they learn there's a big reward for information that leads to his capture. Their SAFE 'friends' include their ruthless, socially stunted roommate; the celebrated author of a fictional memoir; a lonely man who feels a kinship with crime victims; and an 'Ed survivor,' reveling in her fifteen minutes of dubious fame. This black comedy was written by Gina Gionfriddo (After Ashley Dragon 2013, Rapture, Blister, Burn, a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist) and was the winner of the 2001-2002 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for woman playwrights.

A timely and thought provoking drama by Sharr White (6 Years and The Other Place, Dragon 2008 and 2014 seasons), SUNLIGHT tackles the polarity of the post-9/11 world. A liberal university president wages a ferocious war against a conservative law school dean who writes legal memos justifying torture -- and who also happens to be his son-in-law. His daughter, a 9/11 survivor, is caught between her father and husband as the family's personal and political worlds collide.

A timely and thought provoking drama by Sharr White (6 Years and The Other Place, Dragon 2008 and 2014 seasons), SUNLIGHT tackles the polarity of the post-9/11 world. A liberal university president wages a ferocious war against a conservative law school dean who writes legal memos justifying torture -- and who also happens to be his son-in-law. His daughter, a 9/11 survivor, is caught between her father and husband as the family's personal and political worlds collide.

The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's joyous, time-honored celebration of the true spirit of the holidays achieves the quarter-century mark this season as U.S. Bank presents Charles Dickens' iconic story A CHRISTMAS CAROL. The beloved tale, enjoyed each season by multiple generations of Cincinnatians, will be performed for its 25th year in the Playhouse's Robert S. Marx Theatre from Nov. 25 through Dec. 30.

This October offers an unusual theatergoing experience - see the fictionalized story of pioneering English female playwright Aphra Behn in Or, by Liz Duffy Adams at the Dragon Theatre in Redwood City, then see The Rover, one of Aphra Behn's most successful plays, at Shotgun Players in Berkeley as a part of their season of plays by women.

During the early days of radio, Davey Quinn becomes famous as the Voice of the Prairie, telling tales of his adventures with Frankie, a blind girl he once saved from her abusive father. Years later his radio broadcasts reunite him with Frankie, now a school teacher, and their adventures together begin again! One of the most popular contemporary plays, The Voice of the Prairie has been called 'endearing' (NY Times) and 'first-rate entertainment.' (Torrington Register Citizen)

During the early days of radio, Davey Quinn becomes famous as the Voice of the Prairie, telling tales of his adventures with Frankie, a blind girl he once saved from her abusive father. Years later his radio broadcasts reunite him with Frankie, now a school teacher, and their adventures together begin again! One of the most popular contemporary plays, The Voice of the Prairie has been called 'endearing' (NY Times) and 'first-rate entertainment.' (Torrington Register Citizen)

A young apprentice dreams of a woman just out of his reach, while he toils away making batches of drugs under his boss's watchful eye. The local lawyer tries to woo the same woman away, while the boss himself plots to accumulate wealth manipulating those around him. A comedic tale of mixed up romance and life in the drug industry. Opera as you've never seen it before, told through the style of the hit TV show, Breaking Bad. Sung in the original Italian with supertitles.

A young apprentice dreams of a woman just out of his reach, while he toils away making batches of drugs under his boss's watchful eye. The local lawyer tries to woo the same woman away, while the boss himself plots to accumulate wealth manipulating those around him. A comedic tale of mixed up romance and life in the drug industry. Opera as you've never seen it before, told through the style of the hit TV show, Breaking Bad. Sung in the original Italian with supertitles.

Joseph Alsop, America's most powerful political commentator, is the subject of The Columnist, a new play by the Pulitzer- and Tony Award-winning author of Proof. Dominating Washington's political scene in the years between World War II and the Vietnam War, Joe is both feared and admired. But as America enters the turbulent 60s, his unyielding political views and dark personal secrets threaten to destroy his influence. Opened on Broadway in 2012 with John Lithgow.

Perfectly in line with the theme of her latest full-length album Loud Love, Joanna Beasley (www.joannabeasley.com) is feeling it big time, signing an endorsement deal with Daisy Rock Girl Guitars – whose extensive lines of colorful, high quality instruments, designed by veteran musician and company founder Tish Ciravolo, are played by thousands of female (and some male) musicians all over the world.

It's an exciting holiday theatre season in Toronto, with lots of great options for children and grown ups alike! One option which is bound to appeal to people of all ages is the classic tale of ANNIE - being presented by Young People's Theatre and starring newcomer Jenny Weisz in the iconic role. No version of Annie is complete without the villainous Miss Hannigan and Rooster - the characters who stand between Annie and her future happiness. In this new production, they're played by real life husband and wife Louise Pitre and Joe Matheson - who are teaming up to sink their teeth into the despicable (yet very funny) duo. Louise spoke with BWW about playing the villain, her experiences with Young People's Theatre and the enduring power of Annie: