Gina Gionfriddo News

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting Award, the oldest and largest prize awarded to women playwrights.

The critically-acclaimed Langhorne Players, who perform at the historic Spring Garden Mill in Tyler State Park in Newtown, have announced the five shows comprising their upcoming seventy-second season.

What can I say about the 4th Wall production of Kate Hamill's PRIDE & PREJUDICE? I dig it.

The anti-sexual assault and women's empowerment movements #MeToo and Time's Up have brought new relevance to the public conversation about women's issues surrounding the obstacles women encounter in their personal and professional lives.

Victory Gardens Theater, with Actors Theatre of Louisville, to present the Co-World Premiere of How to Defend Yourself, written by Lily Padilla and directed by Marti Lyons. How to Defend Yourself will be presented at the 2019 Humana Festival of New American Plays (March 21 - April 7, 2019) and as part of the Victory Gardens Theater 2019/2020 Season (January 24 - February 23, 2020).

Show-only tickets to Second Stage Theater's Fall Benefit Honoring Harvey Fierstein are now on sale to the general public.  Hosted by Michael Urie, the benefit will take place on Monday, November 12 at Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street).  The evening will feature performances and appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Rosie O'Donnell, Annaleigh Ashford, Keala Settle, Wayne Brady, Christopher Sieber, Michael Urie, Marissa Jaret Winokur, as well as Shoshana Bean, J. Harrison Ghee, Bianca Del Rio, and Gino Emnes.  To purchase tickets, please go to: https://2st.com/support-us/events/fall-benefit.

Mad Cow Theatre presents Rapture, Blister, Burn, the 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist from House of Cards and Pulitzer nominated writer Gina Gionfriddo, for its Zehngebot-Stonerock Theatre season opener. Gionfriddo has received an Obie Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights and a Guggenheim Fellowship. With blazing wit, this new comedy takes a tantalizing look at family, career, romance and the decisions made that may define one's life. The New York Times calls Rapture, Blister, Burn "intensely smart and immensely funny," and has been called "a smart, funny, and lightning-paced look at feminism" by The New York Daily News. The show's run begins on Friday, October 26, 2018 and plays through Sunday, November 18, 2018 at Mad Cow Theatre in downtown Orlando.

Shelter Transport Animal Rescue Team (START) in association with Pacific Resident Theatre presents the world premiere of a funny, refreshing and highly theatrical solo show, based on true events, by writer/performer Steve Spiro. PRT's Ann Bronston directs UK Underdog opening Sept. 20 at theZephyr Theatre for a six-week run through Oct. 28. All proceeds from the production will benefit START Rescue as well as selected animal charities and anti-bullying groups.

Five-time Obie Award-winning theater company Clubbed Thumb (Maria Striar, Producing Artistic Director; Michael Bulger, Associate Artistic Director) is proud to announce upcoming developmental projects and opportunities for Fall 2018.

This weekend, an intrepid cast of five will present the staged reading of Rapture, Blister, Burn for two performances only at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4 and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5 on the Second Stage at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak. Rapture, Blister, Burn was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist for playwright and screenwriter Gina Gionfriddo.  Gionfriddo was also a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama finalist for her play Becky Shaw. Broadwayworld.com (BBW) caught up with Director Dale Feldpausch before the final tech rehearsal to talk about this staged reading.  Here's what he had to say:

Stagecrafters presents Rapture, Blister, Burn by "House of Cards" writer, Gina Gionfriddo, August 4-5, 2018.

Dorset Theatre Festival, under the leadership of Artistic Director Dina Janis, Producing Director Will Rucker, and Executive Director Marissa Hutton, opens the 41st Season with CRY IT OUT, by Molly Smith Metzler, directed by Marc Masterson.

Previews begin this Friday, June 1 for the Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) world premiere production of LOG CABIN, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison (Marjorie Prime, Maple and Vine, Doris to Darlene at Playwrights; "Orange Is the New Black").  Directed by Tony Award and Obie Award winner Pam MacKinnon (Clybourne Park, The Qualms at Playwrights; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Parisian Woman), LOG CABIN is the sixth and final production of the theater company's current 2017/2018 Season.  

Under the leadership of Board President Beth Newbold and Managing Director James McNeel, the City Theatre Board of Directors has concluded an extensive national search, naming Marc Masterson the new Artistic Director of the region's largest theater dedicated solely to new plays. Masterson brings decades of experience and an award-winning national presence as a champion of new works, having served as the artistic director of South Coast Repertory Theatre (2011-2018) and Actors Theatre of Louisville, home of the internationally acclaimed Humana Festival of New American Plays (2000-2011), two of the most distinguished arts institutions in the nation. He was City Theatre's producing artistic director from 1981-2000.

While the characters are dealing with heavy political and personal issues, Iowa Stage Theatre Company's Rapture, Blister, Burn, directed by Kristin Larson, is a delightful and thought provoking comedy with uncomfortably relatable characters making it a must see.

4th Wall Theatre Company announces an exciting line up of four Houston premieres for the company's eighth season. The 2018 - 2019 season includes two plays written by men and two by women, and brings a large amount of artistic diversity to the 4th Wall stage.

The Huntington Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of Fall, which tells the true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller's secret son Daniel, his child with third wife, Inge Morath. Born with Down syndrome, Daniel was institutionalized, and his existence was never acknowledged by his parents. Written by playwright and renowned journalist Bernard Weinraub (The Accomplices, Above the Fold), and directed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois, Fall runs May 18 - June 16, 2018 at the Huntington's Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Mad Cow Theatre's Season 22 will continue the theatre's tradition of producing plays that both captivate and challenge the Central Florida audience.

Second Stage Theater (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Casey Reitz, Executive Director) has announced additional casting for the New York Premiere of TRACY LETTS' acclaimed play, MARY PAGE MARLOWE.