Lawrence Wright News

To Kill A Mockingbird, Aaron Sorkin's new play, directed by Bartlett Sher, and based on Harper Lee's classic novel, will launch its coast-to-coast National Tour in August 2020 at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of the nation's capital. The tour will be on the road for over two years. According to the Hollywood Reporter, stage and screen star Richard Thomas will lead the production as Atticus Finch.

BBC Two has acquired ten-part series, The Looming Tower, based on Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction book about the rising threat of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the late 1990s and how the rivalry between the FBI and CIA during that time may have inadvertently set the path for the tragedy of 9/11.

BroadwayWorld has a first look at Aaron Posner's JQA, recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The first of Posner's plays that is not adapted from an existing work, JQA shines a spotlight with humor and care on an ineffectual presidency, the idea of government and how a society lives in relationship to it, and the American experiment as it continues to evolve. Directed by Posner as well, JQA runs March 1 through April 14, 2019 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) tonight announced the winners of the 2019 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories at concurrent ceremonies at the Edison Ballroom in New York City and The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces three additional commissioned playwrights as a part of Power Plays, an ambitious initiative commissioning and developing 25 new plays and musicals from a diverse mix of writers, composers and lyricists over the course of 10 years. Playwrights Kia Corthron, Idris Goodwin and Octavio Solis join previously commissioned playwrights with projects underway, including Aaron Posner, whose Power Play JQA, an inquisitive and provocative look at America's sixth president, enjoys its world premiere in Arena's Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle March 1 through April 14, 2019.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for the world premiere of Aaron Posner's JQA, recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The first of Posner's plays that is not adapted from an existing work, JQA shines a spotlight with humor and care on an ineffectual presidency, the idea of government and how a society lives in relationship to it, and the American experiment as it continues to evolve. Directed by Posner as well, JQA runs March 1 through April 14, 2019 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for the world premiere of Aaron Posner's JQA, recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The first of Posner's plays that is not adapted from an existing work, JQA shines a spotlight with humor and care on an ineffectual presidency, the idea of government and how a society lives in relationship to it, and the American experiment as it continues to evolve. Directed by Posner as well, JQA runs March 1 through April 14, 2019 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

The USC Libraries has announce the finalists for the 31st annual Scripter Awards, which honor the year's best adapted screenplays in film and television along with the works on which they are based.

For Buckley, Arena's production will not only mark Kleptocracy's world premiere, but the chance to return to, "One of the most prestigious repertory theaters in America."

As the complicated dynamic between the current White House and Saudi Arabia continues to reveal itself and dominate the news, Showtime Documentary Films today announced plans for HOUSE OF SAUD (wt), a documentary feature that will examine the relationship between the two powerful nations. Beginning with the October murder of Washington Post journalist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi, the feature will explore the history between the two nations in the decades leading up to today's troubling interactions between the Trump administration and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Oscar and Emmy® award winning director Alex Gibney (ENEMIES: THE PRESIDENT, JUSTICE & THE FBI) is set to produce under his banner Jigsaw Productions in collaboration with Emmy and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright (The Looming Tower).

The 2019 Writer's Guild Awards nominations have been unveiled. The 2019 Writers Guild Awards will be handed out Sunday, Feb. 17, at the Beverly Hilton. See the full list of nominees below!

The Alley Theatre announces the line-up for the 2019 Alley All New Festival, January 18 - January 27, 2019. The fourth annual Festival will feature a world premiere production, readings and workshop performances of five new plays, as well as an Early Draft Preview of a new musical. Festival playwrights include Robert Askins, Hilary Bettis, Glen Berger, Chisa Hutchinson, Claire Kiechel, Don Nguyen, and Lawrence Wright. Special packages are available for the final weekend of the Festival and include prime seating at all presentations, exclusive artist access, and meals between performances. Packages can be booked now at alleytheatre.org/allnew or by calling the Box Office at 713-220-5700. Advance reservations for individual events are recommended and can be made on November 26 at alleytheatre.org. All readings and workshop performances are free and open to the public.

Continuing its cross-country tour, John Strand's critically-acclaimed political drama The Originalist, based on the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will play at 59E59 Theaters under the direction of Artistic Director Molly Smith.

From Emmy Award-winning executive producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog comes The 2000s on Sunday, July 8, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT. The seven-part CNN Original Series explores the cultural and political milestones of the decade, including technological triumphs like the iPhone and social media, President George W. Bush's war on terror and response to Hurricane Katrina, Barack Obama's presidential election and the financial crisis, hip-hop's rise to dominance and a creative renaissance in television.

SHN today announced a special engagement of the most acclaimed American play in recent memory: The Humans, which will be coming to the SHN Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco from June 5 through 17, 2018.

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled to welcome the NYC premiere of THE ORIGINALIST written by John Strand and directed by Molly Smith. Produced by Middle Finger Production, LLC [Beth Newburger, Executive Producer] and Arena Stage and part of 59E59's Subscription Series, THE ORIGINALIST begins performances on Saturday, July 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, August 19. 

Set during the filming of the disastrous 1963 movie Cleopatra, Cleo is the story of the scandalous romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Now Through Aproil 29 . Tickets at alleytheatre.org

The writer and director are to be congratulated for managing to tell the story fully in one 80-minute, no-intermission production.

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, concludes its 2017/18 season with the Asolo Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, Pasadena Playhouse production of The Originalist by John Strand, directed by Molly Smith with Associate Director Seema Sueko, and featuring Edward Gero as Antonin Scalia. The Originalist runs May 10 - June 10, 2018 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. The press opening is Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 8:00pm.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is now hosting the world-premiere musical Snow Child, based on Eowyn Ivey's Pulitzer Prize-nominated novel. Watch the video below for a preview of the song 'Grateful'!