Jacqueline E. Lawton News

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces a rare opportunity for D.C.-area theatergoers to hear groups of distinguished actors, directors, playwrights and artistic directors discuss their work and the myriad challenges facing their art form, in a special series of three Monday evening panels entitled The Summit. Organized and moderated by The Washington Post Theater Critic Peter Marks, the three free installments will gather some of the region's most accomplished theater professionals to talk about everything from their passion for their craft to the problems of trying to lure new audiences to live theater.

The 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series continues in the new year with the Helen Hayes Award-winning Commedia dell'Arte troupe Faction of Fools, who are bringing their devilish sense of humor and trademark masked comedy style to Thornton Wilder's classic Our Town. The following month, award-winning Resident Playwright Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) invites audiences to join him for open workshops for two of the new plays created during his residency, Lewiston and Clarkston. In March, the six members of the inaugural Playwrights' Arena (Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman and Shawn Northrip) will introduce selections from the six plays they have each been working on independently as part of their yearlong collaborative program. Our Town runs January 9-12, 2014, Lewiston and Clarkston run February 6-9, 2014 and Playwrights' Arena-A Weekend of New Work runs March 6-9, 2014 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

The 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series continues in the new year with the Helen Hayes Award-winning Commedia dell'Arte troupe Faction of Fools, who are bringing their devilish sense of humor and trademark masked comedy style to Thornton Wilder's classic Our Town. The following month, award-winning Resident Playwright Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale) invites audiences to join him for open workshops for two of the new plays created during his residency, Lewiston and Clarkston. In March, the six members of the inaugural Playwrights' Arena (Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman and Shawn Northrip) will introduce selections from the six plays they have each been working on independently as part of their yearlong collaborative program. Our Town runs January 9-12, 2014, Lewiston and Clarkston run February 6-9, 2014 and Playwrights' Arena-A Weekend of New Work runs March 6-9, 2014 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Following an open submission process, six projects have been selected for the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series, as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., S.W.). Focused on the development of new and emerging work by artists from throughout Greater Washington and around the country, this series of workshops, readings and performances invites artists and audiences to actively explore the development process.

Artistic Director Molly Smith announced today, playwright Lydia R. Diamond, whose impressive body of work includes Stick Fly, Voyeurs de Venus, The Bluest Eye and The Gift Horse, among others, will become a resident playwright as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Diamond's yearlong residency will begin Tuesday, October 1, 2013.

Following an open submission process, six projects have been selected for the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series, as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., S.W.). Focused on the development of new and emerging work by artists from throughout Greater Washington and around the country, this series of workshops, readings and performances invites artists and audiences to actively explore the development process.

Following an open submission process, six projects have been selected for the 2013/14 Kogod Cradle Series, as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater (1101 Sixth St., S.W.). Focused on the development of new and emerging work by artists from throughout Greater Washington and around the country, this series of workshops, readings and performances invites artists and audiences to actively explore the development process.

Under the taut and subtle direction of Shirley Serotsky and graced with a tremendously talented class, Theater J's The Hampton Years is nothing short of a triumph. Local playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton has given us a vital part of our history back-the humble but compelling beginnings of two towering figures in African-American art, John Biggers and Samella Lewis, who studied under Austrian refugee Viktor Lowenfeld at Virginia's Hampton Institute.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces its finalized speaker line-up for the 23rd annual TCG National Conference in Dallas from tonight, June 6 to 8, 2013.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces its finalized speaker line-up for the 23rd annual TCG National Conference in Dallas from June 6 to 8, 2013. The line-up includes Ayad Akhtar, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and national theatre legend Adrian Hall. This convening will bring hundreds of theater practitioners together from around the world for plenary speakers, breakout sessions, workshops and performances; as well as a chance to explore the Dallas-Fort Worth theatre community.

BroadwayWorld brings you the Best of Baltimore in the year 2012. Check out the Top Theatre Stories from each month during in the year 2012. We look forward to another exciting year of theatre in 2013!

Six D.C.-area playwrights have been selected to participate in the inaugural Playwrights' Arena as part of the American Voices New Play Institute at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Playwrights' Arena is a collaborative group of local writers dedicated to the support and development of each other's work and practice. The yearlong program commences in January 2013, and the inaugural members include Norman Allen, Randy Baker, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Heather McDonald, Danielle Mohlman and Shawn Northrip. Also in January as part of the Institute's programming will be the next installment of the Kogod Cradle Series featuring readings of The Age of Innocence, a new adaptation for the stage by Resident Playwright Karen Zacarías, January 14-16, 2013.

The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, proudly announces the commission of four podcast plays by DC-based playwrights, to be presented during its 2012 National Showcase of New Plays. Short works by Paige Hernandez, Jacqueline E. Lawton, Stephen Spotswood and Gwydion Suilebhan will be recorded onto iPod Shuffles and depart the Woolly Mammoth lobby in four directions - respectively, North, West, South and East - at all hours during the Showcase, November 29 - December 2.

The Kennedy Center hosts its 11th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival from today, September 1, 2012 to Monday, September 3, 2012, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work. The three-day, Center-wide event offers a series of free readings and open rehearsals of plays and musicals being developed by local, regional, and national playwrights, librettists, and composers.

The Kennedy Center hosts its 11th annual Page-to-Stage new play festival from Saturday, September 1, 2012 to Monday, September 3, 2012, featuring more than 40 theaters from the D.C. metropolitan area, all with a mission to produce and support new work. The three-day, Center-wide event offers a series of free readings and open rehearsals of plays and musicals being developed by local, regional, and national playwrights, librettists, and composers.

The world premiere production of DC-based playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton's BLOOD-BOUND AND TONGUE-TIED, first seen in workshop form during the Strand Theater Company's Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011, will run March 23 to April 7. The show will be directed by Lindsay Gentry, stage managed by Christina Cordle, and feature Derek Cooper as Oedipus, Chris Knight as Laius, Morgan Mosley as Creon, Ann Turiano as Jenna, and Kelli Wright as Jocasta.

In Jacqueline E. Lawton's new play, BLOOD-BOUND AND TONGUE-TIED, the parallels to the tragedy of Oedipus co-exist awkwardly with a story about race and identity in 20th-century America.

'One of humanity's most primal stories is re-imagined with compassion and poetry' in the world premiere production of DC-based playwright Jacqueline E. Lawton's Blood-bound and Tongue-tied, an ambitious offering seen in workshop form during the Strand Theater Company's Friends & Neighbors Festival 2011.