Matt Clarke News

Ronin Theatre Company will bring The Monster of Tempe Town Lake to audiences at Irish Cultural Center this May. The comedy is the most recent play from Zoni Award winning playwright John Perovich.

Ronin Theatre company to present The Playboy of the Western World May 12-29 at the Irish Cultural Center.

DG Footlights to present a reading of the full-length play The Jewish Question by Jeanmarie Simpson, Friday, May 20th | 6:30PM to 9:00PM. A talk back with the playwright will occur after the reading. Featuring performances by Ina Shivack, Beth Wheatcraft, and Matt Clarke. The event is organized by DG Southwest Regional Rep John Perovich and Phoenix Ambassador Sally Jane Kerschen-Sheppard.

Eight youth who are on wait lists to see therapists have been recommended for an experimental pandemic peer support program, which takes place in the eye of somewhere unknown. Their journey has been long and full of unexpected experiences which force them to face, work through, and finally embrace their fears.

Some Assembly Theatre Company and Roundhouse Youth Theatre Action Group (RHYTAG) will present the world premiere of their new digital play, BREAKWATER, on Wednesday, June 30 at 4:00pm PT, Thursday, July 8 at 7:00pm PT, and Sunday, July 11 at 3:00pm PT. 

About their label debut “Hit and Run,” the band adds: “This is one of the more personal tracks for us because it was inspired by a near-death car crash we were in.

Interview with Bryan Banville, Learn Academy's Career Services Manager, on their event on Monday, August 3rd specifically for entertainment artists

Space55 presents its latest theatrical premiere: a radio play by Ear / The First Annual Bookburner's Convention playwright Ashley Naftule. Loosely inspired by the life and work of legendary radio host Art Bell, Radio Free Europa is Space 55's first-ever foray into doing a completely remote production.

From premiering new works by renowned playwrights like Greg Kotis to restaging avant-garde classics like Ubu Roi, Space55 has been bringing cutting edge theater to downtown Phoenix for over 14 years. For our final show of the season, we're taking our biggest leap into the unknown yet: a full-on remote production!

Now & Then Creative Company is the home for new play development in Phoenix. The company continues their successful season of workshops by Arizona playwrights with The Mall by Jesse Saywell, a piece that reflects on the inevitability of change. 'We're thrilled to have Jesse joining us at Now & Then,' says Artistic Director John Perovich. 'The Mall brings to the forefront concerns of our national identify and discourse. We're excited to share its story and message with audiences next week.'

Nominated for a 2014 Drama League Award for Outstanding Production, this is the first full mount of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play in Vancouver. Mr. Burns is a riveting, wildly funny and dangerous examination of the persistence of capitalism and the power of storytelling. Act one opens shortly after a global nuclear collapse with a group of survivors around a campfire recalling and retelling 'Cape Feare', an episode of the TV show The Simpsons. Act two examines the way the story has changed seven years later, until finally, seventy-five years pass to elevate this staple of American pop-culture to a familiar myth.

Melody Knudson, David Magadan, Chavez Benally deliver moving performances in Melissa James Gibson's [sic] at Mesa Encore Theatre. An ingenious construction of a play, colored with the playwright's characteristic lively, literate, and provocative dialogue, focusing on three souls seeking meaning, connection and fulfillment.

Luke is having a bit of a crisis. He just broke up with his girlfriend, Jenny. This should be seen as a good thing until Luke gets cold feet.

Check out the top stories from Phoenix you might have missed this week and more!

This new play is being produced in Arizona by The Bridge Initiative after its debut in Baltimore. It delves into palliative care and will be presented at the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (http://aahpm.org/meetings/assembly) in Phoenix on February 24th, 2016, before being publicly presented at Mesa Encore Theatre. We meet prickly businessman Karl Evans, a terminal cancer patient, whose fifth wife, son, and doctor are struggling with their relationships with each other as well as their feelings about Karl's illness.

'Life Support' by Dr. Madeline Leong, starring Michael Bailey, Matt Clarke, Tira Poole and Mia Schauer, will be directed by Daniela Talarico in Arizona.

We're excited for the New Works Festival! The plays were written by Metro students, predominately from my beginning and advanced theatre classes. Once completed, the plays were read by a group of 9 readers. The readers consisted of one of my advanced theatre students and a group of artists from Brelby (including Brian and Shelby). The plays were selected, began rehearsing in January, and will premiere at Metropolitan Arts Institute at the end of the month.

'Life Support' by Dr. Madeline Leong, starring Michael Bailey, Matt Clarke, Tira Poole and Mia Schauer, will be directed by Daniela Talarico in Arizona.

'The biggest thing for me would that the audience understand that life is not always fair. Life is not always happy or uplifting or jovial. But that's okay. It is okay to feel and to hurt and to not be okay. And it is okay to let people know you are not okay. Humans are complex. There is nothing simple about us, so why are our hurts and fears treated simply? I want the audience to know, not necessarily to understand, that no one has the right to dictate how you feel about your life and your hurts and fears.'

'The biggest thing for me would that the audience understand that life is not always fair. Life is not always happy or uplifting or jovial. But that's okay. It is okay to feel and to hurt and to not be okay. And it is okay to let people know you are not okay. Humans are complex. There is nothing simple about us, so why are our hurts and fears treated simply? I want the audience to know, not necessarily to understand, that no one has the right to dictate how you feel about your life and your hurts and fears.'