Mario Fratti News

Che bello! Theater RED proudly announces a new addition to the company! Eric Welch joins Theater RED as Artistic Associate following his collaboration with the company in June of 2018 for the Wisconsin premiere of I'LL EAT YOU LAST: A CHAT WITH SUE MENGERS. Eric Welch directed this one-woman comedic romp as a co-production with his theater company, Untitled Productions.

The New York based Kairos Italy Theater and the Italy-based KIT Italia will present the seventh annual In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, a festival of Italian theater taking place in all five boroughs of NYC, April 29-May 13, 2019. Participating venues will include Cherry Lane Theatre, Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo' at NYU, Bernie Wohl Center, Italian Cultural Institute, The Brick, BAAD!, College of Staten Island, and other venues to be announced. All shows will be presented in Italian with English supertitles. In Scena! will also present the 6th edition of the Mario Fratti Award which is given annually to an unproduced Italian play. Additional events and performance schedules, including a series of events celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, will be announced in 2019. Admission to all shows and events in the festival will be FREE. For more information please visit www.inscenany.com. 

August Strindberg Rep will present Strindberg's 'The Father,' newly translated and directed by Robert Greer, in rotation with '#MeThree,' an evening of three original short one-acts by resident playwright Natalie Menna, in rotating rep from November 9 to December 1. The two evenings are designed to enable audiences of the #MeToo era to examine the war between the sexes from both a classical and a modern perspective. Performances are at Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street (between Bowery and Lafayette, East Village).

Celebrate Halloween with the Village Playwrights today, October 31, 7 pm to 9 pm, with Queer Scare V, staged readings of 7 ten-minute plays at the LGBT Community Center, Room 310, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Suggested donation $10. Reservations recommended. Email villageplaywrights@gmail.com or call 614-285-2515.

Celebrate Halloween with the Village Playwrights on today, October 31, 7 pm to 9 pm, with Queer Scare V, staged readings of 7 ten-minute plays at the LGBT Community Center, Room 310, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Suggested donation $10. Reservations recommended. Email villageplaywrights@gmail.com or call 614-285-2515.

August Strindberg Rep will present Strindberg's 'The Father,' newly translated and directed by Robert Greer, in rotation with '#MeThree,' an evening of three original short one-acts by resident playwright Natalie Menna, in rotating rep from November 9 to December 1. The two evenings are designed to enable audiences of the #MeToo era to examine the war between the sexes from both a classical and a modern perspective. Performances are at Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street (between Bowery and Lafayette, East Village).

Join the Village Playwrights Wednesday, October 31, from 7 pm to 9 pm, for a celebration of with Queer Scare V, staged readings of 7 ten-minute plays at the LGBT Community Center, Room 310, 208 W. 13th St., NYC. Suggested donation $10.   Reservations are recommended.  Email villageplaywrights@gmail.com or call 614-285-2515.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announced today that it is now accepting submissions for the 2019 National Music Theater Conference. Writers may submit new musicals to the O'Neill's Open Submissions Process through Friday, November 2, 2018.

Theatre production company Parity Productions, a producer of new work that ensures they fill at least 50% of the creative positions (playwrights, directors, and designers) on their productions with cis women and/or trans and gender nonconforming (TCNG) artists, has awarded two commissions to Liz Kerin for Stop-Motion and Azure Osborne-Lee for Mirrors. The ceremony took place on Wednesday, September 26 at the Second Annual Parity Gala at Gotham Comedy Club.

Outer Critics Circle, the organization of writers and commentators covering New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway, announced today Cynthia Allen, Richard Ridge, David Roberts and Janice Simpson will serve as new members of the OCC Executive/Nominating Committee. 

When there is a sick child in a family, says playwright Anne Marilyn Lucas, an entire family revolves around the child's illness.  In 2016 more American lives were taken by drug overdoses than were lost in the Vietnam War, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and deaths increased by 10.7%, to 72,000, the following year. 

From August 27 to September 4, August Strindberg Rep will perform Strindberg's 'Creditors' in a new translation by Robert Greer as part of the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave.  This masterpiece from Strindberg's naturalist period is rarely excelled in its unity of construction, dramatic tension and acute psychological analysis, but it is far less performed and anthologized than 'The Father' or 'Miss Julie.' During an afternoon in a lounge at a seaside resort, a revenge is played out as a credulous artist has his mind poisoned against his wife by her former husband. Translator Robert Greer directs.

From August 27 to September 4, August Strindberg Rep will perform Strindberg's 'Creditors' in a new translation by Robert Greer as part of the Dream Up Festival at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave.  This masterpiece from Strindberg's naturalist period is rarely excelled in its unity of construction, dramatic tension and acute psychological analysis, but it is far less performed and anthologized than 'The Father' or 'Miss Julie.' During an afternoon in a lounge at a seaside resort, a revenge is played out as a credulous artist has his mind poisoned against his wife by her former husband. Translator Robert Greer directs.

BroadwayWorld reported on June 29th that Tony winner Liliane Montevecchi passed away at 85 years old. Take a look back on some of our favorite memories of Montevecchi, in the photos below.

Outer Critics Circle, the organization of writers and commentators covering New York theatre for out-of-town newspapers, national publications and other media beyond Broadway, announced today that David Gordon of TheaterMania.com will serve as its new President.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center announces casting and creative teams for the summer season of new musicals and plays selected for development at the National Music Theater Conference and National Playwrights Conference.

The 6th Edition of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY presented by Kairos Italy Theater and KIT Italia, had its most successful Festival to date showcasing a record 12 shows, brought over from Italy to NYC. The 15-day, 5-borough Festival, founded by KIT Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and KIT Italia Artistic Director Donatella Codonesu, boasted many sold out shows and events. This year's Fest celebrated women with 7 female authors represented as well as 6 female directors

Theater for the New City is presenting its 23rd annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, a massive annual performance marathon in and around the theater, May 25-27.

Kairos Italy Theater, New York's preeminent Italian Theater Company, and KIT Italia present the 6th Edition of In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, which will feature a record 12 shows, brought over from Italy to NYC, including a Special Opening Night Event, We are Not Alone starring Dario D'Ambrosi. The 15-day, 5-borough Festival, founded by KIT Artistic Director Laura Caparrotti and KIT Italia Artistic Director Donatella Codonesu, will close with the 5th annual Mario Fratti Awards, created especially for In Scena! to honor excellence in Italian playwriting. This year's winners are Chiara Boscaro & Marco Di Stefano for The City Rises (La citta' che sale).

'Message Plays' are a difficult breed. When they hammer you with their themes, they are more painful than an over-long sermon on a hot Sunday morning. However, when they click, as Desert Rose's production of Dare does on all cylinders, they deliver one of the highest functions of theatre: entertainment that educates. An outstanding company of actors, under the direction of Jim Strait, bring Texas playwright Allan Baker's new script to life, and our 'lessons' are eagerly lapped up!