Dion Boucicault News

Judith Moreland’s cunning production for the Fountain Theatre sneaks up behind you, gooses, tickles, sings, brays and pretty much does everything but give everyone in the audience a wedgie.

The Fountain Theatre commemorates the emancipation of enslaved women and men in Texas on June 19, 1865 — the last state to abolish slavery in the U.S. following the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 — with a special event at the Fountain's new Covid-safe outdoor venue in East Hollywood. The Fountain's Juneteenth Celebration will take place on Saturday, June 19 beginning at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.

Casting is complete and rehearsals begin this week for the Los Angeles premiere of a radical, incendiary and subversively funny Obie award-winning play by MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” recipient Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

The Los Angeles premiere of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will inaugurate the new outdoor stage at the Fountain Theatre later this spring. Judith Moreland will direct.

Hopefully this list gives you some new reads, and if not, reminded you of some old favorites.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) will present the New York premiere of celebrated American playwright Will Eno's Gnit, inspired by Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt (originally published in 1867). Directed by Eno's frequent collaborator, the Obie and Lortel Award-Winner Oliver Butler (Eno's 2014 The Open House and the 2018 revival of Thom Paine (based on nothing), starring Michael C. Hall, both at Signature Theater, and 2019's The Plot at Yale Rep; Heidi Schreck's Tony Award-nominated What the Constitution Means to Me).

Deborah Culver and Stephen Sachs founded the Fountain Theatre in an intimate, Spanish-style, East Hollywood building that belies the sizable local impact and international reach of the company's acclaimed and award-winning productions. Now entering its 30th year as one of the most highly regarded theaters in Los Angeles, the Fountain is announcing a celebratory 2020 season of dynamic premieres and events.

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) has announced the cast & creative team for Lady G: Plays and Whisperings of Lady Gregory. Lady G is written by Lady Augusta Gregory with additional material by Ciarán O'Reilly (Dublin Carol), with direction by O'Reilly. Previews begin in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre on February 12, 2020, with opening night set for February 19, 2020, for a limited engagement through March 22, 2020.

Six mainstage productions, several of which explore positive and dramatic social change on the Island of Ireland in the past decade, will be part of the 2020 Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival, running in venues across the city from January 7 to February 3. New York's all-Irish theatre festival and the world's only festival devoted exclusively to producing the plays of contemporary Irish playwrights from around the world, presents productions from Belfast, Dublin, Wexford, Manhattan and Queens. Three are American premieres; two are world premieres. The American premiere of Eva O'Connor's 'Maz and Bricks' and the world premiere of Sean Sugrie's 'The 8th' open the Festival on January 7.

Written by Dion Boucicault, London Assurance, takes audiences on a wild ride through the eyes of eccentric characters and missteps along the way! Centered around Sir Harcourt Courtly and his betrothal to Grace Harkaway and the hilarity that ensues when they each end up falling for another person, including Sir Courtly's own son, this play is full of twists, turns, and plenty of quirky moments.

Blackfriars Repertory Theatre and the Storm Theatre presents a new production of Buzz McLaughlin's Sister Calling My Name directed by Peter Dobbins (Ah, Wilderness!; The Rainmaker), it was announced today. Performances begin on January 24 for a run through February 16 in the Black Box Theater at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street, NYC). Opening night is set for January 30 and this marks the play's New York premiere.

Irish Repertory Theatre presents London Assurance, written by Dion Boucicault (The Shaughraun) and directed by Charlotte Moore (The Plough and the Stars).

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) has announced three new productions for Winter 2020. First on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage will be Incantata by Paul Muldoon (The Dead, 1904) and directed by Sam Yates (The Starry Messenger).

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) announced today a two-week extension for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winning-play Pumpgirl, by Abbie Spallen (Strandline), directed by Nicola Murphy (Stop/Over). Pumpgirl began performances in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre (132 W 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011) on November 7 and opened November 14. Originally set to close on December 29, 2019, it will now play an extended run through January 12, 2020.

The month-long Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival, the world's only festival devoted to producing the plays of contemporary Irish playwrights from around the world, runs four weeks from January 7 to February 3, 2020. A total 15 events, including seven mainstage productions from Belfast, Dublin, Wexford, and Manhattan and Queens, will be seen in- and out-of-competition. Among the productions, three are American premieres; two are world premieres. 15 contemporary Irish writers are represented with work in the Festival.

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director), in association with the Wexford Arts Centre, is proud to present the U.S. premiere of The Scourge, written & performed by Michelle Dooley Mahon (The Eff Word), and directed by Ben Barnes (Madama Butterfly). The Scourge begins performances in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre (132 W 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011) on January 22, 2020, with opening night set for January 23, for a limited run through February 2, 2020. The Scourge is an official selection of the 2020 Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival.

Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director), in association with the Wexford Arts Centre, will present the U.S. premiere of The Scourge, written & performed by Michelle Dooley Mahon (The Eff Word), and directed by Ben Barnes (Madama Butterfly). The Scourge begins performances in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre (132 W 22nd Street, New York, NY 10011) on January 22, 2020, with opening night set for January 23, for a limited run through February 2, 2020. The Scourge is an official selection of the 2020 Origin 1st Irish Theatre Festival.

Irish Repertory Theatre announces full casting for London Assurance, written by Dion Boucicault (The Shaughraun) and directed by Charlotte Moore (The Plough and the Stars). Performances begin on December 6, 2019 on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage (132 W 22nd Street) with an opening night set for December 15, for a limited run through January 26, 2020.

Irish Repertory Theatre presents London Assurance, written by Dion Boucicault (The Shaughraun) and directed by Charlotte Moore (The Plough and the Stars). Performances begin on December 6, 2019 on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage with an opening night set for December 15, for a limited run through January 26, 2020.

Written in 1868, the year that the Finborough Theatre's building was constructed, The first London production in over 120 years of Dion Boucicault's rip-roaring Victorian melodrama, After Dark; or, A Drama of London Life, directed by the multi-award-winning Phil Willmott, opens at the Finborough Theatre for a four week limited season on Wednesday, 12 June 2019 (Press Nights: Wednesday, 19 June 2019 and Thursday, 20 June 2019 at 7.30pm).