C.A. Johnson News

Cherry Lane Theatre will continue its Obie Award-winning Mentor Project with three girls never learnt the way home, written by Matthew Paul Olmos.

Cherry Lane Theatre (Angelina Fiordellisi, Founder; Seri Lawrence, Artistic Director) is proud to kick-off its Obie Award-winning Mentor Project with this year's first production, The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro (or iNegro) written by and starring Kareem M. Lucas, mentored by Craig 'muMs' Grant. The Maturation of an Inconvenient Negro is directed by David Mendizabal and will begin performances on Wednesday, February 20 and run through March 2 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street, NYC).  Tickets are $25 ($60 for a three-show membership) and can be purchased by visiting cherrylanetheatre.org or by calling 866-811-4111.

Cherry Lane Theatre is proud to announce that this year's Mentor Project playwrights include Kareem M. Lucas, Matthew Paul Olmos, and C.A. Johnson, who will join the previously announced mentors, Craig muMs Grant, Taylor Mac and Martyna Majok as part of the 21st season of the Obie Award-winning Mentor Project. Mentor Project will culminate in three fully-staged productions presented between February 20 to April 13, 2019.   

The Lark, a theater company devoted to the support of visionary playwrights and the development of new plays, is thrilled to announce five New York City-based playwrights have been named as the 2018-19 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellows. The group spans a wide range of backgrounds and professional experiences and will meet regularly throughout the year to develop new plays.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University is the proud recipient of a grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to support the Rural Arts Collaborative (RAC). Supported by the Foundation, students from Magnolia High School in Wetzel County, West Virginia will tour their immersive art exhibition, Where?, to Shepherdstown for an arts residency this month during the Contemporary American Theater Festival. The student artists will showcase and share their work with Eastern Panhandle residents and visitors.

There is a thing Terrance can't let go of, like Lear, like Othello, like Richard II. And if you're a tragic hero and you can't let go when you ought to, then bad things will happen to you and those you are close to.

Corkscrew Theater Festival presents delicacy of a puffin heart, written by Stefani Kuo and directed by Theo Maltz. Running July 25-August 5, delicacy of a puffin heart traces the stories of two pairs of immigrant/first generation women living in the same San Francisco apartment, twenty years apart: in the 1990s, a lesbian couple hoping to have a child, and in the present, their adult daughter living with her best friend. Both pairs of women struggle to maintain their intimate connection while facing mental and physical illness. Performed by Dominique Brillon, Diane Chen, Cleo Gray, Drita Kabashi, and O'mer Koren, delicacy of a puffin heart is the fourth production in the second annual season of Corkscrew Theater Festival, a new summer theater festival that provides early-career artists with a high level of production support.

Known nationally and internationally for its professional cultivation of vibrant new plays, the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University welcomes the 2018 company to Shepherdstown, West Virginia. Each July, artists from around the country, including cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, gather in historic Shepherdstown to create the future of American theater.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University, dedicated to producing and developing new American theater, welcomes Nicole M. Smith, as the full-time Company Manager. Smith served as CATF's seasonal Company Manager from 2012 to 2014, before accepting a position at the notable Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. For Smith, returning to CATF is akin to returning home.

The Contemporary American Theater Festival at Shepherd University will produce the world premiere of Michael Weller's A Late Morning (in America) with Ronald Reagan as part of its 2018 season. This play is a result of a collaboration between Weller, director Sam Weisman, and actor Tim Matheson. Initially, Matheson was to originate the role of Ronald Reagan. However, due to an unexpected scheduling conflict, Matheson is no longer able to be a part of the project and the role will be recast.

Page Seventy-Three Productions announced today that the 2018 Spring Celebration will honor Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Quiara Alegria Hudes and Page 73 supporters Mary Lee and David Jones. The Spring Celebration will be held on Tuesday, May 15 at Tribeca Rooftop (2 Desbrosses Street).

Sundance Institute's Theatre Lab kicks off on May 6th, and today announced this year's participating acting company and creative advisors. The Lab, which runs through May 27 at the Fellah Hotel outside Marrakech, Morocco, is supervised by Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, and is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round work with the theatre community, alternating locations between Sundance Resort in Utah and a venue in the Middle East/North African region, as part of a multi-year commitment to international work and a means of facilitating cultural exchange between artists writing in English and Arabic.

With excitement and gratitude, Seattle Repertory Theatre today announced that it was granted full funding from the prestigious Elizabeth George Foundation for support of commissions for the work of three writers - Joanna Garner, Lily Houghton, and C.A. Johnson. This grant funds developmental work that will begin this fall 2018 through Seattle Rep's The Other Season. The Foundation's incredible support enables artists at the very beginning stage of their careers to have their work recognized and cultivated by institutions across the nation like Seattle Rep in the hope that these theatres become the artistic homes for the work being created.

Sundance Institute announces the slate of theatremakers from the U.S. and Middle East / North Africa who will convene at the Theatre Program's second annual Theatre Lab in Morocco next month. The Lab, which will take place from May 6 - 27 at the Fellah Hotel outside Marrakech, comprises three uninterrupted weeks of consultation, mentorship and workshop performance of new work for the stage. The Theatre Lab alternates locations each season, moving between the Sundance Resort in Utah, and a venue in the Middle East/North African region, as part of a multi-year commitment to international work and a means of facilitating cultural exchange between artists. Led by Sundance Institute Theatre Program Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, teams of creative advisors, actors and dramaturgs will collaborate with writers and directors, independent from commercial or public pressures, as they develop their projects.

Sundance Institute announces the slate of theatremakers from the U.S. and Middle East / North Africa who will convene at the Theatre Program's second annual Theatre Lab in Morocco next month. The Lab, which will take place from May 6 - 27 at the Fellah Hotel outside Marrakech, comprises three uninterrupted weeks of consultation, mentorship and workshop performance of new work for the stage. The Theatre Lab alternates locations each season, moving between the Sundance Resort in Utah, and a venue in the Middle East/North African region, as part of a multi-year commitment to international work and a means of facilitating cultural exchange between artists. Led by Sundance Institute Theatre Program Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, teams of creative advisors, actors and dramaturgs will collaborate with writers and directors, independent from commercial or public pressures, as they develop their projects.  

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.

Ed Herendeen, Founder and Producing Director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) at Shepherd University, will showcase the Festival's 2018 season at the Shepherdstown Sneak Peek. The Festival, which takes place throughout the month of July, will produce six new plays, including five world premieres. During the Sneak Peek, Herendeen will welcome and moderate a discussion between the creative team of A Late Morning (in America) with Ronald Reagan, playwright Michael Weller and director Sam Weisman.

This is what you've been waiting for: the announcement of the Contemporary American Theater Festival's 2018 Season July 6 - 29!  -Mark your calendars! REP Packages are available starting March 26th and Single Tickets are available April 16th. 

Seven theatre artists have gathered for the nineteenth annual Sundance Institute Playwrights & Composers Retreat at Ucross Foundation in Wyoming, currently underway from February 5 to February 23, 2018. Designed to support theatrical writing in its earliest stages, the residency is dedicated to uninhibited creativity, peer mentorship and professional growth.

PAGE 73 PRODUCTIONS (Page 73) (Michael Walkup, Producing Artistic Director; Jenny Lagundino, Managing Director; Liz Jones and Asher Richelli, Founding Directors) has named C.A. Johnson the 2018 P73 Playwriting Fellow. Selected from over 400 applicants, Johnson will receive a $10,000 award and additional $10,000 budgeted for developing several new plays over the course of the year.