Forrest McClendon News

Faculty and alumni from the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts at the University of the Arts earned almost a dozen nominations for Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theater when the slate for the 15th annual event honoring Philadelphia's best stage productions was announced recently at the University's Caplan Center.

The Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre are the Greater Philadelphia region's only comprehensive theatre awards program, recognizing artists for excellence and innovation while serving to increase awareness of the richness of the local theatre community.

Lantern Theater Company?s 15th Anniversary 2008-09 Season continues with Sizwe Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona from January 30 ? March 1, 2009 at St. Stephen?s Theater in Center City. From South Africa's most celebrated playwright comes a drama as powerful today as in its first performance 35 years ago. Styles, an enterprising photographer, has a small storefront in a Port Elizabeth township. When Sizwe, a migrant worker, comes in to have his picture taken, the two explore issues of image and identity under South Africa's oppressive regime. Both soaring and personal, the play's attack on the dehumanizing laws of the apartheid era resonates with surprising humor and uplifting faith in the human spirit.

Lantern Theater Company?s 15th Anniversary 2008-09 Season continues with Sizwe Bansi is Dead by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona from January 30 ? March 1, 2009 at St. Stephen?s Theater in Center City. From South Africa's most celebrated playwright comes a drama as powerful today as in its first performance 35 years ago. Styles, an enterprising photographer, has a small storefront in a Port Elizabeth township. When Sizwe, a migrant worker, comes in to have his picture taken, the two explore issues of image and identity under South Africa's oppressive regime. Both soaring and personal, the play's attack on the dehumanizing laws of the apartheid era resonates with surprising humor and uplifting faith in the human spirit.

Westport Country Playhouse has announced that a song-filled adaptation of Charles Dickens' holiday classic A Christmas Carol will be staged for the second year in a row, November 23 through December 29. The dynamic, annual family event for ages six and up is adapted and directed by Tazewell Thompson, Playhouse artistic director.

The smash Prince Music Theatre production of Dreamgirls in Philadelphia, which will welcome new cast members on February 7th, may have a commerical future in the wings