Dina Janis News

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced its 44th Season, including the inaugural StageFree Audio Plays series, featuring new commissions by playwrights Theresa Rebeck and Chisa Hutchinson, and live main stage performances at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT.

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the submission deadline for the 8th annual Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Competition, and details for the public presentation of the winning plays. 

STAGEFREE will create a bridge between the festival's history of artistic excellence in producing bold new work, and its commitment to community engagement by making the plays accessible to anyone, anywhere, any time, and completely for FREE!

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the Festival’s return for summer 2021, including the inaugural StageFree Audio Play Series, featuring new commissions by playwrights Theresa Rebeck and Chisa Hutchinson, and live outdoor performances at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT throughout July and August. 

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the launch of its new Commissioning and Fellowship Program, welcoming returning director Jade King Carroll as Resident Artist, who will design and oversee this program in collaboration with Artistic Director Dina Janis. Carroll will also work with Janis in producing the Festival’s new StageFree Audio Plays.

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced the winners of the 7th annual Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Competition, as well as enrollment for the 2021 online program.

Houses on the Moon Theater Company/HOTM, the acclaimed New York based not-for-profit theatre company with a mission to 'dispel ignorance and isolation through the theatrical amplification of unheard voices,' will host their 8th Annual fundraiser 'Amplify 2020.'

In celebration of Womena??s Equality Day and the Centennial of the 19th Amendment, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley and The Womana??s Club of Palo Alto will present a virtual performance of excerpts and songs from the dynamic musical Perfect 36, with lyrics and book by Laura Harrington, music by Mel Marvin, and direction by Mac Pirkle. Set in 1920, Perfect 36 honors the indomitable spirit of the suffragettes as they battle to secure a 36-state majority to ratify the 19th Amendment. The online event will take place at 5:30pm PDT on Wednesday, August 26th. Giovanna Sardelli, TheatreWorksa?? Artistic Associate and Director of New Works, will host the event and engage in a conversation with Laura Harrington, the showa??s book writer and lyricist. A link to stream the show will be available at TheatreWorks.org for no charge, although donations are encouraged to support TheatreWorks and The Womana??s Club of Palo Alto. BroadwayWorld recently spoke with Giovanna Sardelli from her hometown of Las Vegas where shea??s been sheltering in place with family until she can safely return to her actual home base in New York City. In addition to her role at TheatreWorks, Sardelli is enjoying quite a remarkable career as a director at theaters across the U.S., and has built a track record of developing close working relationships with notable playwrights such as Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph and Olivier Award winner Matthew Lopez. Talking to Sardelli, ita??s clear why she is so constantly in demand. She is naturally engaging, inherently upbeat without being saccharine, and passionate about expanding the possibilities of theater. Her excitement about the chance to work closely with TheatreWorksa?? new Artistic Director Tim Bond to tackle new challenges is palpable.

Dorset Theatre Festival has announced release dates for two new virtual events. A collection of short pieces written by the Festival's Women Artists Writing Group will be available on-demand starting July 31, and an online reading of New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian's play, Wingspan, will stream August 3-9.

Houses on the Moon Theater Company has announce the formation of a new Advisory Board and fundraiser Tales From the Moon celebrating Houses on the Moon's Education Program set for Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 6:00PM.

Dorset Theatre Festival has moved their acclaimed Jean E. Miller Young Playwrights Program & Competition online for the first time.

Dorset Theatre Festival will suspend their previously announced 43rd Season, which was scheduled to begin June 25, 2020, at the Dorset Playhouse (104 Cheney Road, Dorset, VT 02521).

Susanna Gellert, Executive Artistic Director of Weston Playhouse Theatre Company, in the wake of the ever-evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19, announced the reimagining of the 2020 theatrical season.

Established in 2018, the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation Fellowships is an annual fellowship program operated in partnership with the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation, offering exceptional Bennington drama students the opportunity to work in paid internships at off-Broadway non-profit theatre companies during the College's winter Field Work Term. Participating students also receive mentorship and experience live theatre, immersing themselves in the New York City theatre world.

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will begin performances of Slow Food by Wendy MacLeod, the final production of the 42nd Season, on August 22. 

'Mrs. Christie' by Heidi Armbruster runs August 1 - 17 at the Dorset Playhouse, 104 Cheney Road, Dorset, VT 05251 $48-$58. For tickets or information, call (802) 867-2223 ext. 101, or visit www.dorsettheatrefestival.org.

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will present A Stage of Twilight by Sarah T. Schwab on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. This is the third reading of the acclaimed Pipeline Series of three one-night-only presentations of new work. The play was most recently read at the Berkshire Theatre Group in August 2018, also starring Allen. The reading at Dorset will be directed by the Festival's artistic director, Dina Janis. 

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will begin performances of Mrs. Christie, the second World Premiere production of the 42nd Season, on August 1, 2019. The play is written by Heidi Armbruster and has been developed in the Festival's acclaimed Women Artists Writing Group since 2016.

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will present Three Girls Never Learnt The Way Home by Matthew Paul Olmos on Tuesday, July 23, 2019. This is the second reading of the acclaimed Pipeline Series of three one-night-only presentations of new work. Three Girls was most recently read in New York City as part of the Mentor Project at the Cherry Lane Theatre in March 2019. Olmos is a three-time Sundance Institute FellowshipResidency recipient and his play so go the ghosts of mexico, part one was a New York Times Critic's Pick.

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis and Producing Director Will Rucker, will open DIG, the first World Premiere production of the 42nd Season, on July 11. The play is written and directed by the Festival's Resident Playwright, Theresa Rebeck.