Leila Buck News

In the wake of the horrible explosion in Beirut on August 4, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York Theatre Salon, and the team members behind Global Forms Theater Festival are coming together to host A Love Letter to Lebanon, a benefit performance on Saturday, August 15th at 1pm EST to raise money for those whose lives have been affected by the explosion. Visit rattlestick.org for more information. 

The Founding Steering Committee, made up of a diverse community of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) American artists, educators, and administrators, has announced the launch of MENA Theater Makers Alliance (MENATMA), the first national alliance devoted to MENA artists and stories in the American theater.

The William & Eva Fox Foundation and Theatre Communications Group have announced the fourteenth round of Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowships recipients.

Artistic Director Eric Ting, Managing Director Sarah Williams, and the Board of Directors of California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) have chosen to cancel the 2020 performance season.

Artistic Director Eric Ting, Managing Director Sarah Williams, and the Board of Directors of California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) have chosen to cancel the 2020 performance season.

Clubbed Thumb has announced the complete line-up for the 25th annual SUMMERWORKS, its festival of new plays. SUMMERWORKS will run May 15 - July 1, 2020 at The Wild Project (195 E. 3rd Street) in Manhattan and will feature productions of three new plays: SPINDLE SHUTTLE NEEDLE by Gab Reisman and directed by Tamilla Woodard; BODIES THEY RITUAL by Angela Hanks and directed by Knud Adams; and THE WOMAN'S PARTY by Rinne Groff and directed by Tara Ahmadinijad.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) is proud to expand support for the Shahrazad Squad, a group of Bay Area Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian (MENASA) women artists and leaders, whose gatherings and story-sharing were ignited by 1001 Nights (A Retelling) by Evren Odcikin and Leila Buck, a new play commissioned by Cal Shakes' New Classics Initiative excavating current political relevance from the classic text, A Thousand and One Nights.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) has been approved for a $30,000 Art Works grant to support the World Premiere production of 1001 Nights (A Retelling) by Evren Odcikin and Leila Buck.  The National Endowment for the Arts has approved 1,187 grants totaling $27.3 million in the first round of fiscal year 2020 funding to support arts projects in every state in the nation, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. 

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) announces that Jessica Holt will direct The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare running May 27- June 6, 2020.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) announces the fourth title of its 2020 Season at the Bruns Amphitheater: The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare.

California Shakespeare Theater (Cal Shakes) announces three of the four titles for its 2020 Season at the Bruns Amphitheater: the West Coast Premiere of Aeschylus' The Oresteia by Ellen McLaughlin, May 27-June 14; the world premiere of 1001 Nights (A Retelling) by Leila Buck and Evren Odcikin, August 19-September 6; and Romeo y Juilet by William Shakespeare in a new bilingual adaptation by Karen Zacarías, September 23-October 1; with a to-be-announced Shakespeare play which will run July 8-26. Cast and creative teams for each will be announced at a later date.

Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Artistic Director Nataki Garrett today announced the appointment of Evren Odcikin as interim associate artistic director. Odcikin joins Christopher Acebo, OSF's associate artistic director since 2007, and others on the artistic leadership team. Along with producorial and programming responsibilities, Odcikin will also act as the artistic department liaison for resident company and other departments at OSF.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), the national theatrical union representing stage directors and choreographers across the United States, announced its annual selection of Top Ten 'Standout Moments.' The recognition covered the period from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018.

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center, located at The Graduate Center, CUNY, will host the first Academic theatre symposium that focuses on Arab dramaturgy, Towards Arab Dramaturgies, on September 27th and 28th, 2018. This symposium will feature research papers, artist talks and roundtable events. The sessions and papers will be compiled in a publication that will be generated from the discussions at the convening.

Atlantic Theater Company announces casting for Middle Eastern MixFest, a series of free readings co-curated by playwrights Mona Mansour and Heather Raffo that will run Wednesday, August 8th through Thursday, August 16th at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street).

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) presents the world premiere of American Dreams. The production is onstage from February 8 - March 3, 2018, in CPT's James Levin Theatre.

The sixth production of Mosaic Theater Company's third season will be Paper Dolls, written by Philip Himberg (Producing Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program) and directed by Broadway veteran Mark Brokaw. This uplifting, entertaining, and thought-provoking play with songs illuminates the world of five gay male Filipino nurses in Tel Aviv who care for elderly Orthodox and Chasidic men six days a week-and headline a drag show on their day off!

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to present the world premiere of American Dreams. The production is onstage from February 8 - March 3, 2018, in CPT's James Levin Theatre.

Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is proud to present the world premiere of American Dreams. The production is onstage from February 8 - March 3, 2018, in CPT's James Levin Theatre.