Lynn Nottage News

Philadelphia Theatre Company kicks off the 2018-2019 with the Pennsylvania premiere of Lynn Nottage's Sweat. This Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner explores Reading, Pennsylvania's shrinking industrial economy and shares the fear, tragedy and hopefulness of a community on the verge of inevitable change. The production will kick-off the first produced season under new Producing Artistic Director Paige Price. Justin Emeka makes his Philadelphia debut directing a cast filled with local stars and Barrymore Award winners who have extensive theatre, film and television credits. Sweat will run from October 12 to November 4, 2018 at Philadelphia Theatre Company's stage at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad Street. Opening Night is Wednesday, October 17th at 7:00pm. Tickets range from $25-$69 and are available in person at the box office, online at philatheatreco.org or by phone at 215-985-0420. Season subscriptions are also now available starting at $38.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) will begin performances of the MOBILE UNIT NATIONAL TOUR of Lynn Nottage's powerful Pulitzer Prize-winning play, SWEAT, directed by Kate Whoriskey, on September 27 in Erie, Pennsylvania.

American Theatre magazine, published by Theatre Communications Group (TCG), has just released its annual lists of the Top 10 Most-Produced Plays and Top 20 Most-Produced Playwrights for the new season.

While Hurricane Florence slammed the eastern seaboard with wild wind and torrential rain, another hurricane has just hit the waterfront in Camden, NJ. BY THE WATER is the penultimate production in SCTC's 13th season celebrating female playwrights. And this coming weekend, South Camden Theatre Company will be closing the curtains on its regional premiere of Sharyn Rothstein's emotional and heartfelt play.

Shakespeare's Globe has announced casting for the Winter Season 2018, its plans for a year-long cycle of history plays from February 2019, and Globe Associates, to include Sean Holmes, who is to become Associate Artistic Director.

Today, The 24 Hour Plays announced that they will bring The 24 Hour Musicals to Broadway for the first time. The evening, which is in partnership with The Lillys, will pay homage to the women who are changing the landscape of American Theatre. The 24 Hour Musicals will take place on Monday, October 29th at 8:00 PM at the American Airlines Theatre in Times Square.

Theater Talk - the popular discussion show that has been a staple of New York- and later national- television for 26 years – will be ending as a weekly series. Executive Producer of Theater Talk Productions and co-creator of the show, Susan Haskins-Doloff, has announced an end to production of the program. 

Golden Globe winner Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea, My Week with Marilyn, Blue Valentine) and Emmy nominee Rupert Friend (Pride and Prejudice, 'Homeland,' The Young Victoria) are the latest film & stage stars to perform on the Playing on Air podcast. Released this weekend, John Patrick Shanley's LAST NIGHT IN THE GARDEN I SAW YOU features Williams and Friend in an explosive audio play, directed by Shanley.

It's The Golden Age of Hollywood, and the streets of Los Angeles teem with aspiring starlets. When Vera Stark-maid to "America's Sweetie Pie," Gloria Mitchell-lands a groundbreaking role in an antebellum epic, she turns Hollywood on its head and paves the way for future generations of Black actresses. Seventy years later, film buffs still wrestle with the life and legacy of this controversial star, for whom fame and fortune could only be achieved by joining the apparatus of a deeply racist industry. Hilarious and incisive, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage's screwball comedy is sly satire at its most urgent and satisfying.

WP Theater (formerly known as Women's Project Theater), under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Lisa McNulty and Managing Director Michael Sag, has announced their 2018-2019 Season at WP Theater

Donmar Warehouse's outgoing Artistic Director Josie Rourke announces today two new productions as part of her final season, both with rising directorial talents at the helm: The UK premiere of Lynn Nottage's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat, directed by former Donmar Resident Assistant Director Lynette Linton; and an original stage adaptation of Peter Strickland's chilling film Berberian Sound Studio, written for the stage by Joel Horwood, marking the directorial debut for Donmar Associate Artist Tom Scutt and starring actor Tom Brooke. Josie Rourke's final production at the Donmar will open in April 2019 and will be announced later this year.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the world premiere of EVE'S SONG, written by The Public's Emerging Writers Group alum and 2017-18 Tow Playwright-in-Residence, Patricia Ione Lloyd.

As the school year begins across the country, Broadway Producers Fran Kirmser and Chris Burney team up with area D.C. theater organizations to present AMERICAN SCOREBOARD's back-to-school performance of The Betsy DeVos Confirmation Hearing for The Secretary of Education to take place at The Mead Center for American Theater at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth Street SW, Washington, D.C. on September 17th, 2018 at 6pm. This will mark the first visit of Kirmser and Burney's American Scoreboard educational program to the D.C. area.

It has often been said that the work-a-day world is made up of blood, sweat and tears. Perhaps that is most true for blue collar workers who find themselves laboring with their hands, especially in factories where those on the line are required to stand for hours on end doing repetitive work with little hope of any real recognition or promotion into management. Such is the case of the characters in Center Theatre Group's production of SWEAT, the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Lynn Nottage, now at the Mark Taper Forum through October 7, 2018.

Playwright Lynn Nottage's 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning SWEAT, her raw take on the intertwining issues affecting a close-knit group of Reading, Pennsylvania townsfolk, has just opened at the Mark Taper Forum. Portraying Cynthia, the inescapable lightning rod in SWEAT's volatile scenario, Nottage stalwart Portia brings a human face to a multiple of 'faceless' generalized preconceptions. Portia gave us her thoughts on working with Lynn Nottage, Phylicia Rashad and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Center Theatre Group's production of 'Sweat' by Lynn Nottage will opened at the Mark Taper Forum last night. Check out photos from the event below!

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) will honor director and artistic leader Bill Rauch and the married civic leaders Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Ambassador Carl Spielvogel- individuals whose exemplary work aligns with the artistic and educational ideals of the storied repertory company that produces nationally recognized theater productions and arts education programs-at the Company's 2018 Fall Gala, on November 12. Held at the historic Metropolitan Club (One East 60th Street), the event will bring together awards, live entertainment, silent and live auctions, dinner, and cocktails in celebration of theater and its contribution to American society.

National Alliance for Musical Theatre announces the line-up of directors for their 30th Annual FESTIVAL OF NEW MUSICALS, which takes place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, 2018 at New World Stages (340 West 50th Street, between 8th and 9th Avenues). The Festival events will kick off on Monday, October 22 with Thank You, 30!, a gala event to celebrate the 30th Annual Festival.

Continuing its commitment to bringing free Shakespeare to the community and strengthening audience engagement with the arts, The Public Theater will mount its MOBILE UNIT again this fall with a free three-week tour to the five boroughs of Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, directed by Jenny Koons.