John Kani News

American Players Theatre (APT) will launch its 36th Season June 6, 2015 with a preview performance of William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Awards shows are catnip for entertainment enthusiasts around the world not only because they are a celebration of the best of the breed in whatever medium or genre the presentation recognizes but also because a live telecast with so many stars and so many categories allows for ample room for entertainment - and error. In Tony Awards history, there have been a few unmistakably unmissable moments that live on thanks to the magic of YouTube for a variety of reasons - thrilling battles to the finish in tight categories, chilling reactions from non-winners when the top prize is announced, and, of course, some very unusual albeit unforgettable ties and inconsistent category tweaks. Nevertheless, the Tony Awards is always the biggest night of the year for Broadway babies and this year should prove to be no exception with the hot competition and spectacular stars scheduled to appear on June 7 at Radio City Music Hall and presented to the world, once again, via CBS at 8 PM.

This summer, a transition in leadership will begin at Syracuse Stage as Timothy Bond, producing artistic director, and Jeffrey Woodward, managing director, have announced plans to pursue new opportunities.

The Dallas Theater Center Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Jeffrey Woodward as managing director of the 56-year-old organization. Woodward's experience includes Syracuse Stage and 17 years at McCarter Theatre Center. The appointment follows the departure of Heather M. Kitchen, who announced her retirement in September 2014. Woodward will formally assume his post in mid-July.

Kansas City Actors Theatre is delighted and proud to announce plans for their Eleventh Season. 'A Dance. A Duel. A Negotiation. Every conversation a revelation.'

?American Players Theatre (APT) announces its 36th Summer Season, June 6 to October 18, 2015, a diverse lineup of eight classical and contemporary plays in repertory that includes the work of two visiting Chicago directors: Derrick Sanders, founding artistic director of Congo Square Theatre Company, makes his APT debut directing The Island by Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona in APT's intimate 200-seat Touchstone Theatre; and Jeff Award winner William Brown returns to direct Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire in APT's flagship 1148-seat outdoor amphitheater Up the Hill.

From South Africa's acclaimed Market Theatre, the intensely funny and poignant Sizwe Banzi is Dead starts tonight, February 25 at Syracuse Stage. In this award-winning classic about the universal struggle for human dignity, a black man in apartheid-era South Africa tries to overcome oppressive work regulations to support his family. Co-creator John Kani performed in the original production and won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Actor. Now, 40 years later, Kani directs his son, Atandwa Kani, in this new international production. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

From South Africa's acclaimed Market Theatre, the intensely funny and poignant Sizwe Banzi is Dead starts February 25 at Syracuse Stage. In this award-winning classic about the universal struggle for human dignity, a black man in apartheid-era South Africa tries to overcome oppressive work regulations to support his family. Co-creator John Kani performed in the original production and won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Actor. Now, 40 years later, Kani directs his son, Atandwa Kani, in this new international production. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast onstage below!

During the month of February, Syracuse Stage will have four productions appearing coast-to-coast. Here locally, In the Next Room, or the vibrator play will complete its run on February 15. Sizwe Banzi is Dead recently completed a run in Princeton, NJ and will start up in Syracuse on February 25. Other Desert Cities will start performing in Portland, OR on February 21 where it will run several weeks before moving to Syracuse Stage in April. Stage's fall production of August Wilson's The Piano Lesson had a second run in Seattle, WA that ended February 8.

SIZWE BANZI IS DEAD at McCarter is extraordinary. Now on stage at McCarter Theatre through February 15.

Straight from its success at the 2014 Edinburgh Assembly Fringe Festival, Aubrey Sekhabi's high-octane, gripping thriller SILENT VOICE, featuring a stellar cast, will have audiences riveted to their seats at the Baxter Golden Arrow Studio this October.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce MetroStage's 2014-15 season which will reprise some of the favorites from years past and welcome back many of the artists who have contributed so much on our stage over the past 30 years, both in our present location and dating back to the early 1990's on Duke Street.

The Colony Theatre will present the second production of its historic 40th Anniversary season, the West Coast Premiere of WHAT I LEARNED IN PARIS by Pearl Cleage. The production stars Tony winner L. Scott Caldwell, and is directed by Saundra McClain. WHAT I LEARNED IN PARIS will preview tonight, September 3; Thursday, September 4; and Friday, September 5 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, September 6 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, October 5 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street in Burbank.

The United States premiere of the internationally acclaimed new work written and directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Helene Estienne, The Valley of Astonishment, featuring Kathryn Hunter (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Kafka's Monkey), Marcello Magni (Fragments), and Jared McNeill (The Suit), begins previews Sunday, September 14, at 7:30pm for an opening Thursday, September 18,at 7:30pm and a run through Sunday, October 5, at Theatre for a New Audience, Polonsky Shakespeare Center, 262 Ashland Place.

The Colony Theatre will present the second production of its historic 40th Anniversary season, the West Coast Premiere of WHAT I LEARNED IN PARIS by Pearl Cleage. The production stars Tony winner L. Scott Caldwell, and is directed by Saundra McClain. WHAT I LEARNED IN PARIS will preview on Wednesday, September 3; Thursday, September 4; andFriday, September 5 at 8:00pm. It will open on Saturday, September 6 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, October 5 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street in Burbank.

Producing Artistic Director Carolyn Griffin is pleased to announce MetroStage's 2014-15 season which will reprise some of the favorites from years past and welcome back many of the artists who have contributed so much on our stage over the past 30 years, both in our present location and dating back to the early 1990's on Duke Street.

Syracuse Stage is pleased to announce that the 2014/15 season will include Sizwe Banzi is Dead, the acclaimed 1975 Tony Award-winning play by Athol Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona. Intensely funny and poignant, Sizwe tells the tale of a black man in apartheid-era South Africa who is trying to overcome restrictive work regulations in order to support his family. An opportunity comes his way-unexpectedly-but taking it comes at an unusual cost.

From Egypt and England to South Africa, backstage, and beyond -The Tony Award-Winning McCarter Theatre Center is about to take audiences around the world as Artistic Director Emily Mann announces the five theatre productions for McCarter's 2014-2015 season.

A new South African love story and political thriller. Intrigue, deception and betrayal at the Baxter in the world premiere of John Kani's latest play, Missing ...

The 2014 Suidoosterfees boasts a play, which South African theatre and film great John Kani once described as 'the first reconciliation production performed in South Africa'. Athol Fugard's powerful two-hander PLAYLAND will be performed in Afrikaans with English surtitles at the Fugard Studio Theatre from 23 January to 15 February 2014.