Marianna Bassham News

Huntington Theatre Company announces the launch of seven additional titles to its series of short audio plays entitled Dream Boston. Four plays were announced in July, and the next seven will be released over subsequent weeks this fall. They are available on the Huntington's website, as well as on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Stitcher.

A play discussion group focused on contemporary female voices and a weekly Q&A with the artists of SpeakEasy's 30th Anniversary Season are the two new audience engagement initiatives set to debut at SpeakEasy Stage next week.  

Huntington Theatre Company presents the Boston premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat. This Tony Award-nominated play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage is directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced on Broadway). Sweat began performances at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) on Friday, January 31, 2020 and runs through Sunday, February 23, 2020. The official press opening night was Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Tickets are now available.

Huntington Theatre Company has announced the extension of the Boston premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat.  Due to high ticket demand, this a?oebreathtakingly timelya?? (The Wall Street Journal), Tony Award-nominated play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage and directed by Kimberly Senior (The Niceties at the Huntington, Disgraced on Broadway) will now run at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) from Friday, January 31, 2020 through Sunday, March 1, 2020.

Huntington Theatre Company has announced the cast and creative team for the Boston premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat.  This a?oebreathtakingly timelya?? (The Wall Street Journal), Tony Award-nominated play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage will be directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced on Broadway). Sweat begins performances at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) on Friday, January 31, 2020 and runs through Sunday, February 23, 2020. The official press opening night is Wednesday, February 5, 2020. Tickets are now available.

It's probably just a coincidence, but two fine plays currently running at two award-winning regional theaters share an unusual commonality. Both focus on the issue of white privilege and the prevailing attitude that acknowledging its existence will end it. In THE THANKSGIVING PLAY at Lyric Stage Company of Boston, the idea is to honor Native Americans in an elementary school play without benefit of any of them participating. In ADMISSIONS, receiving its Boston premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company, a couple of white liberal educators work hard to expand racial diversity at their small New England prep school, but their progressive values are tested when their exceptional son's Ivy League dreams are derailed. Remarkably, there are no indigenous people or people of color on stage in either production, an intentional, pointed omission by the playwrights.

From October 25 to November 30, 2019, SpeakEasy Stage Company will present the New England premiere of ADMISSIONS, the winner of the 2018 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play.

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (CSC) has announced that Associate Artistic Director Adam Sanders has assumed the position of Managing Director of CSC. His past position of Associate Artistic Director will be filled by Elliot Norton Award-winning director Bryn Boice, who will be in charge of CSC's Apprentice Program, CSC2 and Stage2, CSC's Shakespeare performances for young audiences. They will both support Artistic Director Steven Maler in continuing the work of CSC for future seasons.

YERMA, a play with music, adapted and translated by Melinda Lopez from Spanish poet/playwright Federico Garcia Lorca's 1934 work, is receiving its world premiere by the Huntington Theatre Company at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. On press night, in the age-old tradition of the show must go on, Lopez was pressed into service to perform in place of the ailing Jacqui Parker, one of the five women who surround the title character as her emotional support community, even as their multiple children are a stinging reminder of her infertility. It is a tragic tale, but one fueled by hope and infused with beautiful flamenco-inspired music and Spanish culture.

he Huntington Theatre Company premieres a timely and essential adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's 1934 play Yerma, a tragic tale of one woman's desperate yearning to start a family. Adapted and translated by the winner of the 2019 Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, Melinda Lopez transforms this classic work to resonate with modern audiences.

Two dozen nominations of outstanding actors, directors, designers and ensembles were announced today by The Boston Theater Critics Association (BTCA), with winners to be revealed at the 37th Annual Elliot Norton Awards on Monday, May 20, 2019 at 7 PM, at the Huntington Avenue Theatre.

In an effort to engage young, new audiences and offer the opportunity to experience equal representation on stage, the Huntington Theatre Company has announced that it will now offer free tickets to all young patrons 25 and under for the remainder of performances of Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet is now playing through March 31 at the Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston).

The Huntington Theatre Company digs into the William Shakespeare canon and pulls out a plum written more than four centuries ago. After dusting it off and giving it a spin in the time machine, Artistic Director Peter DuBois has crafted a contemporary, muscular version of the romantic tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET, featuring a who's who of the Boston acting community and introducing a pair of engaging newcomers to the local stage as the ill-fated young lovers. Inspired by the zeitgeist of American tribalism, DuBois' updating affirms the timelessness of one of the Bard's most enduring works.

William Shakespeare's enduring romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet comes to the Huntington Theatre Company as a thrillingly modern event helmed by Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin March 1 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) and will run through March 31. Tickets are now on sale to the general public.

The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) today announced the nominees for the 23rd Annual IRNE Awards, which honor the best of the previous year's actors, directors, choreographers, designers and companies across the full spectrum of large, mid-size and fringe theater companies. Moulin Rouge!, a new musical produced by Global Creatures, and An American in Paris, produced by the Ogunquit Playhouse, led with 12 and 11 nominations, respectively, in the Large Stage Musical Category. The Huntington Theatre led all companies with 31 nominations across seven productions, including 11 for Man in the Ring, the story of six-time world champion prizefighter Emile Griffith.

William Shakespeare's enduring romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet comes to the Huntington Theatre Company as a thrillingly modern event helmed by Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin March 1 at the Avenue of the Arts / Huntington Avenue Theatre (264 Huntington Avenue, Boston) and will run through March 31. Tickets are now on sale to the general public.

SpeakEasy Stage Company presents Boston premiere of Bess Wohl's 2015 Off-Broadway comedy with a stellar cast of locals under the masterful direction of M. Bevin O'Gara. A play with limited dialogue challenges the actors to bare their inner personae, while requiring that the audience listen harder and sit with the awkward experience. The reward is tons of fun and, perhaps, enlightenment? A great start for the 2019 theater season.

From January 4 through February 2, 2019, SpeakEasy Stage will proudly present the Boston Premiere of the hit Off-Broadway comedy SMALL MOUTH SOUNDS by Bess Wohl.  

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler, announced the cast of the first production of its 2018-19 Season: Universe Rushing Apart: Blue Kettle & Here We Go, two one-act plays by Caryl Churchill, directed by Bryn Boice. The production runs November 7-18 at the Black Box Theater, Sorenson Center for the Arts at Babson College in Wellesley.

The press script provided to critics reviewing Craig Lucas' somber and overstuffed drama, I WAS MOST ALIVE WITH YOU, specifies that the play 'was created to be performed by Deaf and hearing actors for Deaf and hearing audiences' and that all productions 'must provide full access for hearing and Deaf audiences at all performances.'