Idris Goodwin News

Teatro Vista, in association with the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and Victory Gardens Theater, presents the world premiere of Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, created and performed by Brian Quijada and directed by Victory Gardens' Artistic Director, Chay Yew. The production will take place at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St. Chicago. Opening/Press night is Thursday, March 17 at 7:30 pm.  Regular performances are from Friday, March 18 through Sunday, April 10. Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Preview performances run from Thursday, March 10 through Wednesday, March 16. All tickets are $15. Students and seniors (65+) with valid I.D. are $12. Discounts are also available for groups of 20 or more. Tickets may be purchased at all HotTix locations or by visiting www.teatrovista.org.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced awards totaling more than $27.6 million in its first funding round of fiscal year 2016, including an Art Works award of $20,000 to Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) in support of the upcoming world premiere production of "The Realness: a break beat play" by Idris Goodwin.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) Crowded Fire's newly appointed Artistic Director Mina Morita unveiled the 2016 mainstage season lineup of three contemporary plays that continue to uphold the company's long tradition of producing boundary - pushing, thought-provoking theater. At a season-announcement party on Saturday, November 14th Morita addressed Crowded Fire donors, patrons, and artists saying "At Crowded Fire, we are unafraid of tackling big issues. We commit ourselves to true experimentation of form and content to question, disrupt, or complicate comfortable notions of cultural hierarchy."

Following its hit productions of "The Lion," and "I and You," Merrimack Repertory Theatre prepares to mount "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play." The charming adaptation by Joe Landry presents the story of the classic film as a 1940's radio drama. George Bailey's timeless tale of renewal comes to life with five actors gathered around microphones to voice more than 40 characters and create sound effects live onstage, with live "studio" audience response an integral part of the broadcast.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival wrapped up its 80th year Sunday night, November 1, with the final performances of Much Ado about Nothing and Pericles. Preparations for the 2016 season are well under way; 2016 member ticket sales start this week and preview performances begin February 19. The 2016 opening weekend is February 26-28.

Jackalope's 8th season kicks off with THE RAID, written by Idris Goodwin, directed by founding company member and associate artistic director Kaiser Ahmed*. The show runs tongiht, November 4 - December 12, 2015 at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway.

Trinity Rep invites the public to a kick-off performance of the nationwide theater initiative, Every 28 Hours, on Monday, October 26, 2015. The project responds to the statistic that every 28 hours, a black person is killed by police. Following a week-long workshop in St. Louis, Missouri with playwrights from around the country, the first public reading of up to 90 one-minute plays resulting from the workshop will be held in Trinity Rep's Dowling Theater on Monday, October 26, 2015 at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public.

The Theatre @ Boston Court announces its 2016 Main Stage Season. The season begins February 20, 2016 with the World Premiere of Colony Collapse by Stefanie Zadravek, directed by Jessica Kubzansky. The spring production is the Southern California Premiere of The Golden Dragon by Roland Schimmelpfennig, translated by David Tushingham, directed by Michael Michetti. The Main Stage season closes in the fall with a National New Play Network rolling world premiere of Bars and Measures, by Idris Goodwin, directed by Weyni Mengesha. All Main Stage productions will appear at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.

B Street Theatre's Family Series, Northern California's only fully professional, resident theatre for children, is pleased to present the World Premiere of ANANSI THE SPIDER, running October 3 - November 8, 2015.

Jackalope Theatre Company is proud to announce that it has selected Cor Theatre for participation in The Pioneer Series. The Pioneer Series is Jackalope's continuous initiative to cultivate bold new theatre in Chicago. Through an extensive application process, Jackalope selected Cor Theatre to receive a free primetime 4-week run in The Frontier, at 1106 W Thorndale in Chicago, in the spring of 2016.

Jackalope's 8th season kicks off with THE RAID, written by Idris Goodwin, directed by founding company member and associate artistic director Kaiser Ahmed*, with the full cast and production team announced below. The show runs November 4 - December 12, 2015 at Broadway Armory Park, 5917 N. Broadway.

B Street Theatre's Family Series, Northern California's only fully professional, resident theatre for children, is pleased to present the World Premiere of ANANSI THE SPIDER, running October 3 - November 8, 2015.

The Playwrights' Center has announced the plays and Core Writer playwrights to be featured in its 2015-16 season of free public readings, comprising the 2015 PlayLabs new play festival and the 2015-16 Ruth Easton New Play Series. The plays and playwrights:

National New Play Network -- the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays -- announces BARS AND MEASURES by Idris Goodwin as its 54th Rolling World Premiere.

Jackalope Theatre Company wraps up its 7th season with The 6th Annual Living Newspapers Festival. In homage to the 1930's Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project, Jackalope has assembled an exciting group of Chicago playwrights, directors, and actors to dramatize stories ripped from recent newspaper headlines. Presented for a five-performance limited engagement at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave, the festival will run today, August 19, through August 23, Wednesday - Sunday at 7:30pm.

Jackalope Theatre Company wraps up its 7th season with The 6th Annual Living Newspapers Festival. In homage to the 1930's Living Newspapers of the Federal Theatre Project, Jackalope has assembled an exciting group of Chicago playwrights, directors, and actors to dramatize stories ripped from recent newspaper headlines. Presented for a five-performance limited engagement at The Frontier, 1106 W. Thorndale Ave, the festival will run August 19-23, Wednesday - Sunday at 7:30pm.

American Theater Company (ATC) announces the second year of AracaWorks: Chicago, a new play development workshop in partnership with New York's The Araca Group, Broadway producers of Disgraced, Urinetown, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, The Wedding Singer, Lend Me a Tenor, and A View from the Bridge. AracaWorks: Chicago emerged from a collaboration that led to the development of Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar, which received the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a 2015 Tony Award nomination for Best Play. The program gives three playwrights a weeklong development opportunity at ATC, culminating in a weekend of private readings-with one of the three plays selected to receive a year of development attention.

The National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announced its 2015-16 grant recipients, including the Smith Prize for Political Theatre, the 2015 Annual Commission, two Playwright Residencies, five Producer Residencies, and two Collaboration Fund awards that will support partnership between eight of its members on two productions. In all, NNPN committed over $125,000 to fourteen Core Member Theaters and nine Affiliated Artists.

Jackalope Theatre Company, under the leadership of Interim Artistic Director Gus Menary and Managing Director Nate Silver, announces its 2015/16 season. The company's 8th season features three world premiere productions. The season begins with The Raid by Idris Goodwin, directed by Associate Artistic Director Kaiser Ahmed, continues with Rolling by Company Member Calamity West, directed by Nate Silver, and concludes with Prowess by Ike Holter, directed by Marti Lyons.