Les Waters News

Obie Award-winner Les Waters will direct the world premiere of Jordan Harrison's profound and engaging "Marjorie Prime" at the Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum, September 10 through October 19, 2014. The opening is set for September 21.

NATURAL GAS, the five-year-old house improv team of The Gift Theatre, appears Friday nights at Wicker Park's The Den Theatre, performing entirely improvised group sets in addition to their standing Wednesday night set at The Gift in Jefferson Park. Every other week is YOU & ME-a two-person, entirely improvised show featuring ensemble member/The Gift artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton with a special guest from the Chicago arts community.

2014-2015 season announcements from some of Louisville's most popular theater companies.

The Gift Theatre has announced that Kareem Bandealy will star as Othello and artistic director and ensemble member Michael Patrick Thornton will play villainous Iago in its production of William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello, directed by Jonathan Berry (Dirty). This marks The Gift Theatre's first Shakespeare production ever mounted in its intimate 40-seat theater and Berry's Shakespearean directorial debut.

The Gift Theatre Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton announces the Chicago premiere of Thinner Than Water written by Melissa Ross and directed by The Gift ensemble member John Gawlik (2013 Jeff Award winner for When the Rain Stops Falling at Circle Theatre). The production marks Thornton's return to The Gift main stage since ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker's Jeff Nominated Dirty in 2012. Thornton recently appeared in Les Waters' production of Our Town at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Thornton joins guest artists Donna McGough (last seen in Coriolanus with The Hypocrites) and Darci Nalepa (Dirty) and fellow Gift ensemble members Brittany Burch (The Lonesome West), Paul D'Addario (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Gabriel Franken (Broadsword), Lynda Newton (Absolute Hell) and Jay Worthington (Vigils).

At a time when the role of religion in every facet of life is mired in controversy and the battleground seems miles wide and inches deep, 'The Christians' play plants the audience squarely in the thick of the battle and leaves them pondering a lot, and maybe wanting a bit more.

Last fall NATURAL GAS, the five-year-old house improv team of The Gift Theatre, took up an open run on Friday nights at Wicker Park's The Den Theatre, performing entirely improvised group sets in addition to their standing Wednesday night set at The Gift in Jefferson Park. Now, NATURAL GAS presents YOU & ME-a two-person, entirely improvised show featuring NATURAL GAS ensemble member/The Gift artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton with a special guest from the Chicago improv/theatre community. Upcoming performances of YOU & ME are Fridays Feb. 28 (with NATURAL GAS' Jim Kozyra), March 14 (with Susan Messing) and April 4 (with Keith Neagle) at 10:30 p.m. An ongoing schedule can be found at thegifttheatre.org/shows-events/gas-the-den.

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein are delighted to announce the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, running tonight, February 26-April 6, 2014. This year's Festival program will feature (in order of opening):

Today, in the midst of preparations for one of the nation's most influential festivals of new work, the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein proudly announce Actors Theatre of Louisville's 2014-2015 Season. The 51st Season lineup will include a world-premiere reimagining of Love's Labour's Lost, the musical The Last Five Years, a production of Nina Raine's emotionally-charged drama Tribes, award-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney's The Brothers Size, and the return of Naomi Iizuka's At the Vanishing Point-a beautifully-observed portrait of Butchertown with an original score by Ben Sollee. From the exhilaration of infatuation to the heart-wrenching tale of lost love, from one person's fight to find a voice to the dreams and voices of an entire community, the lineup features powerful stories and some of the most exciting artists working in theatre today.

The Gift Theatre Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton announces the Chicago premiere of Thinner Than Water written by Melissa Ross and directed by The Gift ensemble member John Gawlik (2013 Jeff Award winner for When the Rain Stops Falling at Circle Theatre). The production marks Thornton's return to The Gift main stage since ensemble member Andrew Hinderaker's Jeff Nominated Dirty in 2012. Thornton recently appeared in Les Waters' production of Our Town at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Thornton joins guest artists Donna McGough (last seen in Coriolanus with The Hypocrites) and Darci Nalepa (Dirty) and fellow Gift ensemble members Brittany Burch (The Lonesome West), Paul D'Addario (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Gabriel Franken (Broadsword), Lynda Newton (Absolute Hell) and Jay Worthington (Vigils).

Actors Theatre of Louisville Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced the three ten-minute plays chosen to premiere during the 38th Humana Festival of New American Plays (February 26 - April 6, 2014). This year's ten-minute plays are Winter Games by Rachel Bonds, Some Prepared Remarks (A History in Speech) by Jason Gray Platt and Poor Shem by Gregory Hischak.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage today, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.

Bravo to Les Waters, the play's director and Actors Theatre's artistic head, who plunges in and finds the play's true essence, making it a moving, lingering, even haunting experience.

Who best determines an infant's fate among differing values concerning drugs, religion and child rearing? Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman asks this question and more in her latest play, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls in their fourth collaboration. Gilman's seven Goodman productions-six of which were world premieres, including five commissions-make her one of the most-produced contemporary playwrights in the theater's history. Luna Gale runs now through February 23 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 27). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Berkeley Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a humorous and gripping historical drama commissioned from award- winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast below!

Artistic Director Les Waters and Managing Director Jennifer Bielstein have announced that Actors Theatre continues its 50th Anniversary Season with Thornton Wilder's Our Town. Widely regarded as one of the finest plays ever written by an American, Our Town will be directed by Obie-award winning director Les Waters. The production, part of the Brown-Forman Series, will begin previews tonight, January 21, open on January 23 and run through February 9, 2014.

The question of who determines a child's fate amidst drug addiction, religion and child custody laws takes center stage in Rebecca Gilman's newest work, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls.

Who best determines an infant's fate among differing values concerning drugs, religion and child rearing? Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman asks this question and more in her latest play, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls in their fourth collaboration. Gilman's seven Goodman productions-six of which were world premieres, including five commissions-make her one of the most-produced contemporary playwrights in the theater's history. Luna Gale runs January 18 - February 23 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 27). BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

New Year? Not in the theatre world. An advance in the calendar only marks the halfway point for most Louisville theatre seasons. Many local companies are just getting heated up for the remainder of their 2013-2014 schedules.

Berkeley Repertory Theatre announces the world premiere of The House that will not Stand, a historical comedic drama commissioned from award-winning poet-playwright and Oakland native Marcus Gardley. Sensuous, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting - The House that will not Stand unearths a story about free women of color in 1836 New Orleans, where black Creole women entered into common-law marriages with affluent white men. When her wealthy lover mysteriously dies, Beartrice Albans' foundation of security hangs precariously by a thread. She is left to fend for her three unwed daughters in a world where freedom must be carefully negotiated. Told in a rich and lyrical river of words, this new play was developed through The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. It's helmed by Patricia McGregor, whose many credits include the celebrated production of Spunk at California Shakespeare Theater. The House that will not Stand begins previews on Berkeley Rep's intimate Thrust Stage on Friday, January 31, opens on Wednesday, February 5 and runs through Sunday, March 16, 2014.