Charles MacArthur News

The 2020 Helen Hayes Awards, recognizing the outstanding work on Washington area stages in 2019, continued its four-week virtual event series. 

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced its 2020 Artists-in-Residence: Trip Cullman, Joshua Harmon, Michael R. Jackson, Sylvia Khoury, Martyna Majok and Tyne Rafaeli.

In an announcement released today, National Players, the educational touring troupe at Olney Theatre Center, has been awarded a 2020-21 Shakespeare in American Communities grant, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest, worth $25,000.

Round House Theatre announces further changes to the 2020-2021 Season in response to the ongoing pandemic. To ensure the safety and health of artists, audiences, students, and staff, Round House will not produce live performances for the remainder of 2020. Until further notice, Round House facilities, including the Bethesda theatre and the Education Center in Silver Spring, will be closed. As previously announced, all 2020 summer camps will be held virtually. At this time, the theatre hopes to return to live performances in early 2021. Round House will continue to create digital programming throughout the fall and winter. More details will be announced in the coming months.

To prioritize the safety and wellbeing of students, artists, and staff, Round House Theatre's beloved summer camps will be held virtually. Round House Camp at Your House offers a full complement of online theatre education opportunities for grades K-3, 4-6, and 6-12. Camps will be conducted virtually in small, interactive classroom groups, and Round House Teaching Artists will lead students through live, daily activities in acting, movement, design, and playmaking. Parents and students can access online classes via password-protected video conferencing, and all necessary art supplies and activity sheets will be shipped directly to participating homes. Sessions run June 16 – August 28. Please see below for program details.

In response to the continually evolving novel coronavirus outbreak, Round House Theatre is updating its previously announced 2020-2021 Season. The upcoming season will now include Cost of Living by Martyna Majok. The previously announced God of Carnage will be postponed until the 2021-2022 Season. All remaining shows are still slated to continue, but the schedule has been updated. The Tempest, which is expected to draw in the largest crowds, will now perform at later dates.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Folger Theatre is altering the programming schedule for its 2020/21 'On the Road' season of plays. In working to ensure the well-being and safety of patrons, Folger Theatre, along with its project partners the National Building Museum and the University of South Carolina, have made the decision to postpone the 2020 summer production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and the National Building Museum's Summer Block Party, featuring the Folger Shakespeare Playhouse, to Summer 2021.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces the continuation of its 91st Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly. Know Theatre of Cincinnati's production is the latest to open, running February 28 - March 21, 2020. As of the 28th, four productions of Alabaster will be running simultaneously: 16th Street Theater in Berwyn, IL closes its production March 1, while Austin, TX can see Shrewd Productions' run through March 7; Kitchen Dog Theater's Dallas production continues through March 8.

El próximo 18 de mayo se celebrará la entrega de los Premios Helen Hayes 2020, que celebran la excelencia en el teatro profesional en el área metropolitana de Washington D.C.

Tonight, at a celebration honoring theatre excellence on stages across the Washington area, theatre artists, administrators, patrons, and special guests gathered in the National Theatre's Helen Hayes Gallery for theatreWashington's announcement of nominees for the 36th Annual Helen Hayes Awards, which will be presented on Monday, May 18 at an event at the Anthem.

A darkly comic southern drama about love, art and the power of healing. After a tornado barrels through North Alabama leaving nothing but death and destruction, only June and her wisecracking pet goat Weezy live to tell the tale. When Alice, a prominent photographer, arrives to take pictures of June's scars, all are tipped to the breaking point in this beautiful story of life after death.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces the launch of its 91st Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly.

Olney Theatre Center kicks off the decade with a production of Quiara Alegría Hudes' newest musical, Miss You Like Hell on the Mainstage (January 29 - March 1, 2020). Hudes, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and Lin-Manuel Miranda's collaborator on the book and film of In The Heights, wrote the book and shares credit for the lyrics with folk-rock star Erin McKeown who also wrote the music. Lisa Portes and Breon Arzell make their Olney Theatre debuts as director and choreographer, respectively. Press is invited to attend the performance on Saturday, February 1 at 8:00 pm.

Good Theater continues its Second Stage series with MURDERERS, the darkly hilarious comedy by Jeffrey Hatcher. The production will run in repertory with the current main stage show, POPCORN FALLS. MURDERERS opens January 11th and plays through February 1st, 2020 at Good Theater's home, the St. Lawrence Arts Center, 76 Congress Street, Portland. For tickets and information, please call the Box Office at (207) 835-0895 or visit www.goodtheater.com.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, announces its 91st Rolling World Premiere (RWP): Alabaster by Audrey Cefaly. The Roll will begin in Fort Myers, FL and crisscross the country for nearly a year, before wrapping up its record-breaking roll in November 2020. The theaters, locations, and dates of these productions are:

The Stratford Festival is celebrating the World Premiere of Michael Healey's adaptation of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's THE FRONT PAGE at the Festival Theatre. A beloved American satire set in 1920's Chicago, THE FRONT PAGE tells the story of journalists in a courthouse pressroom doing whatever they need to do to get their story while at the same time being the only potential failsafe against political corruption at a time when the seedy Chicago subculture was in full swing. Directed by Graham Abbey, this adaptation is updated to include more diversity among the characters. It is a knee slapping night at the theatre whilst also providing a seemingly timeless commentary about the flaws and biases of the criminal justice system.

Greasepaint presents columbinus for three performance only. Sept 6 through Sept. 8. columbinus is staged through Greasepaint's Bare Bones program, an annual production that focuses on social justice.

Steep Theatre announces the programming for its upcoming 19th season, which will continue the company's tradition of presenting bold plays from today's most exciting playwrights, brought to life by fearless ensembles and visionary directors.

The Front Page, one of the great satires about the world of journalism, hits the stage in Stratford today, under the direction of Festival veteran Graham Abbey. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, and newly adapted by Canadian playwright Michael Healey, this comedy-drama is now in previews at the Festival Theatre and will officially open on Thursday, August 15.

Red Bull Theater today announced that Tom Riis Farrell, Glenn Fleshler, and Alice Ripley would join the next REVELATION READING, Ben Jonson's THE ALCHEMIST, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Jesse Berger, along with the previously announced Duane Boutte, Christopher Fitzgerald, John Glover, Tracie Lane, Teresa Avia Lim, Euan Morton, Noah Robbins, Steve Rosen, and Spiff Weigand.