Louis Farber News

Tackling roles that involve the depiction of historical figures can be a mountainous task. For most, it takes research, time, and great direction to execute. The same could be said about mental health. They are enthralling when mastered, captivating audiences as the drama unfolds. The flawless cast and crew of Breakfast with Mugabe at Black Theatre Troupe is a prime example of drama done right, thanks to great direction and a cast with a commitment to their craft.

Now & Then Creative Company continues their successful season of workshops by Arizona playwrights with Lottery House by Angelica Howland, a thrilling and chilling new play by one of Phoenix's most talented writers. 'Angelica is simply at the top of her craft,' says Artistic Director John Perovich. 'She is an incredibly gifted theatre artist who is fiercely passionate about creating exceptional work-I'm thankful for the team we've put together. Each artist is top notch. This is one not to miss.'

BLK BOX PHX presents this wildly twisted holiday romp, offering up madcap mishaps, screwball comedy, troubadour elves with an attitude and a very different take on Santa! Not exactly the jolly Old Nick we all know and love. The aforementioned Santa is a rampaging home wrecker and enslaver of elves, who decides to bring his earthly mistress and two illegitimate children home to the North Pole. Not surprisingly, Mrs. Claus is not taking this lying down. The ensuing mayhem, including attempted poisonings, igloo cars, time travel and marital melees, makes for a decidedly dark and deranged Yuletide, with some holiday cheer sprinkled on top to remind us of the true reason for the season.

Black Theatre Troupe Presents BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE, Oct. 25 a?" Nov. 10, 2019.

With its ability to use theater to explore timely topics, Black Theatre Troupe brings the riveting play BREAKFAST WITH MUGABE October 25- November 10 to the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center, 1333 E. Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The production is as timely as the notorious Zimbabwe revolutionary and president who recently died in September.

Bess Wohl's SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS ~ Stray Cat Theatre's current production, brilliantly conceived, sensitively directed, and superbly performed ~ runs through August 24th in the Studio Theatre at Tempe Center for the Arts.

Childsplay's current staging of Idris Goodwin's AND IN THIS CORNER… CASSIUS CLAY (in co-production with Black Theatre Troupe), features a superb cast, led by Rapheal Hamilton as Cassius and including some of the Valley's heavyweight talents. It packs a solid punch to the heart in an insightful and inspired recounting of Muhammad Ali's formative years. Runs through March 3rd at the Helen K. Mason Performing Arts Center in Phoenix.

Stray Cat Theatre has taken up Leah Nanako Winkler's gauntlet to bring diversity to the stage and assumed the challenge of producing TWO MILE HOLLOW, with Louis Farber directing this madcap excursion into family absurdity and dysfunction. At Tempe Center for the Arts through February 2nd.

It's the last week to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Phoenix Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Phoenix Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

S#!TFACED SHAKESPEARE doth not fall on its countenance, but one cast member per night could indeed given the imbibing that precedes and continues throughout each performance. Drink along or merrily watch...lest ye be called up on stage! Tickets at www.blkboxphx.com thru NYE.

There's just two weeks left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Phoenix Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Phoenix Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

There's just one month left to vote for the 2018 BroadwayWorld Phoenix Awards, brought to you by BroadwayHD! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers are already setting records as they vote for their favorites. Regional productions, touring shows, and more are all included in the awards, honoring productions which opened between October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. Our local editors set the categories, our readers submitted their nominees, and now you get to vote for your favorites! Voting will continue through December 31st, 2018.

Following the successes of her Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick and her haunting and enigmatic John, Stray Cat once again brings the latest work by in-house favorite playwright Annie Baker. An unnamed conference room. A group of creators on an intense and intensely surreal brainstorming session for unspecified purposes. All we know is that these people are being asked to keep coming up with stories - the more personal the better - in the hopes that something will jell and move their project - whatever that may be - forward.

Ron May's direction of Annie Baker's THE ANTIPODES is theatre of the highest order. Brilliantly executed with a superb cast. Stray Cat Theatre's season opener runs at Tempe Center for the Arts through September 27th.

Following the successes of her Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick and her haunting and enigmatic John, Stray Cat once again brings the latest work by in-house favorite playwright Annie Baker. An unnamed conference room. A group of creators on an intense and intensely surreal brainstorming session for unspecified purposes. All we know is that these people are being asked to keep coming up with stories - the more personal the better - in the hopes that something will jell and move their project - whatever that may be - forward.

Following the successes of her Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick and her haunting and enigmatic John, Stray Cat once again brings the latest work by in-house favorite playwright Annie Baker. An unnamed conference room. A group of creators on an intense and intensely surreal brainstorming session for unspecified purposes. All we know is that these people are being asked to keep coming up with stories - the more personal the better - in the hopes that something will jell and move their project - whatever that may be - forward.

Space 55, the champion of Phoenix's alternative theatre scene for 12 years, is kicking off the summer with a new play about friendship, sex, and commas - 'The Power of Punctuation' by Natalie Margolin, directed by Louis Farber. Receiving its Off Broadway premiere in 2016, New York Times' reviewer Laura Collins-Hughes described Margolin's work as a 'smart, well-acted play, clever at delineating competing demands: the emotional intimacy of friendship and the privacy required to develop, or even dream of, attachments elsewhere... It's a surprisingly incisive take on a time of life when newfound sexual freedom and large quantities of alcohol can wreak havoc on your ability to judge what matters most.'