Ian Belknap News

The Acting Company announces the cast and creative teams for its 2019 Summer Repertory Season. Native Son and Measure for Measure will play July 14 through August 24, 2019 at the Duke on 42nd Street (229 W. 42nd Street), with opening night for both plays set for Sunday, July 28, 2019. Single tickets and subscription packages are on sale now.

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

The Acting Company (Founded by John Houseman and Margot Harley; Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) announced casting today for the second reading in the 23rd John McDonald Salon Reading Series, Frederick Knott's classic thriller Wait Until Dark. The reading will take place on Monday, May 20 at 7 PM at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY). Tickets are available now online at www.theactingcompany.org.

La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to bring back for a seventh year its acclaimed play development initiative, the DNA New Work Series, a weekend of readings of new works, taking place May 2 - 5, 2019 in the Playhouse's Rao and Padma Makeneni Play Development Center (PDC) and Seuss 1 rehearsal spaces.

The New Juilliard Ensemble (NJE), led by founder and director Joel Sachs, performs world premieres by Juilliard alumnus Ross S. Griffey and current student Sato Matsui alongside works by Polish composer Zygmunt Krauze, and Finnish composer and Juilliard alumnus Jukka Tiensuu on Monday, April 1, 2019, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall.

The Acting Company (Founded by John Houseman and Margot Harley; Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) announced today complete casting for the first reading in the 23rd John McDonald Salon Reading Series, Lillian Hellman's acclaimed drama Watch on the Rhine. The reading will take place on Monday, March 18 at 7 PM at the Mainstage Theater at Playwrights Horizons (416 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY). Tickets are available now online at www.theactingcompany.org.

The Shakespeare Theatre's 57th season promises to thrill audiences with productions filled with swashbucklers, star-crossed lovers, holiday magic, and wild and delightful comedy. Beginning in June and continuing through December, the 2019 season will include five productions on the 308-seat Main Stage at The F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre in Madison, and one production at its Outdoor Stage, located on the campus of the College of Saint Elizabeth.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) honored director and artistic leader Bill Rauch and the married civic leaders Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel- individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the storied repertory company that produces nationally recognized theater productions and arts education programs-at the Company's 2018 Fall Gala, on November 12. Held at the historic Metropolitan Club (One East 60th Street), the event raised nearly $400,000 and brought together awards, live entertainment, silent and live auctions, dinner, and cocktails in celebration of theater and its contribution to American society. Tony Award-winner and The Acting Company alumna Harriet Harris hosted, with performances by Joanna A. Jones (Hamilton) and Tatiana Wechsler, featuring Russ Kaplan's Broadway Jazz. 

The Acting Company announces its 2019 Season, which will feature Native Son, by Nambi E. Kelley, adapted from the novel by Richard Wright and directed by Seret Scott playing in rotating repertory with William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure directed Janet Zarish.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) will honor director and artistic leader Bill Rauch and the married civic leaders Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel- individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the storied repertory company that produces nationally recognized theater productions and arts education programs-at the Company's 2018 Fall Gala, on November 12.

The Neo-Futurists announce acclaimed humor writer and essayist Samantha Irby ("bitches gotta eat") as the headliner of Lit Crawl Chicago 2018 on Saturday, September 22 from 3-11 p.m. Curated by Jessica Anne, Gwynn Fulcher and Lindsay Muscato, and featuring more than 100 artists and writers in dozens of free events throughout Andersonville and Uptown, Lit Crawl Chicago is the local incarnation of a much-loved literary fest celebrated across the country-an audacious attempt to pack as much of Chicago's literary culture as possible into one walkable radius.

The Curious Theatre Branch begins its 30th season with the world premiere of (Not) Another Day, a sung non-opera with video, written and directed by Jenny Magnus, playing September 7 - October 6 at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave. Opening night/press performance is Friday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and tickets are $15 or pay what you can.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) will honor director and artistic leader Bill Rauch and the married civic leaders Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel- individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the storied repertory company that produces nationally recognized theater productions and arts education programs-at the Company's 2018 Fall Gala, on November 12. Held at the historic Metropolitan Club (One East 60th Street), the event will bring together awards, live entertainment, silent and live auctions, dinner, and cocktails in celebration of theater and its contribution to American society.

The Curious Theatre Branch begins its 30th season with the world premiere of (Not) Another Day, a sung non-opera with video, written and directed by Jenny Magnus, playing September 7 - October 6 at Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave. Opening night/press performance is Friday, Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and tickets are $15 or pay what you can.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) presents William Shakespeare's beloved comedy, Twelfth Night, directed by Tony nominee Maria Aitken (The 39 Steps) with a dynamic cast of The Acting Company alumni and ensemble members of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP). When her ship is wrecked, Viola washes ashore in the unfamiliar land of Illyria and embarks on a journey to find her lost brother. Brimming with music, love and longing, Shakespeare's enchanting play transports audiences to a world of comedic mayhem, mistaken identity and unrequited passion. This co-production with the Resident Ensemble Players comes to Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Pl, Brooklyn), May 10-27.

Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players present Shakespeare's enchanting comedy Twelfth Night, April 19 through May 6 in the Roselle Center for the Arts, Newark, DE.

Award-winning pioneer playwright Qui Nguyen brilliantly chronicles the love story of his parents' meeting in an Arkansas refugee center after fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975. It's a buddy story, an all-American romance, and a motorcycle road-trip adventure that reexamines how we think about the heroes and victims of the Vietnam War. Vietgone skips through time and roams the globe with snarky humor, hip-hop, and lots of sex. It's one ironic, foul-mouthed, bad-ass new play.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) presents William Shakespeare's beloved comedy, Twelfth Night, directed by Tony nominee Maria Aitken (The 39 Steps) with a dynamic cast of The Acting Company alumni and ensemble members of Delaware's Resident Ensemble Players (REP). When her ship is wrecked, Viola washes ashore in the unfamiliar land of Illyria and embarks on a journey to find her lost brother. Brimming with music, love and longing, Shakespeare's enchanting play transports audiences to a world of comedic mayhem, mistaken identity and unrequited passion. This co-production with the Resident Ensemble Players comes to Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Pl, Brooklyn), May 10-27.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) announces the full cast and creative team for William Shakespeare's tragicomedy The Winter's Tale, directed by OBIE Award-winner Arin Arbus. The production plays March 13-April 15, 2018, at Polonsky Shakespeare Center (262 Ashland Place), TFANA's home in the Brooklyn Cultural District.

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) has added a performance (February 8 at 9pm) to its critically lauded world premiere production of Adrienne Kennedy's He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, directed by Evan Yionoulis. The run will conclude, as a scheduled, on February 11.