Lorraine Hansberry News

Ringing in a hopeful 2022, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, will kick off a full year of live performance and art. Through performances, screenings, and exhibitions, REDCAT will once again welcome in-person audiences—as well as online audiences around the world—from January through June 2022. 

The Guthrie Theater today announced casting for Lorraine Hansberry’s theatrical masterpiece A Raisin in the Sun, directed by acclaimed Twin Cities artist Austene Van. A Raisin in the Sun will play January 8 – February 12, 2022, on the McGuire Proscenium Stage.

 Oakland Theater Project (OTP)has announced its 2022 Season, In the Eye of the Storm, with five in-person shows at OTP’s Oakland Theater at FLAX art & design (1501 Martin Luther King Jr. Way), and a sixth show to be announced at a later date, that commemorates the 10-year anniversary since their founding in 2012. 

On the heels of its annual holiday presentation of A Christmas Carol, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company will resume a regular production schedule in 2022 with three shows to comprise their 19th season.

Ars Nova will honor writers Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu (Pass Over) and Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen, FX’s Fosse/Verdon, Netflix’s tick, tick…boom!), at Nova Ball, Ars Nova’s annual benefit.

Slave Play, the ground-breaking work by Tony Award nominee Jeremy O. Harris under the direction of Tony Award nominee Robert O’Hara, announced its digital lottery in partnership with Lucky Seat. The strictly limited return engagement of Slave Play is now in previews ahead of a Thursday, December 2 opening night at the August Wilson Theatre.

Roundabout Theatre Company has released a first look portrait of the cast of the Broadway premiere of Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress, starring Tony & Emmy Award-winner LaChanze and directed by Charles Randolph-Wright.

Theatre Bay Area announces its new partnership with Amazon to provide opportunity and mentorship to aspiring theatremakers from marginalized populations.

The Next Wave Initiative has announced open submissions for Cycle 2 of its scholarship program. Founded by Broadway multihyphenate, Douglas Lyons (Chicken and Biscuits and Beau), The Next Wave Initiative is a developmental branch of The Directors Company committed to amplifying future Black voices in the American theatre.

From November 18th-21st, Judson Theatre Company will be presenting a new holiday comedy by Stan Zimmerman & Christian McLaughlin titled YES, VIRGINIA at Owens Auditorium inside the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center. Actress Arnetia Walker stars in the production opposite Mindy Sterling. She has appeared on Broadway in THE SIGN IN SIDNEY BRUSTEIN'S WINDOW, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, RAISIN, THE WIZ, and DREAMGIRLS. Her TV credits include: QUANTUM LEAP, NURSES, THE FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR, MAD ABOUT YOU, NYPD BLUE, MALCOLM & EDDIE, JUST SHOOT ME!, THE STEVE HARVEY SHOW, TOUCHED BY AN ANGLE, CITY OF ANGELS, JUDGING AMY, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, and DYNASTY. Her film credits include: THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS, THE WIZARD OF SPEED AND TIME, SCENES FROM THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN BEVERLY HILLS, LOVE CRIMES, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME, and COLLEGE ROAD TRIP. I had the great pleasure of interviewing her about all of this and more.

Live theatre is officially back and Concord Theatricals is celebrating! 'There's No Business Like Show Business' is a digital celebration that launched just last month, marking the return of live theater and all of the incredible people who help to make it happen. The celebration coincides with the 75th anniversary of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun and its iconic showstopper 'There's No Business Like Show Business,' a song that has more resonance than ever this year.

Complete casting has been announced for the return Broadway engagement of Jeremy O. Harris' Slave Play at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). Joining the production are Devin Kawaoka as Dustin and Jonathan Chad Higginbotham as Phillip. They join returning original Broadway and NYTW cast members.

Live theatre is officially back and Concord Theatricals is celebrating! 'There's No Business Like Show Business' is a digital celebration that launched just last month, marking the return of live theater and all of the incredible people who help to make it happen. The celebration coincides with the 75th anniversary of Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun and its iconic showstopper 'There's No Business Like Show Business,' a song that has more resonance than ever this year.

The Lillys has announced the winners of the 2021 Lilly Awards. 

History Matters: Celebrating Women's Plays of the Past announces streaming dates for the virtual readings of their 2020 and 2021 Judith Barlow Prize-winning plays. After delays due to the pandemic, History Matters will present pre-recorded Zoom readings of the winning plays in collaboration with Nora's Playhouse. 

The Playwrights Realm, in partnership with law firm Dyer Harris LLP, announces playwright and performer Nkenna Akunna; costume designer Dina El-Aziz; actor and writer Isra Elsalihie; playwright, director, and scenographer Abhishek Majumdar; and composer Tidtaya Sinutoke (ฑิตยา สินุธก) as the recipients of the 2021 International Theatermakers Award (ITA).

American Players Theatre (APT) has announced the 2022 season lineup, including five plays originally slated to run in the 2020 season, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director) and Barry Grove (Executive Producer) have announced a robust slate of playwright commissions through Manhattan Theatre Club's new partnership with the Edgerton Foundation, as well as a new round of commissions supported by ongoing partnerships with Bobbie Olsen and other donors.

A new biography of Lorraine Hansberry will be released in January 2022, telling the moving story of the life of the woman behind A Raisin in the Sun, the most widely anthologized, read, and performed play of the American stage.

Magic Theatre has announced the titles and dates for the Company’s upcoming in-person 2021-2022 season. Early 2022 will feature the long-delayed World Premiere of Miranda Rose Hall’s THE KIND ONES (Feb 2 – 20, 2022*), followed by the World Premiere of Sam Chanse’s MONUMENT, OR FOUR SISTERS (A SLOTH PLAY) which will perform May 11– June 5, 2022*.