Dina Janis News

Dorset Theatre Festival will present Travels with Mark Twain, from tonight, September 18th through the 20th at the Dorset Playhouse.

Dorset Theatre Festival will present Travels with Mark Twain, from September 18th through the 20th at the Dorset Playhouse. Travels with Mark Twain stars Tony Award winner Ron Crawford as the renowned American author and satirist in a one-man show based on Twain's famous traveling lecture series, and will feature readings from some of his most beloved works including Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and Adam and Eve. Travels re-creates Twain's lectures from a hundred years ago, his adventures as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi, his mining days out West, the Hawaiian Islands, and his first tour of Europe along with his caustic, humorous observations (and a few tall stories).

Dorset Theatre Festival will present The Mousetrap, Dame Agatha Christie's masterpiece of mayhem and mystery, from August 14th through the 30th at the Dorset Playhouse. The Mousetrap, in addition to being one of Christie's most famous works, has the distinction of being the world's longest continually running play. The original production, at London's Ambassador Hotel, has been running continuously since 1952!

Dorset Theatre Festival will present the 20th Anniversary Revival of David Ives' classic comedy All in the Timing opening July 24. All in the Timing, a collection of six zany comedies, will be directed by DTF favorite and resident director Jenn Thompson, known to local audiences for her celebrated productions of Noises Off, Boeing-Boeing and Barefoot in the Park.

Dorset Theatre Festival continues its tradition of New Play Development with a reading of acclaimed playwright Nicole Burdette's Utterly Changed. The reading, part of DTF's 2014 New Play Reading Series, will star Kathryn Erbe of Law and Order: Criminal Intent and take place on Sunday, July 13 at 7pm.

Dorset Theatre Festival is proud to present the World Premiere of Leslie Ayvazian's new comedy Out of the City beginning July 10th. This is the third world premiere that Dorset has produced in the past five seasons, continuing a tradition of New Play Development to which Artistic Director Dina Janis has proven deeply committed. "Fostering new work is one of the most important things we do here at Dorset, from our Young Playwrights workshops, to our New Play Reading Series, to these exciting World Premieres. It's a thrilling and rewarding process." Past world premieres have included Theresa Rebeck's The Novelist and The Whore and Mr. Moore by Michael Cristofer.

DTF opens its 39th Summer Season New Play Reading series with a new play by local favorite Theresa Rebeck. The play, Zealot, is a finalist for the Susan Blackburn Prize and is set at the British consulate in Mecca, where a tactical tea is interrupted by news of nearby violence. When a witness seeks asylum, a diplomatic battle of wits ensues, while a life hangs in the balance. The reading will star renowned actress Alfre Woodard and will be directed by award winning director John Doyle.

DTF opens its 39th Summer Season New Play Reading series with a new play by local favorite Theresa Rebeck. The play, Zealot, is a finalist for the Susan Blackburn Prize and is set at the British consulate in Mecca, where a tactical tea is interrupted by news of nearby violence. When a witness seeks asylum, a diplomatic battle of wits ensues, while a life hangs in the balance. The reading will star renowned actress Alfre Woodard and will be directed by award winning director John Doyle.

The Dorset Theatre Festival is up and running with its 7th Annual Writers Retreat hosted by Theresa Rebeck in collaboration with The Lark New Play Development Center. Each spring, accomplished writers from across the country are invited to the quaint village of Dorset, where they spend their days writing, their evenings reading new pages, discussing each other's work and generally sharing the process of growing new plays. The Retreat's mission is to support top playwrights, giving them time and space away from their day to day career pressures to concentrate completely on process while getting input from peers and in particular from playwright Theresa Rebeck, who hosts the retreat each spring. "It is exciting how many of our writers began plays at the retreat that have gone on to productions at some of the top theaters across the country. DTF is truly making its mark on the national landscape and that is a dream come true for me personally," says Dina Janis, Artistic Director of DTF.

Delving into the darkly absurd corners of corporate America and middle-man-purgatory, director Michael Sladek makes his NYC stage debut with a fresh production of Below the Belt by acclaimed playwright, Richard Dresser. Presented by Black Lodge Theater, the work will be staged in the old boiler room of the iconic Westbeth Center for the Arts.

Delving into the darkly absurd corners of corporate America and middle-man-purgatory, director Michael Sladek makes his NYC stage debut with a fresh production of Below the Belt by acclaimed playwright, Richard Dresser. Presented by Black Lodge Theater, the work will be staged in the old boiler room of the iconic Westbeth Center for the Arts.

The Dorset Theatre Festival and Perfect Wife have combined forces to present the up and coming singer/songwriter Caroline Rose on April 25th at The Perfect Wife Restaurant in Manchester in an event that will raise funds for the DTF Giving Back Programs. Each year, the Dorset Theatre Festival underwrites free tickets to the following community groups: Firefighters, Police, EMS Workers, Local Farmers, Military and their families, the Refuse to Use graduates, Special Needs Community and, new this year. Habitat For Humanity volunteers.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) announces the 2014 Round 2 Cycle B recipients of the Leadership U[niversity]-Continuing Ed program. Through the support of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, grants of up to $5,000 will support four mid-career and veteran theatre professionals at TCG Member Theatres for learning opportunities to advance their leadership skills. The goal of this program is to strengthen the field by developing the individuals who are the core and the future of theatre.

Delving into the darkly absurd corners of corporate America and middle-man-purgatory, director Michael Sladek makes his NYC stage debut with a fresh production of Below the Belt by acclaimed playwright, Richard Dresser. Presented by Black Lodge Theater, the work will be staged in the old boiler room of the iconic Westbeth Center for the Arts.

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the line-up for its Summer 2014 Season which will include the 6 time Tony Award-winning play RED by John Logan starring Tim Daly, a World Premiere of the summer comedy Out of the City by renowned playwright Leslie Ayvazian, the 20th Year Anniversary revival of the smash comedy All in the Timing by Tony Award-winner David Ives, and the 60th Anniversary revival of the Agatha Christie classic The Mousetrap.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and TriStan Wilson, Managing Director, presents the Pulitzer and Tony-winning Clybourne Park from tonight, September 26 through October 13, on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. The press opening is Sunday, September 29 at 3pm.

From September 26 through 28 at the Dorset Theatre Festival, Robert Frost returns to the stage in A.M. Dolan's This Verse Business played by Emmy Award winning actor Gordon Clapp (NYPD Blue's Detective Greg Medavoy). Frost's poetry is heard afresh and his great wit witnessed once more in Clapp's critically acclaimed performance.

Today, September 13th, the Dorset Theatre Festival is proud to present the winners of the 2013 Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights competition. This year marks the second year of the competition, which is sponsored in part by the Windham Foundation. Middle and High school students from across Southern Vermont were invited to participate in a series of in-classroom and online mentoring and instruction in playwriting and to generate their very own plays, which were judged by a number of prominent playwrights.

On September 13th, the Dorset Theatre Festival is proud to present the winners of the 2013 Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights competition. This year marks the second year of the competition, which is sponsored in part by the Windham Foundation. Middle and High school students from across Southern Vermont were invited to participate in a series of in-classroom and online mentoring and instruction in playwriting and to generate their very own plays, which were judged by a number of prominent playwrights.

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and Tristan Wilson, Managing Director, presents the Pulitzer and Tony-winning Clybourne Park from September 26 through October 13, on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. The press opening is Sunday, September 29 at 3pm. Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2012 Tony Award, Clybourne Park is directed by Giovanna Sardelli (BSC's Muckrakers, Lord of the Flies and The North Pool).