James Shapiro News

The Lillys - in partnership with a broad coalition of theater artists - announced today that 3Views is shifting its mission: it will now serve as a digital archive, highlighting cancelled and waylaid productions, gathering reflections from theater makers, and spotlighting urgent and helpful initiatives.

While the doors of Irondale, a think-tank for cutting edge, artist-driven theater and the home of the Irondale Ensemble, remain closed amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, the ensemble is re-imagining their critically acclaimed mega-text, The 1599 Project through a 4-part virtual series, streaming live: Henry V on May 28, Julius Caesar on June 4, As You Like It on June 11, and Hamlet on June 18.  The project title, which refers to the seminal year that Shakespeare wrote four of his greatest works, was originally performed in 2016 in a four-hour theater marathon with seven actors portraying more than 70 roles.

The 92nd Street Y's Unterberg Poetry Center has launched a podcast, Read By , featuring newly commissioned readings by prominent writers--recorded in their homes straight to listeners.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced today the spring Public Forum and Public Shakespeare Initiative line-up that will explore the intersection of art, ideas, and action and illuminate the study and performance of Shakespeare's works.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced additional casting today for the special, free one-night-only event, PUBLIC FORUM: QUEER & NOW, on Monday, June 17 at 8:00 p.m. at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park. In commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and WorldPride in New York City, Public Forum adds its voice to the chorus of LGBTQ+ artists, activists, and organizers fighting for a better tomorrow, today.

The Lillys - in partnership with a broad coalition of theater artists - is pleased to announce 3Views on Theater, a new online journal aimed to expand and deepen theater journalism, writing in many voices about our community. 3Views will generate original content in three categories: Reviews, Interviews, and Purviews (articles submitted by theater artists including responses to reviews, original reviews, opinion pieces, and features).

The American Theatre Wing and The Village Voice announce that Artistic Director of New York Theatre Workshop, James C. Nicola, and Artistic Director and founder of Theatre For A New Audience, Jeffrey Horowitz, will receive special Obie Awards for Lifetime Achievement at the 64th Annual Obie Awards, which will be held on Monday, May 20, 2019 at Terminal 5 (610 West 56th Street).

RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran has announced his ambition for a new collaborative cross-cast ensemble, to play three Shakespeare productions in a newly reconfigured Royal Shakespeare Theatre this summer.

Irish Arts Center (IAC), a multidisciplinary center dedicated to bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of Irish arts and culture, announces its Spring 2019 season a cross-section of the exhilarating theater, music, dance, literature, art, and genre-defying performance coming from Ireland and Irish America, alongside educational events engaging participants with an array of rich traditions. With performances as wide-ranging as Margaret McAuliffe's acclaimed one-woman play The Humours of Bandon, Declan O'Rourke's epic song cycle Chronicles of the Great Irish Famine, and Paul Muldoon's performance adaptation of a 1773 Irish poem, IAC provides an intimate home for artists' boldest visions. As construction on IAC's landmark permanent new home in Hell's Kitchen takes place just beyond the organization's original location, IAC's vast ambition and accomplishment will be on full display, outside and in, throughout Spring 2019.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) has announced the Public Forum and Public Shakespeare Initiative spring line-up that will explore the intersection of art, ideas, and action and illuminate the study and performance of Shakespeare's works. Highlights of the upcoming season include a collaboration with The Metropolitan Opera; a conversation on the experiences of the Black Community with Black Lives Matter co-founder/artist Patrisse Cullors, Activist Angela Davis, and actress Yara Shahidi from "black-ish"; an in-depth discussion with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks; the continuation of monthly Civic Salon gatherings, and more.

92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center will present a reading of an abridged version of Philip Roth's critically-acclaimed novel, The Plot Against America, on Sunday, October 28 at 1 pm. Featured readers include Ayad Akhtar, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle, Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Marvel, Maggie Siff and John Turturro, among others.   

92Y's Unterberg Poetry Center will present a reading of an abridged version of Philip Roth's critically-acclaimed novel, The Plot Against America, on Sunday, October 28 at 1 pm. Featured readers include Ayad Akhtar, Billy Crudup, Jennifer Ehle, Jon Hamm, Elizabeth Marvel, Maggie Siff and John Turturro, among others.   

This September, Teamwork Arts, producers of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, often dubbed “the greatest literary show on Earth”, bring an iconic event - JLF at New York - featuring internationally acclaimed authors and thinkers. JLF at New York runs from September 19-20 with a range of provocative panels and debates to discuss the issues that shape our thoughts and perspectives at the Asia Society.

The Public Theater in collaboration with the Resistance Revival Chorus announced additional casting today for the free Public Forum, WE RISE: A CELEBRATION OF RESISTANCE, on Monday, August 13 at 8:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. This one-night-only event puts both the music and the movement onstage with performances, speeches, and more.

The Public Theater in collaboration with the Resistance Revival Chorus announced today that a special free one-night-only Public Forum event, WE RISE: A CELEBRATION OF RESISTANCE, will take place on Monday, August 13 at 8:00 p.m. at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

The International Shakespeare Center brings renowned author and professor at Columbia University, James Shapiro, to Santa Fe to speak about Shakespeare's King Lear.

The International Shakespeare Center brings renowned author and professor at Columbia University, James Shapiro, to Santa Fe to speak about Shakespeare's King Lear.

Columbia University and Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith are pleased to announce that Junk by Ayad Akhtar is the 2018 winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) has announced the Spring 2018 PUBLIC SHAKESPEARE INITIATIVE line-up of special evenings exploring the ideas and themes of some of Shakespeare's most challenging and essential works. Highlights of this programming include a look at the outsiders within Othelloand The Merchant of Venice with Stephen Greenblatt and Kwame Anthony Appiah; sneak peeks of Robert O'Hara's Mobile Unit production of Henry V and the Shakespeare Works artist development program; a discussion about the production history of Othello and putting it on stage for today's contemporary audience with James Shapiro and Ayanna Thompson; and special invited performances of As You Like It by the Hunts Point Children's Shakespeare Ensemble.

Peak Performances will kick off its 2017-18 season-which consists entirely of works by women-with a visionary production of The Merchant of Venice from director Karin Coonrod and her Compagnia de' Colombari.