Mac Wellman News

Red Hen Press is thrilled to announce, as an encore to last year's triumphant Red Hen produced sold-out LA premiere at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, that Imagination Dead Imagine, a music/theatre piece for string quartet, recorded voices, and laptop, will come to Pasadena for an exclusive two-day event, the first musical presentation in the new Red Hen performance space, the Hen House!

New York City staple Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced that Tony & Emmy Award winner Stockard Channing will return to the New York stage in the Off-Broadway premiere of APOLOGIA, by Alexi Kaye Campbell (The Pride). APOLOGIA will be directed by three-time Obie Award winner Daniel Aukin (Bad Jews, Skintight). Channing returns to the role of "Kristin" in Apologia following an acclaimed run in London's West End in 2017.

Abrons Arts Center is pleased to present the world premiere of Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was a Queen (April 4-21), a solo play written and performed by Eliza Bent and directed by Knud Adams. In 1996, a young Eliza Bent, along with a friend, created, directed and starred in an amateur historical film for a school project. In it, Bent portrayed Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. 22 years later, Bent uses her home movie as a jumping off point to lead audiences on a journey that grapples with personal history, legacy, and cultural appropriation. In the tradition of Spalding Gray, Fran Lebowitz, and David Sedaris, Bent's humorous cringe-inducing stories chart a young Bostonian's education in race and appropriation.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop) has extended the run of its critically acclaimed production of ADMISSIONS, a new play by Joshua Harmon, directed by Daniel Aukin, through Sunday, May 6 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater (150 West 65 Street).

The Flea Theater continues its partnership with Brown University's Writing for Performance program for the second annual playwriting Project Residency, taking place from March 31 - April 3, 2018.

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) will present The Arctic Group's ECHO, written and audio designed by Ran Xia and directed by Nicholas Orvis at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) April 12-21. Performances will be Thursday through Saturday at 7pm. Tickets ($15) are available for advance purchase at www.thetanknyc.org.

SipFest, a new festival showcasing some of the coolest women theatremakers, has announced a lineup of multimedia works at different levels of development for an impromptu Wild Project takeover running March 7-14th.

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) will present the New York Premiere of LEISURE, LABOR, LUST, written and directed by Sara Farrington at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), March 28-April 22. 

After lengthy deliberation, the American Theatre Critics Association has selected six finalists for the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, recognizing playwrights for the best scripts that premiered professionally outside New York City during 2017.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founder and Artistic Director) is pleased to present the world premiere of SPEED QUEEN, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Phoebe Legere, and directed by Lissa Moira at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street). The production will preview on March 7, 2018 with press opening on March 9, and performances on March 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24. All performances are at 7:30 PM.

Lincoln Center Theater's Platform Series, a forum for public discussion between Lincoln Center Theater artists and interested theatergoers, continues on Wednesday, March 7th at 6pm with JOSHUA HARMON and DANIEL AUKIN, the playwright and director of LCT's production of the new play ADMISSIONS, which begins previews tomorrow, Thursday, February 15 and opens on Monday, March 12 at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.

Award-winning Son of Semele Ensemble opens its 2018 season with Alexander Borinsky's Of Government. Presented as a DIY pageant illuminating the often unsung 'feminine' labor that binds our communities, this West Coast premiere runs March 10 to April 1, 2018 at the Son of Semele Theater, 3301 Beverly Boulevard.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founder and Artistic Director) is pleased to present the world premiere of SPEED QUEEN, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize-nominee Phoebe Legere, and directed by Lissa Moira at Dixon Place (161A Chrystie Street). The production will preview on March 7, 2018 with press opening on March 9, and performances on March 15, 16, 17, 23 and 24. All performances are at 7:30 PM.

Abrons Arts Center is pleased to present the world premiere of Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was a Queen (April 4-21), a solo play written and performed by Eliza Bent and directed by Knud Adams. In 1996, a young Eliza Bent, along with a friend, created, directed and starred in an amateur historical film for a school project. In it, Bent portrayed Hawaii's last reigning monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. 22 years later, Bent uses her home movie as a jumping off point to lead audiences on a journey that grapples with personal history, legacy, and cultural appropriation. In the tradition of Spaulding Gray, Fran Leibowitz, and David Sedaris, Bent's humorous cringe-inducing stories chart a young Bostonian's education in race and appropriation.

Dixon Place (Ellie Covan, Founder and Artistic Director) is pleased to present Toe Pick, an entirely transcribed play by Zackary Grady, for three weeks in February, running concurrently with the 2018 Winter Olympics. Toe Pick, which relives the 1994 icecapades of Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, opens Friday, February 9, and runs Fridays and Saturdays through February 24 at Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street (between Rivington and Delancey Streets). Advance tickets are $20 for adults, and $17 for seniors, students, and idNYC holders. Walkup tickets are $25 for adults, and $19 for seniors, students, and idNYC holders. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.dixonplace.org or by calling 866-811-4111.

A Chronicle of the Madness of Small Worlds, a pairing of two hilariously profound monologues from legendary playwright Mac Wellman's story collection, adapted and directed by Elena Araoz, has extended its run Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop through Sunday, February 11. The production is produced and sponsored by Harvey and Kathleen Guion and Dan McCarthy.

Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street) continues its inaugural season with the New York premiere of Mac Wellman's A Chronicle of the Madness of SmallWorlds, adapted for the stage and directed by Elena Araoz. The production runs in NYTW's newly renovated 65-seat black box space begins performances on January 17. The production is produced and sponsored by Harvey and Kathleen Guion.

Next Door at New York Theatre Workshop (79 East 4th Street) continues its inaugural season with the New York premiere of Mac Wellman's A Chronicle of the Madness of Small Worlds, adapted for the stage and directed by Elena Araoz. The production runs in NYTW's newly renovated 65-seat black box space from January 17 through February 5, 2018. The production is produced and sponsored by Harvey and Kathleen Guion.

B3 recently announced its 2018 line-up. Full of fresh new works and unusual voices, B3 will be celebrating playwrights -- local to international, and contemporary works -- unpublished to infamous.

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) will present the World Premiere of Rebecca Patek's CHASM, directed by Meghan Finn at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues) February 28-March 4. Performances will be Wednesday, February 28 at 7pm, Thursday, March 1 at 11am & 7pm, Friday, March 2 at 7pm, Saturday, March 3 at 7pm, and Sunday, March 4 at 4pm & 7pm. Tickets ($20/$15 students & seniors) are available for advance purchase at www.thetanknyc.org.