Jane Austen News

Join us for free staged reading of new plays submitted by local playwrights for this summer's Baltimore Playwrights Festival. The next readings are this Saturday, March 25, 11 am and 1 pm, at Fells Point Corner Theatre, 251 South Ann Street. Scroll down for details!

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Festival's 2018 playbill today.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) Artistic Director Bill Rauch announced the Festival's 2018 playbill.

???????Stolen Shakespeare Guild is proud to announce the cast of our production of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, adapted by Jessica Swale, and directed by Jason and Lauren Morgan.

Mindy Sterling, famous for her role as Frau Farbissina in the 'Austin Powers' films and Ellia English, best known as Auntie Rae on Larry David's HBO series, 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' will be appearing in 'YES, VIRGINIA,' a new play by Stan Zimmerman & Christian McLaughlin.

Jane Austen's classic tale, Pride and Prejudice, opens at DreamWrights this spring with an all teenaged cast and, like the book, explores preconceptions in a time gone by. Guest Director, Rodd Robertson explains, "The show is a true classic. The adaptation is very good and I think audiences will be delighted by our production."

Theatrical Outfit, Atlanta's second-oldest continually-operating professional theatre, aspires to create a compassionate, joyful and just community by starting the conversations that matter. From The Hunchback of Notre Dame, a timeless, epic musical co-production with Aurora Theatre (our third year in a row), to the conversation-starting new play Boy about gender reassignment, to the Atlanta premiere of GA native Lauren Gunderson's new, co-authored, Jane Austen-inspired holiday hit Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, to an intimate look at one of legend Billie Holiday's final solo appearances in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill, to the Atlanta professional homecoming of Perfect Arrangement, local writer Topher Payne's mid-century gay-rights comedy, to a world premiere collaboration with Atlanta Opera, to T.O.'s non-traditional update on the sizzling Broadway classic 110 in the Shade, to year two of our Unexpected Play Readings, our 2017-2018 Season of Character truly offers something for everyone.

After years of television shows and movies portraying New Jersey in less than desirable ways, New Jersey native Cathy Padilla has written a contemporary romance novel, A Taste for Love, highlighting the beauty and grandeur of Monmouth County. Available for purchase April 18, the novel is set in the rolling hills of Holmdel and uses the tagline: New Jersey - Where Love Blooms and Gardens Grow. Written employing the same point-of-view used by both Jane Austen and Nora Roberts, third-person omniscient, the author hopes to bring back the underused perspective while giving a nod to two prolific romance authors. "I wanted to share a story that is both heart-warming and interesting and I find the omniscient point-of-view creates more complex characters. I grew up loving Pride and Prejudice (by Jane Austen) and it felt natural for me to write from a similar viewpoint." Padilla says. "It's not popular today, in fact most editors frown upon it and call it 'head-hopping', but I have faith my readers will embrace the story and heroine. I appreciate my publisher, Clean Reads, allowing me this opportunity. It is a 'clean' romance, so readers can share the book with their grandparents and teens the way my mother shared Austen with me." Padilla has lived in Monmouth County her entire life, except for the four years she spent at The College of New Jersey (Ewing, NJ) studying English and journalism. After being hired as the first editor of the college magazine at TCNJ, she worked as the Director of Institutional Advancement at Monmouth University for nearly a decade promoting the college. While a student at TCNJ, her linguistic professor encouraged her to write novels and it became a some-day goal she says she is thrilled to have come to fruition. Padilla founded an online organization called LookingForEats that donated all profits to children with cancer who live in New Jersey and for the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Money was raised through events with local celebrities such as Chef Lidia Bastianich and television personality Caroline Manzo. Deciding to spend more time at home caring for her mother, Padilla has since dedicated herself to writing. A Taste for Love is the story of a career-minded, independent woman facing a loveless marriage dictated by blackmail. She falls in love with a man she doesn't know has come to save her and finds a way to overcome her own reluctant heart. Set at a fictitious country club, The Club at Longview, readers meet and come to know the Texmara family. The first in a series of 'For Love' books, the novel goes beyond surface romance and contemplates what it means to love and the sacrifices love sometimes requires. All romance novels have a happy ending, but not every character in Padilla's books find his or her happily ever after. "I love a great story. So I wanted to write love stories that are realistic with exciting plots and a good bit of suspense," Padilla says. "My editors keep commenting how refreshing it is to read characters who don't really do what the reader expects them to all the time. I'm hoping my readers feel the same way." You can contact Padilla at 732-272-5044 or at Cathy6Padilla@gmail.com to request review copies or an interview. High resolution book cover photos are available at 4Love.Club. Please visit Padilla's website: 4Love.Club and become a member of the club that is dedicated to the love of family, fun, food, and entertainment...because it's all For Love!

Sondra Luger has noticed that romantic, upbeat, happy literary reads for adults are rare. The result? Enter Venus (published by AuthorHouse), a fairy tale for adults. Not only does Enter Venus explore human nature and end happily, but it will also appeal to a wide audience, as it touches on themes of mythology, romance, fantasy, philosophy, religion and art.

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. 

Orlando Shakespeare Theater (Orlando Shakes) in Partnership with UCF will hold its 9th Annual John R. Hamilton Mock Trial on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center. This year's trial will be the Senate Confirmation Hearing of Ferdinand, the King of Navarre (from Love's Labour's Lost) for the post of Secretary of Labour. The Margeson Theater will transform into an interactive courtroom as actors from the show improv their way through the trial amidst a panel of celebrity judges. Tickets ($35 - VIP; $20 and $15 - Regular) may be purchased by calling (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at www.orlandoshakes.org, or in person at 812 East Rollins Street.  

 Musical Theatre West presents Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical masterpiece Carousel March 24 - April 9 at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach.  Voted 'the greatest musical of the twentieth century' by TIME magazine, Carousel explores the timeless message of message of love, hope, forgiveness, and redemption.  

Primary Stages has announced its complete 2017/18 Season, which will kick off in Fall 2017 with THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, CHARLES DICKENS AND COUNT LEO TOLSTOY: DISCORD, written by Scott Carter ('Real Time with Bill Maher') and directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced).

Audiences are invited to seek true love with twisted new plots and period costumes as beloved author Jane Austen gets the improv comedy treatment for ImprovBoston's newest weekly show Wheel of Austen spinning every Today night in March at 10PM.

Letters from Young Gay Men is a project that was inspired by Rilke's Letters to a young poet. A show that brings a unique intimacy between the gay youth and elders of the community. These are very special letters performed by an amazing cast - these words crack the heart and forge the soul.

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley continues its 2016/2017 season with a musical saga of immigrant America, Rags. From the creators of Fiddler on the Roof and Wicked, this exhilarating musical follows the journey of Jewish immigrants Rebecca and her son David, who find themselves navigating the teeming, turn-of-the-century tenements of New York.

Engin Inel Holmstrom first read Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' as a sophomore in college when she was learning English, and every year since then, she picks up the novel to read it once more.

Interrobang Theatre Project concludes its 2016-17 Season, exploring 'Flesh and Blood,' with the Chicago premiere of Deanna Jent's drama FALLING, one family's battle against stigma from society and each other. Directed by Co-Artistic Director James Yost*, FALLING will play March 17 - April 16, 2017 at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio 2), 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.interrobangtheatre.org, by calling (773) 935-6875 or in person at The Athenaeum Theatre Box Office. The press opening is Sunday, March 19 at 2 pm.

'Though the question is never asked directly by the characters, the play demands the audience to answer, 'Why is art important?' She continued, 'Utpadel continues, 'And really, why is it? Art isn't always a pretty thing - this play proves it. There is unbelievable violence, hard language, and great tragedy in this play. Luke Gomez, the playwright, paints a world in which hope is far past a dying ember and has instead already faded to ash. No character is truly a good person. Why is showing the ugliness of human nature so important? Why, when the world we live in already has so much darkness?'

Virginia Stage is excited to announce what they have in store for their 39th season. The lineup includes an additional production, the return of fan favorite Crowns. The full lineup has through lines of gospel and comedy and includes a Pulitzer Prize winner, two musicals, a new work, and adaptations of three classic works of literature.