Danai Gurira News

Before Danai Gurira exploded on the big screen earlier this year as Okoye in the movie BLACK PANTHER, she made history with her play ECLIPSED. The play opened on Broadway in 2016, marking the first time a Broadway play featured an all-female, all-black cast, director, and playwright. ECLIPSED will make its regional premiere next month as part of The Women's Theatre Festival. ECLIPSED is about five women who are struggling to survive the second Liberian Civil War. Four of the women are the forced wives of the Commanding Officer and one is a peace worker. 'One of the things that really struck me about this play and looking at the second Liberian Civil War was that it was the work of women that led to the end of the conflict,' says Michele Okoh, director of the Women's Theatre Festival's production. 'Yes, these women are in a position where they are being subjugated and where they are struggling for survival, but that's a temporary condition, and they will be able to shine.'

According to Entertainment Weekly AMC's hit zombie drama Walking Dead has cast Tony nominee Lauren Ridloff in a multi-episode arc.

Casting is complete for SUMMER SHORTS 2018, produced by Throughline Artists (J.J. Kandel, Producing Artistic Director) at 59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director). SUMMER SHORTS 2018 begins on July 20 and runs through September 1. Two series featuring three one-act plays in each will play in rotating repertory Tuesday - Friday at 7:15 PM; Saturday & Sunday at 2:15 PM and 7:15 PM. Please note, there are no matinee performances on Saturday, July 21, Sunday, July 22, or Saturday, July 28.

UNIVERSO, announced today the premiere of Season Five of the worldwide phenomenon, “The Walking Dead” en Español on Monday, July 9 at 9pm/8C. In the fifth season of the post-apocalyptic series, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the survivors continue to plan their escape from Terminus after discovering their true motives as they dream of finding refuge and the cure for the walker virus. To view a sneak peek, click here. To download photos, click here. To view promotional key art, click here.

The cast and producers of AMC's hit scripted series “The Walking Dead,” “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Preacher” will return to this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, CA. AMC's Emmy®-nominated series “Better Call Saul” will also make its Comic-Con debut alongside a reunion panel for “Breaking Bad” in celebration of the Emmy® Award-winning drama's 10-year anniversary.

The Grand, in Ellsworth is holding a week long celebration for its 80th birthday!

Amanda Peet's sophomore playwrighting effort OUR VERY OWN CARLIN McCULLOUGH has already been garnering rave reviews in its current world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse. Focusing on a ten-year-old tennis phenom and her close relationships with her tennis coach and single mom, kudos has been generously spread around the cast and the creatives. We had the opportunity to verbally volley with Joe Tippett, who completely embodies the role of Carlin's coach Jay.

The Ojai Playwrights Conference (OPC), one of the nation's most acclaimed new play development programs, announces its 21st season with another inspirational and though-provoking program featuring playwrights, new play workshop presentations, and special performance events from August 5 through 12, 2018 in Ojai, California.

Vineyard Theatre Artistic Directors Douglas Aibel and Sarah Stern have announced the upcoming 2018-2019 Season.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is pleased to announce the complete casting and directors for the first four shows of its 2018/19 season: Downstate by Pulitzer Prize-winning ensemble member Bruce Norris; Familiar by Danai Gurira; La Ruta by Isaac Gomez; and A Doll's House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath. Directors Danya Taymor (Familiar) and Robin Witt (A Doll's House, Part 2) are added to the 2018/19 director lineup. Single tickets for Downstate and Familiar will go on sale Friday, August 10 at 11am. Single tickets for La Ruta and A Doll's House, Part 2 will go on sale Friday, October 19 at 11am. Classic, Black Card, Red Card and Directors Circle Memberships are currently on sale through Audience Services at 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

Last Night at the 2018 'MTV Movie & TV Awards' hosted by Tiffany Haddish from the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles, blockbuster films and fan favorite TV shows such as Black Panther, Stranger Things, Riverdale, Wonder Woman and more took home the coveted Golden Popcorn. Check out the full list of winners below!

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jon Bernthal is set to return to THE WALKING DEAD for season 9. The news comes after Andrew Lincoln announced his exit from the AMC series a few weeks back. Bernthal is confirmed to return for an upcoming episode. He previously played cop Shane Walsh in the first and second season of the show. Read more about the news from The Hollywood Reporter here!

PBS and OZY Media announced today that the third primetime television show from OZY Media, BREAKING BIG, will premiere Today, June 15, 2018, 8:30-9:00 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide. BREAKING BIG, a 12-episode documentary series, explores the unexpected journey to success of some of the world's most influential artists, innovators, political leaders, athletes, authors and entrepreneurs.

TEEN CHOICE 2018, the summer's hottest LIVE show, is back with a brand-new wave of nominees.

Free For All, one of the capital's cherished annual traditions, will return this summer to Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC), offering two weeks of free performances of the Company's 2016 production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Directed by STC Associate Artistic Director Alan Paul, whose hit production of Camelot has extended through July 8 due to popular demand, the production will run at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F St NW) from August 21-September 2, providing more than 12,000 people the chance to see the play free of charge.

The Geffen Playhouse today announced that it has added three directors to its upcoming 2018/2019 season, the first from new Artistic Director Matt Shakman. Tony Award nominee Michael Arden will direct Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by and starring Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays; Obie Award winner Jo Bonney will direct the world premiere of Jose Rivera's The Untranslatable Secrets of Nikki Corona; and Obie Award-winner Robert O'Hara will direct the world premiere of Inda Craig-Galvan's Black Super Hero Magic Mama.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Andrew Lincoln, leading man of The Walking Dead since the start, is set to exit the series in the upcoming ninth season.

Previews begin this Friday, June 1 for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) world premiere production of LOG CABIN, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison (Marjorie Prime, Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at Playwrights; "Orange Is the New Black").  Directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Clybourne Park, The Qualms at Playwrights; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Parisian Woman), LOG CABIN is the sixth and final production of the theater company's current 2017/2018 Season.  

McCarter is proud to welcome a group of esteemed and emerging playwrights and theater artists to Princeton for the Sallie B. Goodman Artists' Retreat. The annual Retreat in June is a centerpiece of McCarter's LAB, a platform and creative incubator devoted to ongoing theatrical development and artist cultivation. The 2018 Retreat will take place from June 6 - June 13.

The 9th Annual Lilly Awards Ceremony, which honours the accomplishments of women working in the American theatre, just took place last night, May 21st, 2018, at the Minetta Lane Theatre.