Artistic Director Molly Smith announces Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Ayad Akhtar as Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's next resident playwright as part of the American Voices New Play Institute, effective July 2016 through June 2017. Akhtar's emotionally-charged drama Disgraced, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, completes Arena Stage's 2015/16 season. Now in previews, the production officially opens April 28 and runs through May 29, 2016.
Robert Schenkkan's Tony Award-winning drama ALL THE WAY, about President Lyndon Baines Johnson's impassioned struggle to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. ALL THE WAY runs now through May 8, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, in partnership with Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen and At-Large Councilmember Elissa Silverman, opens its doors for the seventh D.C. Career Fair Friday, April 22, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Mead Center (1101 Sixth St., SW). Throughout the past three-and-a-half years, Arena Stage has partnered with nearly 75 participating organizations and served a combined total of more than 6,800 community members by hosting regular career fairs.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts hosts more than 150 outstanding theater students from colleges and universities across the nation as part of the 48th annual Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF), which runs April 12-16, 2016 in multiple locations throughout the Center. Thousands of student artists from eight regions across the country presented their work at regional festivals from January 5 through February 27, 2016 and more than 150 were selected to travel to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., for an all-expenses-paid trip to participate in the national festival.
More than 100 former fellows and interns will gather at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater Today, March 31 and Friday, April 1, 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program.
Arena Stage announces the full cast and creative team for BORN FOR THIS: THE BEBE WINANS STORY, the heartwarming true story of six-time Grammy Award-winning icon BeBe Winans' journey to fame.
More than 100 former fellows and interns will gather at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater Thursday, March 31 and Friday, April 1, 2016 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship Program.
Anthony Giardina's Off-Broadway smash hit THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, about a Georgetown political hostess, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater beginning tonight, January 29. Following his direction of the 2014 world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater, Tony Award winner Doug Hughes returns to direct this political drama spanning three decades, from Carter's presidency through the Reagan era and ending with Obama's inauguration. THE CITY OF CONVERSATION runs through March 6, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces three projects that have been selected for the 2015/16 Kogod Cradle Series as part of the American Voices New Play Institute. Focused on the development of new plays and devised work by artists from the Greater Washington, D.C. area and around the country, this series of readings and workshops invites artists and audiences to actively explore the new work development process.
The new drama SWEAT by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater following a critically-acclaimed debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of a co-commission between the two theaters. The play is directed by Nottage's longtime collaborator Kate Whoriskey and runs tonight, January 15, through February 21, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater. The company just kicked off rehearsals, and BroadwayWorld has photos below!
The new drama SWEAT by Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Ruined; By The Way, Meet Vera Stark) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater following a critically-acclaimed debut at Oregon Shakespeare Festival as part of a co-commission between the two theaters. The play is directed by Nottage's longtime collaborator Kate Whoriskey and runs January 15-February 21, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater. The company just kicked off rehearsals, and BroadwayWorld has photos below!
Arena Stage and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) will host the Devise and Conquer Symposium this weekend, January 8-10, 2016, a hands-on symposium to explore a variety of approaches to devising original theater.
Arena Stage Artistic Director Molly Smith and Executive Producer Edgar Dobie are pleased to announce An Evening with Ana Gasteyer, an exclusive celebration that includes the inaugural presentation of the Beth Newburger Schwartz Award, Monday, May 9, 2016 at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., SW).
Anthony Giardina's Off-Broadway smash hit THE CITY OF CONVERSATION, about a Georgetown political hostess, makes its Washington, D.C. debut at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Following his direction of the 2014 world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater, Tony Award winner Doug Hughes returns to direct this political drama spanning three decades, from Carter's presidency through the Reagan era and ending with Obama's inauguration. THE CITY OF CONVERSATION runs January 29-March 6, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage.
Arena Stage and the American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) will host the Devise and Conquer Symposium January 8-10, 2016, a hands-on symposium to explore a variety of approaches to devising original theater. The three-day event brings together arts educators and professional artists from across the country for three days of interactive workshops, discussions and performances in Washington, D.C. at the Mead Center for American Theater.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces three projects that have been selected for the 2015/16 Kogod Cradle Series as part of the American Voices New Play Institute. Focused on the development of new plays and devised work by artists from the Greater Washington, D.C. area and around the country, this series of readings and workshops invites artists and audiences to actively explore the new work development process.
Molly Smith directs her 30th production as Artistic Director of Arena Stage with a gritty and relevant take on the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!, blending the chaotic worlds of 19th-century Victorian London with 2015 London. OLIVER! runs now through January 3, 2016 in the Fichandler Stage at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present the American Voice Award to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) tonight, November 12, 2015 as part of the opening night celebration for the Tony Award-winning musical OLIVER!.
Inspired by the family-friendly productions of Oliver!, which runs through January 3, 2016, and Akeelah and the Bee, running November 13-December 27, 2015, Arena Stage will host two special educational events for D.C.-area students ages 3-15 in November. Both events take place onsite at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., SW).