Kimber Lee News

A collective of perspectives. A public outcry. The establishment of a movement. This month, two new plays- Until the Flood by Dael Orlandersmith, directed by Neel Keller and florissant & canfield by Kristiana Rae Colon, directed by Derrick Sanders-bring a national dialogue to the stage.

Today, The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work announced the 21 projects selected for its 2018 Summer Residency Lab. Chosen from a new record of 690 submissions, the eclectic and ambitious slate of projects are the most ever housed by the Lab in its seven-year history.  

The New Black Fest and The Lark, two theater organizations dedicated to celebrating and advocating for stories that explore the intersection of art and social justice, are proud to announce the fifth annual The New Black Fest at The Lark. This week-long event is aimed at showcasing diverse and provocative work in a festival of Black theater artists from throughout the Diaspora, and will feature talkbacks, a panel event, and staged readings of four plays-in-progress. The festival will take place April 9-13, 2018, and will include works by 2017 Djerassi Writer in Residence France-Luce Benson (Deux Femmes On the Edge De La Revolution), 2018 Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Award recipient Donja R. Love (soft), 2015 Princess Grace Award-Winner Jonathan Payne (Brother Rabbit), and artist, activist, and The New Black Fest alum Liza Jessie Peterson (Sistergurls and the Squirrel) who has performed excerpts of her one-person play The Peculiar Patriot in over 35 penitentiaries across the country.

The 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival, presented by AT&T, today announced its lineup of 55 diverse and engaging short films in competition, including 29 world premieres. The selected shorts include a cross-section of international and U.S. filmmakers and were curated from a record 4,754 submissions. For the second year running, 40% of the selections are directed by female filmmakers. The short films will be presented in 10 distinct competition programs, which consist of five narrative, three documentary, one animation, and one hybrid program. The program will also include special screenings and the 12th annual Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Festival, sponsored by Mohegan Sun. The Shorts Film program, sponsored by Nutella®, runs throughout the Festival, April 18-29.

Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, has selected its four finalists for the 2018 Premiere Play Festival and will increase its cash awards for honored playwrights by one-third, the theatre announced today. Premiere Stages received a record 572 submissions for the festival, an annual competition for unproduced scripts that offers developmental opportunities to playwrights with strong affiliations to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The 572 submissions marked a 43% jump from 2017, and represented playwrights of all backgrounds and ages. For the first time in the festival's 14-year history, three of the four finalist scripts selected were requested from synopses submitted by playwrights.

On the heels of a critically-acclaimed off-Broadway run, Goodman Theatre Artistic Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist Dael Orlandersmith brings her one-woman show, Until the Flood to Goodman Theatre, April 27 - May 13.

Jeanne Sakata's one-man drama Hold These Truths tells the true story of Gordon Hirabayashi, the American son of Japanese immigrants who defied an unjust court order when America placed its own citizens in internment camps during World War II. Midway through Arena Stage's 2017/18 season, Hold These Truths brings an untold story to the stage that represents the diversity of our country and examines what it means to be an American. Under the direction of Jessica Kubzansky, Hold These Truths runs February 23-April 8, 2018 in the Kogod Cradle.

With great excitement, Seattle Repertory Theatre kicks off 2018 with its production of August Wilson's poetic masterpiece, Two Trains Running. A cast of seven-Eugene Lee (Memphis Lee), Nicole Lewis (Risa), William Hall Jr. (West), Carlton Byrd (Sterling), Reginald Andre Jackson (Wolf), David Emerson Toney (Holloway), and Frank Riley III (Hambone)-portray the denizens of a Pittsburgh diner who are all reckoning with a revolutionary time in history - the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

The Old Globe today announced it will present the fifth annual Powers New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by professional playwrights, playing January 12 14, 2018. The festival will kick off today, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. with Voices of the Community: Celebrating Local Playwrights, an evening of work created by San Diego residents through the Globe's arts engagement initiatives Community Voices and coLAB, and will continue with four readings by some of the most exciting voices writing for the American theatre today. The new American play readings commence on Saturday, January 13 at 4:00 p.m. with Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon, directed by Giovanna Sardelli (Somewhere, The Whipping Man at the Globe), followed at 7:30 p.m. by Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Jir h Breon Holder, directed by Patricia McGregor (Globe for All's Measure for Measure).The Festival continues on Sunday, January 14 at 3:00 p.m. with The Tale of Despereaux, with book, music, and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. (The Old Man and The Old Moon at the Globe), based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo and the Universal Pictures animated motion picture. The Festival will wrap up that evening at 7:30 p.m. with The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Globe's Skeleton Crew).

With great excitement, Seattle Repertory Theatre kicks off 2018 with its production of August Wilson's poetic masterpiece, Two Trains Running. A cast of seven-Eugene Lee (Memphis Lee), Nicole Lewis (Risa), William Hall Jr. (West), Carlton Byrd (Sterling),Reginald Andre Jackson (Wolf), David Emerson Toney (Holloway), and Frank Riley III(Hambone)-portray the denizens of a Pittsburgh diner who are all reckoning with a revolutionary time in history - the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s

The Lark announces that Leah Nanako Winkler, author of Kentucky, Two Mile Hollow, and Death for Sydney Black, will be the 2017-19 recipient of the Jerome New York Fellowship. The fellowship, designed to support an early career writer of extraordinary ability, promise, and vision, provides stipends of $25,000 in the first year and $15,000 in the second, in addition to an Opportunity Fund of $5,000 to be used for purposes of additional creative expenses such as travel, research, and workshops. The fellowship is designed to be a life-sustaining platform of support, allowing the fellow to focus on their craft, and to generate and develop a significant body of work.

The Old Globe today announced it will present the fifth annual Powers New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by professional playwrights, playing January 12 14, 2018. The festival will kick off on Friday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m. with Voices of the Community: Celebrating Local Playwrights, an evening of work created by San Diego residents through the Globe's arts engagement initiatives Community Voices and coLAB, and will continue with four readings by some of the most exciting voices writing for the American theatre today. The new American play readings commence on Saturday, January 13 at 4:00 p.m. with Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon, directed by Giovanna Sardelli (Somewhere, The Whipping Man at the Globe), followed at 7:30 p.m. by Too Heavy for Your Pocket by Jir h Breon Holder, directed by Patricia McGregor (Globe for All's Measure for Measure).The Festival continues on Sunday, January 14 at 3:00 p.m. with The Tale of Despereaux, with book, music, and lyrics by PigPen Theatre Co. (The Old Man and The Old Moon at the Globe), based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo and the Universal Pictures animated motion picture. The Festival will wrap up that evening at 7:30 p.m. with The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Globe's Skeleton Crew).

California Shakespeare Theater announced today the return of its record-breaking hit play black odyssey for a special limited engagement, September 25 through October 7, 2018 at the Bruns Amphitheater. Marcus Gardley's music-filled journey through African-American folklore garnered box office records, critical acclaim, sold-out houses, and standing ovations during its initial August 2017 run.

The Lark has announced six plays and playwrights have been chosen through its Open Access Program for the 24th Annual Playwrights' Week.

The Lark, a theater company devoted to the support of visionary playwrights and the development of new plays, has announced five New York City-based playwrights have been named as the 2017-18 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellows. The group spans a wide range of backgrounds and professional experiences and will meet regularly throughout the year to develop new plays.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced complete casting today for the New York premiere of OFFICE HOUR, written by Julia Cho and directed by Neel Keller, part of The Public's Astor Anniversary Season at their landmark downtown home on Lafayette Street, celebrating 50 years of new work at 425 Lafayette Street and the 50th Anniversary of HAIR.

Dobama, Cleveland's fine off-Broadway professional theatre, opens its 2017-2018 season with a mesmerizing production of Kimber Lee's "must see" script. Generally well-directed, often superlatively acted, this is drama at its finest! The opening night standing ovation was well-deserved.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces select cast members for upcoming productions as part of the company's 2017/18 programming as single tickets for the full season go on sale.

Playwrights Foundation (PF) Artistic Director Amy Mueller has announced a year-long celebration of its illustrious 40-year legacy discovering and supporting unknown playwrights, who have gone on to become some of the most important contemporary voices of American theater. Playwrights Foundation kicks off the 40th Anniversary celebration with its flagship event, the annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) July 14 - 23, 2017 at Custom Made Theatre, San Francisco CA.

Juilliard Drama, celebrating its 50th anniversary, announces its 2017-18 season of fully staged productions featuring Juilliard's Group 47 acting students in their fourth and final year in the drama program.