Lanford Wilson News

American Blues Theater presents the 2020 Blue Ink Playwriting Festival digitally, May 1-4, 2020. For the first time ever, audiences around the world can access the scripts of the Blue Ink Playwrighting Festival online, free of charge.

The Nominating Committee of the Off Broadway Alliance has announced important dates for the 10th Annual Off Broadway Alliance Awards.

May 4 marks the 50th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State University, one of the most tragic events in the history of anti-Vietnam War protests, when four unarmed students were killed by the National Guard. To commemorate this occasion, theaters around the country will live-stream locally produced Zoom performances of Rich Orloff's DAYS OF POSSIBILITIES, a documentary-style play based on true stories of Vietnam-era college students.

San Francisco Playhouse announced their new Empathy Gym Fireside Chat series which will be streamed live for free on YouTube. Each week, Artistic Director Bill English invites playwrights to join him for a one-hour conversation about playwriting, business, and the future of theatre. Audience members can participate in the conversation by leaving a comment on YouTube.

Tony Winner Linda Lavin has a new CD out and it is one musical bullseye after another.

One of my favorite activities is reading books and what better time to do that then right now when we're all stuck at home? Unfortunately, there are many theatre related activities we cannot participate in right now but one of the best ways we can learn more about our crafts and read about others in our fields is by reading about them. There are hundreds of Broadway related books, script writing and acting guides, memoirs by our favorite stars, and more! I thought I would share some of my favorites with you all to hopefully get you all back in the mindsets of creating art and learning about those who you look up to.

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

The American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA) has selected six finalists for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg / American Theatre Critics Association 2020 New Play Award, recognizing playwrights for the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City during 2019.

Theater suffered a huge loss this week when the playwright Terrence McNally died at 81, of complications of our current plague, the coronavirus. It was a sad irony since many of McNally's plays dealt with the effects of a previous plague, AIDS, in the 1980s.

The New Jewish Theatre has announced its 2020-21 season, opening on October 15, 2020. From Neil Simon to Gloria Steinem, the upcoming season examines the idea of self and asks, 'Where do I belong and to whom do, I belong?'

Burning Coal Theatre Company has announced its 2020 - 2021 season. This season will include A Hundred Words for Snow by Tatty Hennessy (October 8 a?" 25, 2020), Evita by Andrew Lloyd Webber (December 3 a?" 20, 2020), Fifth of July by Lanford Wilson (January 28 a?" February 14, 2021), and Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov (April 8 a?" 25, 2021).

On March 24 at 6pm at the Jefferson Market Library, and on April 30at St. John's Church in the Village, writer, archivist and Caffe Cino actress Maggie Dominic will share documentation and stories about the landmark space and the historic Caffe Cino.

A rich and complicated portrait of people with disabilities (and the stereotypes that accompany them), COAL MINE THEATRE is has announced its upcoming presentation of Martyna Majok's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama COST OF LIVING, directed by Ted Dykstra. Making its much-anticipated Toronto Premiere, the play features rich performances by established and emerging talents Christine Bruno, Jessica Grossi, Tony Nappo, and Sean Towgood. Presented at COAL MINE THEATRE, April 5 - May 3, 2020 (Opening night April 8, 2020).

The Dramatists Guild of America has announced that the recipient of the 2020 Lanford Wilson Award is Madhuri Shekar. The award will be presented at the Guild's annual awards ceremony on Monday, July 27, 2020, at Joe's Pub in New York.

Colonial Players production of Lanford Wilson's play THE BOOK OF DAYS, is a creative take on one of the playwright's lesser known works. The piece, which tells the story of the townsfolk in Dublin, Missouri, is billed as a murder mystery, though I think it's less about the mystery of who, and more about how it came to this. Events in the work unfurl unusually, with characters informing the audience of each passing day. It's quite a different way to tell a story and allows the audience to see just how easily and quickly action escalates.

Shakespeare's epic Fire and Reign series continues with a dynamic production of Henry IV, Part 1, produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF. This production will run in repertory February 19 - March 21, 2020 along with Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, as adapted by Catherine Bush. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

For over half a century Jordan Charney has been a forceful presence in the world of entertainment as a performer, writer, director and teacher.

Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) presents the New York premiere of Jump following the critically-acclaimed presentation of Marguerite. The award-winning theater company continues their 2019-20 season with this production taking place at APAC Pop Up theater located at 28-21 Steinway Street in Astoria, Queens.

Mabou Mines, the esteemed experimental theater company, and Weathervane Productions, in association with Philip Glass' Days and Nights Festival, add free documentary film screening and Promenade concert performance, and announce complete casting for a unique upcoming celebration of legendary playwright and director María Irene Fornés. The February 21-March 7 engagement centers on the New York premiere of Philip Glass' transformation of her five-page play Drowning into an opera and a version of Fornés' acclaimed Mud. JoAnne Akalaitis directs these two intimate productions-both with new music composed by Glass-at Mabou Mines (150 First Avenue).

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the winner of the 2020 Blue Ink Playwriting Award is Recent Unsettling Events by Andrea Stolowitz. A staged reading of the play will be presented as part of the 2020 Blue Ink Playwriting Festival, along with new work by finalists Football Football Football Football (or I Love Lave Dash) by Kristoffer Diaz, The Mermaids' Parade by Gina Femia, and Crying on Television by R. Eric Thomas. The Blue Ink Playwriting Festival runs May 2-4, 2020 at 4809 N Ravenswood, Suite #126, in Chicago.