Ian Belknap News

In response to popular demand, The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) extends their acclaimed production of playwright/poet Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. the Nation through February 25, 2018. Coinciding with African Heritage Month, the Ian Belknap-directed play deepens our understanding of one of America's most complex, compelling historical figures, and explores the tumultuous landscape of ideology and activism in the 1960s. 

Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) announces the cast and creative team for He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box, the first new work in a decade from Adrienne Kennedy, whom The New York Times called one of the finest living American playwrights. Set in Georgia and New York City in 1941, He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box is a heartbreaking, nail-biting memory tale of segregation, theatrical yearning, and doomed love.

Curious Theatre Branch and Prop Thtr present the 29th Annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival, opening Saturday, January 13th and running Wednesdays through Mondays until Sunday, February 25. This year the Rhino features 32 shows, 6 nights a week, for 6 weeks. Rhino opens on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 pm with Full Moon Vaudeville, hosted by The Crooked Mouth band with guest performer Ian Belknap.

The Acting Company honored playwright John Guare and film and theater producer/philanthropist Anne L. Bernstein - two individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the widely acclaimed touring repertory company that promotes theater and arts education nationwide - at the Company's 2017 Winter Gala on December 4. BroadwayWorld has photos from the event below!

The Acting Company presents their acclaimed production of playwright/poet Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. the Nation in a full Off-Broadway run, January 14-February 18, 2018, at the Theatre at St. Clement's.

The Acting Company will honor playwright John Guare and film and theater producer/philanthropist Anne L. Bernstein - two individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the widely acclaimed touring repertory company that promotes theater and arts education nationwide - at the Company's 2017 Winter Gala, on December 4.

The Acting Company has announced its 2017-18 season, which exemplifies the venerable organization's commitment to cultivating a national audience for the theater with exceptional touring productions of classical and new works; developing the best young American actors by giving them an opportunity to practice their craft in a wide-ranging repertory; and educating students that have limited access to the arts.

On the heels of winning its second Ross Wetzsteon Award for Sustained Excellence at the 2017 OBIE Awards, Theatre for a New Audience (TFANA; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director) have just announced its 2017-18 season.

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival announced today their 2017 Annual Summer Gala and HVSF2 Reading Series.

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (HVSF) has announced its Week of Revolution, honoring the Hudson Valley's significant local history and in celebration of HVSF's production of THE GENERAL FROM AMERICA, a play written by Richard Nelson and presented in association with Boscobel House and Gardens.

The Acting Company will continue its 2016-2017 John McDonald Salon Series with Rebecca Gilman's Dollhouse, a contemporary Ibsen reinvention of A Doll's House set in modern-day Chicago, on Monday, April 24th at 7 PM at the Pearl Theatre, 555 West 42nd St. between 10th and 11th Aves., New York, NY. 

The Acting Company celebrated the opening of X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation in rep with Julius Caesar at The New Victory Theater on Friday night at Red Rooster on Malcolm X Blvd. in Harlem. Scroll down for photos from the festivities!

The Acting Company will continue its 2016-2017 John McDonald Salon Series with the first New York City reading of Marcus Gardley's Atlanta-based reinvention of Moliere, A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes: Or, The Gospel of Tartuffe on Monday, March 20th at 7 PM at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA, 10 W. 64th Street, New York, NY. 

The assassinations of Rome's great ruler of the Republic and revolutionary leader Malcolm X take to the stage when Tony Award-winning The Acting Company couples Shakespeare's Julius Caesar with X: Or, Betty Shabazz v. The Nation, a compelling new play by lauded playwright Marcus Gardley (The House that Will Not Stand, The Gospel of Lovingkindness, Every Tongue Confess, On The Levee). These two gripping dramas make their Off-Broadway debut at The New Victory Theater from March 17 - 26, 2017. Scroll down for a sneak peek at both productions!

The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival (Davis McCallum, Artistic Director; Kate Liberman, Managing Director) is proud to announce complete casting for the 2017 summer season. The previously announced season will contain two world premiere productions, THE BOOK OF WILL (Rolling World Premiere) and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, along with TWELFTH NIGHT, THE GENERAL FROM AMERICA, and LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST, co-produced with The Acting Company. 

The Acting Company announces its 2016-17 season and 44th national tour featuring two new gripping dramas in repertory -- the world premiere of Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Both will be staged in an exciting artistic and educational collaboration with the Towson University, Morgan State University, Community College of Baltimore County, Bowie State University and area high schools and community partners.

UMKC Theatre and The Acting Company is pleased to present a new artistic and educational collaboration as part of its 2016-17 season and 44th national tour featuring two new gripping dramas in repertory -- the world premiere of Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The Acting Company announces its 2016-17 season and 44th national tour featuring two new gripping dramas in repertory -- the world premiere of Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Both will be staged in an exciting artistic and educational collaboration with University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Kansas, University of Central Missouri, University of Missouri-Columbia and area high schools and community partners.

UMKC Theatre and The Acting Company presents a new artistic and educational collaboration as part of its 2016-17 season and 44th national tour featuring two new gripping dramas in repertory -- the world premiere of Marcus Gardley's X: Or, Betty Shabazz vs. The Nation and William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) will continue its 2016-2017 John McDonald Salon Series with a reading of Karel Capek's influential science fiction comedy R.U.R. on Monday, February 13th at 7 PM at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA, 10 W. 64th Street, New York, NY.