Cameron Anderson News

Directed with finesse by Kimberly Senior, THE NICETIES features Lisa Banes as the liberal, white professor Janine, and Jordan Boatman as the ambitious young black student Zoe, who become involved in a polite clash of perspectives that quickly explodes into an urgent and dangerous debate threatening to ruin both their lives. We first meet the two opinionated and obviously brilliant women in Janine's somewhat cramped office, with its slanted ceiling (thanks to scenic designer Cameron Anderson) indicating her top floor status in the department. Posters of great political leaders from all sides, including George Washington, Lech Wa??sa, Nelson Mandela, Emiliano Zapata, and female Suffragettes, adorn her office walls with books about other leaders and revolutionaries scattered around the place. Certainly, all appearances indicate Jeanine is the type of open-minded teacher every student would want to instruct them about American History. Right?

General Director Ken McConnell and Artistic Director Tobias Picker today announced Tulsa Opera's 72nd season comprising classics such as Bizet's Carmen and Puccini's Madama Butterfly, and a new production of Mr. Picker's 1996 opera Emmeline, to be performed in Oklahoma for the first time, and led by Mr. Picker in his opera-conducting debut.

It has been called the most important photograph ever taken-an image that led to a breakthrough in genetics research. The X-ray crystallographer who took it, Rosalind Franklin, is at the heart of Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51, next up on South Coast Repertory's Julianne Argyros Stage, directed by Kimberly Senior, March 3-24. Tickets are available at www.scr.org.

After sparking thousands of conversations about race, history, and power in Boston and New York, the world-premiere production of Eleanor Burgess' The Niceties will run at McCarter Theatre Center from January 11 through February 10. Directed byKimberly Senior (Disgraced on Broadway), The Niceties features Lisa Banes and Jordan Boatman as a white professor and a black student involved in a polite clash of perspectives which quickly explodes into an urgent and dangerous debate threatening to ruin both their lives. "Scintillating," raves Peter Marks in The Washington Post. "The story of America, it seems, is destined to be wrestled over to the bitter end."

Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of India Pale Ale, written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by Will Davis, and New York premiere of The Niceties, written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Kimberly Senior, are now playing their final two weeks of performances. Both plays must close on Sunday, November 18th atMTC's New York City Center - Stage I and Stage II (131 West 55th Street).

The Niceties is now playing at MTC's The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street).

Manhattan Theatre Club's New York premiere of The Niceties, written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced), begins performances tomorrow at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street). Opening night is set for Thursday, October 25.

Manhattan Theatre Club's New York premiere of The Niceties, written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced), begins performances tomorrow at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street). Opening night is set for Thursday, October 25.

The Niceties begins performances this Friday, October 12 at The Studio at Stage II - Harold and Mimi Steinberg New Play Series at New York City Center (131 W. 55th Street). Get a first look at the production below!

Brookline playwright and former Huntington Playwriting Fellow Eleanor Burgess captures the zeitgeist in her fast-paced and intense new play, THE NICETIES, now receiving its world premiere by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Inspired by a 2015 firestorm at Yale University, her alma mater, Burgess dives head first into the deep end of racial politics in academia, and tackles difficult questions that are most often avoided in discourse in America today. She employs a millennial black student and a 60-year old white professor to effectively argue opposing sides of the debate, but Burgess is smart enough not to choose sides, leaving it up to the audience to contemplate their own thoughts and feelings.

After developmental productions that drew high praise from prominent theatre critics, and left audiences alternately speechless and effusive, engaged and enraged, the Huntington Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eleanor Burgess's explosive new play, The Niceties, running August 31 to October 6 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Huntington is pleased to produce the play in association with two other leading theatre companies. The production will move Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club immediately following the Boston run, and then continue on to Princeton, NJ for performances at McCarter Theatre Center.  

MTC announces casting for the first two 2018-2019 New York City Center productions: India Pale Ale, the world premiere by Jaclyn Backhaus, and The Niceties, the New York premiere by Eleanor Burgess, in association with Huntington Theatre Company and McCarter Theatre Center.

After developmental productions that drew high praise from prominent theatre critics, and left audiences alternately speechless and effusive, engaged and enraged, the Huntington Theatre Company presents the world premiere of Eleanor Burgess's explosive new play, The Niceties, running August 31 to October 6 at the South End/Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. The Huntington is pleased to produce the play in association with two other leading theatre companies. The production will move Off Broadway to Manhattan Theatre Club immediately following the Boston run, and then continue on to Princeton, NJ for performances at McCarter Theatre Center.  

Boston Playwrights' Theatre hosted the North American premiere of THE ROSENBERGS (AN OPERA) the past two weekends. It moves to Spingold Theater Center at Brandeis University for three performances next weekend. A co-production of Boston University and Brandeis, the opera features music by Joachim Holbek, libretto by Rhea Leman, and is directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky. Moving performances by Brian Church and Christie Lee Gibson breathe life into Julius and Ethel Rosenberg as real people who lived a tragic love story.

Opera Saratoga's Artistic and General Director Lawrence Edelson announced the complete casting and programming for the company's 2018 Summer Festival, which will feature new productions of four operas at The Spa Little Theater in Spa State Park, along with a wide variety of free and ticketed concert events from May 26th through July 15th at venues throughout the region. Single tickets, as well as subscription packages, are on sale now at www.operasaratoga.org.

Trinity Repertory Company will open the heartwarming new comedy Into the Breeches! this month. Set in 1942 Providence, the play follows the women of the fictional Oberon Playhouse, who endeavor to continue with their Shakespearean production even though the company's men (including their director) are fighting overseas in World War II. The women's dedication to each other and the theater is a delightful celebration of art and community.

Trinity Repertory Company will open the heartwarming new comedy Into the Breeches! this month. Set in 1942 Providence, the play follows the women of the fictional Oberon Playhouse, who endeavor to continue with their Shakespearean production even though the company's men (including their director) are fighting overseas in World War II. The women's dedication to each other and the theater is a delightful celebration of art and community.

Actors' Shakespeare Project opens its 14th season, The Downfall of Despots, with a comedy about a narcissistic despot who is having difficulty accepting his mortality. Director Dmitry Troyanovsky has the good fortune to work with a stellar ensemble, lead by the inimitable Richard Snee, and Sarah Newhouse and Jesse Hinson as his two dissimilar wives. Rounding out the cast are Dayenne Walters, Rachel Belleman, and Gunnar Manchester.

When Assistant Professor Dmitry Troyanovsky '98 chose his first production for the Brandeis Department of Theater Arts, he did not hesitate to fix his gaze beyond the borders of the United States.