Dael Orlandersmith News

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting Award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights.

Dramatists Guild Foundation (DGF) has announced the second-ever recipients of the DGF Writers Alliance Grants. These Grants provide $5,000 to both a non-profit theater's production of a new work and $5,000 to the writer or group of writers whose work is being produced. Gary Garrison, who serves on both the DGF Advisory Board and the Writers Alliance Grant selection committee, said: "The DGF's Writers Alliance Grant is the perfect combination of support for both writer AND theater. It acknowledges that the writer has a story that should to be told while also smartly pointing to the theater that should be telling it."

A group of nationally renowned playwrights will present public readings of their newest scripts at The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis' Ignite! Festival of New Plays, running March 27 - April 4, 2019 in The Rep's Emerson Studio Theatre.

Red Bull Theater today announced that their ninth annual festival of 10-minute plays of heightened language and classic themes will feature two brand new commissions from Kia Corthron and Will Power, alongside six brand new plays chosen from hundreds of submissions from playwrights across the country. Submissions are now open through March 18, 2019.

the wild project will hold Root Us in the LES, a benefit performance night on Monday, January 7 at 7:00 PM. The benefit performance kicks off their new capital campaign: a fund dedicated to the purchasing of the building and the future of the wild project, a vital part of the East Village community. To purchase tickets, which are $50, to the benefit performance or to make a donation to the Root Us in the LES capital campaign, visit www.thewildproject.org.

New Rep Theatre in Massachusetts's gender-bent production of 1776 is now on stage! The production is set to run at the Mosesian Center for the Arts through December 23rd.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at New Rep Theatre in Massachusetts's gender-bent production of 1776 this holiday season! The production is set to run at the Mosesian Center for the Arts through December 23rd.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) (Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director Jeremy Blocker) will transfer Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me to the Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow Street) at the end of this month, extending its limited run to the end of the year. This immediate transfer, unprecedented in NYTW's history, is in response to the enormous and overwhelming response to Heidi Schreck's timely and powerful creation. Performed by two-time Obie Award winner Schreck (Grand Concourse, "I Love Dick") and directed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler (The Amateurs, The Light Years), What the Constitution Means to Me began previews on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, and opened Sunday, September 30 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. 4th Street).

Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 has announced a special event - THROW ME ON THE BURNPILE AND LIGHT ME UP, an 80-minute solo show written and performed by Lucy Alibar and directed by Neel Keller.  BURNPILE will have 3 performances only - Thursday, December 6; Friday, December 7; and Saturday, December 8 - all at 7pm at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65 Street).

UNTIL THE FLOOD is a rich and intense 90 minutes of what theatre does best.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) (Artistic Director James C. Nicola and Managing Director Jeremy Blocker) will transfer Heidi Schreck's What the Constitution Means to Me to the Greenwich House Theater (27 Barrow Street) at the end of this month, extending its limited run to the end of the year. This immediate transfer, unprecedented in NYTW's history, is in response to the enormous and overwhelming response to Heidi Schreck's timely and powerful creation. Performed by two-time Obie Award winner Schreck (Grand Concourse, "I Love Dick") and directed by Obie Award winner Oliver Butler (The Amateurs, The Light Years), What the Constitution Means to Me began previews on Wednesday, September 12, 2018, and opened Sunday, September 30 at New York Theatre Workshop (79 E. 4th Street).

Though often described as a 'universal language,' music, perhaps more than any other art form, is intricately linked to the memories and emotions of the individual. LADY IN DENMARK celebrates the power of music to weave together the strands of one life: in this case, the songs of Billie Holiday and the reminiscences of a fictional, elderly Danish immigrant living in Chicago.

Dael Orlandersmith, "an intense poet, writer and intellectual" (Chicago Tribune), brings her newest work, Lady in Denmark, to the Owen Theatre. Reuniting with director Chay Yew (Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men, 2012), Orlandersmith's world premiere production is a reflection on love and adversity starring stage and screen actress Linda Gehringer in a 90-minute solo performance. Helene (Gehringer) is a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. This is her journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Chicago.Lady in Denmark is one of five world premieres this season, all originally developed as a part of the Goodman's New Stages Festival.

For the first time in six years, Goodman Theatre's Costume Shop hosts a costume sale today, October 20 from 9am - 2pm. More than 100 handmade items by the Goodman's costume shop artisans will be available for sale, priced starting at just $1. From couture gowns to fashionable headwear, attendees can pick selections from acclaimed Goodman productions including-hats and headwear from Artistic Associate Regina Taylor's gospel musical sensation Crowns (2004, 2012); uniforms from Artistic Director Robert Falls' celebrated production of King Lear (2006); the majorette costume from Sweet Bird of Youth (2012) with Academy Award-winning actress Diane Lane and Finn Wittrock; and more. The costume sale takes place today, October 20 from 9am - 2pm at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn). Admission is free and costume pieces range from $1 - $300+; both cash and credit is accepted. All sales are final and proceeds support the Goodman. Costume previews will not be available prior to the sale. 

Goodman Theatre adds to its 2018/2019 Season a limited engagement of St. Nicholas-an internationally-acclaimed major revival by London's Donmar Warehouse of Conor McPherson's 1997 intimate thriller, directed by Simon Evans. The monologue play stars Olivier Award-winning actor Brendan Coyle ("Mr. Bates" of the smash sensation Downton Abbey, for which he earned an Emmy Award nomination) in "a superlative, mesmerizing performance that's simply not to be missed" (The Arts Review). The U.S. premiere, which appears in the Goodman's 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre, follows two acclaimed recent appearances at the Donmar Warehouse and the Dublin Theatre Festival. The creative team includes Peter McKintosh (Set), Matt Daw (Lighting) and Christopher Shutt (Sound). Goodman Theatre's limited engagement of St. Nicholas appears January 9 - 27, 2019 in the Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn). Tickets are available now ONLY with the purchase of a new Classic Membership (4-play packages start at $80). Individual tickets ($25 - $60; subject to change) go on sale Friday, November 9. For tickets and more information, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/StNicholas or call the box office (312.443.3800, 12 noon - 5pm daily).

Pulitzer Prize Finalist Dael Orlandersmith highlights the universal languages of love and music in Lady in Denmark, kicks off the 2018/2019 season in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Chay Yew, who also helmed the play's 2016 New Stages Festival staged reading, directs Linda Gehringer as Helene-a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. Orlandersmith's newest play is Helene's journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Andersonville, Chicago. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the production stage manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 - November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change), by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.

Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 has announced that it will host a number of special events in conjunction with its production of PLOT POINTS IN OUR SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT, a new play by Miranda Rose Hall, directed by Margot Bordelon, currently in previews at the Claire Tow Theater.   The events, each curated with Ianne Fields Stewart and hosted at the Claire Tow Theater (150 West 65 Street), will include 3 LGBTQ+ Singles Nights on Sunday, October 28th; Sunday, November 4th; and Sunday, November 11th; and 3 Post-Show Conversations on Thursday, November 1st; Thursday, November 8th; and Monday, November 12th. All events held post-show are free to ticket-holders for that evening's performance.

Applications are now available for two Goodman Theatre Education and Engagement programs-Disney Musicals in Schools and Cindy Bandle Young Critics-offered at no cost to Chicagoland youth. Applications for Disney Musicals in Schools are available through Monday, October 15 and Cindy Bandle Young Critics through Friday, October 19 at GoodmanTheatre.org/Engage-Learn. For more information, call 312.443.5581.

Pulitzer Prize Finalist Dael Orlandersmith highlights the universal languages of love and music in Lady in Denmark, kicks off the 2018/2019 season in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Chay Yew, who also helmed the play's 2016 New Stages Festival staged reading, directs Linda Gehringer as Helene-a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. Orlandersmith's newest play is Helene's journey through the couple's time together-from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Andersonville, Chicago. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the production stage manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 - November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman's Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change), by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.