Desdemona Chiang News

The University of Washington School of Drama, under the leadership of Executive Director Todd London, is pleased to announce the 2017 - 2018 season.

Playwrights Foundation, the West Coast's premiere launchpad for exceptional emerging playwrights has named the artistic teams and daily schedule for the 40th Anniversary Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF).  The 40th Anniversary Bay Area Playwrights Festival runs July 13 - 23, 2017 at Custom Made Theatre, 533 Sutter Street in the heart of San Francisco's Theater District.  In addition to twelve staged readings, the Festival will offer a Theater Professionals weekend 7/21-23, special events, and an anniversary celebration 7/13.  Tickets at bayareaplaywrightsfestival.org.

California Shakespeare Theater begins its 43rd Season with Shakespeare's genderbending comedy, As You Like It. In director Desdemona Chiang's all new production, adaptable and resilient Rosalind must leave everything she knows behind to find her true family.

Gregory Award-winning Seattle Public Theater announced the lineup for its 2017-18 season yesterday. The six plays, including a newly-commissioned world premiere by local playwright Maggie Lee and the runaway broadway sensation Hand to God by Robert Askins, were chosen specifically by newly appointed co-producing Artistic Directors Kelly Kitchens and Annie Lareau as part of the organization's mission to produce compelling and socially relevant theater that sparks conversation, broadens consciousness, and inspires compassion.

Director Desdemona Chiang makes her Cal Shakes debut, infusing Shakespeare's  romantic comedy with the vibrant, complicated, and shifting energy of the Bay Area.   Berkeley, CA, April 26 - California Shakespeare Theater begins its 43rd Season with Shakespeare's gender-bending comedy, As You Like It. In director Desdemona Chiang's all new production, adaptable and resilient Rosalind must leave everything she knows behind to find her true family.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced the eleven exceptional stage directors who have been selected as the 2017 Directing Fellows of The Drama League Directors Project.

is @Long_Wharf with Smart People and everywhere else.

Long Wharf Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents Smart People by Lydia Diamond, directed by Desdemona Chiang. Performances ru now through April 9, 2017 on Stage II, with press opening set for tonight, March 22, at 7:30 pm. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Intertwining themes of money, power, and love weave through the plays of Seattle Shakespeare Company's upcoming season just announced by Artistic Director George Mount. Plans for the company's 2017-2018 season include Julius Caesar, The Government Inspector, Timon of Athens, The Merchant of Venice, and Shakespeare in Love.

March Top Picks for Connecticut Theater

Long Wharf Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joshua Borenstein, presents Smart People by Lydia Diamond, directed by Desdemona Chiang.

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

The 'large theater' productions of ACT Theatre's The Royale and The 5th Avenue Theatre's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying take top honors and the 'small theater' productions of ArtsWest's Death of a Salesman and Washington Ensemble Theatre's The Things Are Against Us take top honors - for most category wins!?

Spanning 28 theater companies and 59 productions, from the largest and most prominent to small, humble and innovative, the Gypsy Rose Lee Awards honor as much professional theater as we reviewers can cram into our year.

California Shakespeare Theater today announced that Tyne Rafaeli will direct Cal Shakes' final production of its 2017 season, the previously-announced Measure for Measure. This first-ever co-production between Cal Shakes and Santa Cruz Shakespeare will play at the Bruns Amphitheater from September 20 through October 15.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced the Master of Ceremonies, entertainment, and Gala Committee Members for their upcoming gala honoring playwright and actress Danai Gurira, producers Stephen C. Byrd and Alia Jones-Harvey, and the Vilcek Foundation and Rick Kinsel.

Dear Readers, Can you imagine reading your diary from when you were 16-years-old out loud, in front of an audience? Now, can you imagine doing it not for laughs, but to recreate those precious, documented moments with emotional integrity? Superimposing emotion over words such as 'My mom just does not understand me,' in a way that feels both authentic and serious is close to impossible, even when the content of the writing is much graver. This was Book-It's noble challenge in its latest production of 'A Tale for the Time Being' as 16-year-old Nao recites the words of her found diary.

Director Nathan Singh has been selected to be the 2016 SDCF Sir John Gielgud Fellow. He will be assisting Seret Scott on her production of Electra at the Court Theatre in Chicago, IL. Director Rhonda Kohl has been selected to be the 2016 SDCF Shepard and Mildred Traube Fellow. She will be working with Kathleen Marshall on the Broadway production of In Transit at the Circle in the Square Theatre in NYC.

Book-It Repertory Theatre opens its 27th season with A Tale for the Time Being this September. In Tokyo, 16-year-old Nao's only solace is her diary. Across the Pacific, Ruth is a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox-possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As a mystery unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) has announced that its 2016 gala will honor Tony-nominated and OBIE-winning playwright and acclaimed 'The Walking Dead' actress Danai Gurira.