Melia Bensussen News

Artistic Director Loretta Greco and The Huntington’s staff have announced the return of the Huntington Playwrighting Fellows Summer Workshop 2023 (July 15 – July 16, 2023).

Emmy Award winners Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy will star in Theatre Aspen’s production of Anne Nelson’s The Guys. Learn how to purchase tickets!

The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center has announced the casts and creative teams for the six plays being developed at the 2023 National Playwrights Conference.

What did our critic think of THE WINTER'S TALE at Hartford Stage? The Winter's Tale, currently at Hartford Stage through May 7 and directed by Artistic Director Melia Bensussen, confronts an audience with a story difficult to believe from the start, whether or not one is a Shakespeare fan. Add to this Bensussen's vision, which includes problematic design elements and some unfortunate casting, and you have a version of the play that leaves us relatively unmoved. This is a shame, as The Winter's Tale is not often performed, and I was very eager to see it at this historically revered home for Shakespeare productions.

Hartford Stage has announced the cast and creative team of the relevant revival of Alice Childress' watershed play Trouble in Mind. A powerful backstage drama-comedy that's sure to resonate with audiences today as it did in the 1950s, Trouble in Mind will run May 25 through June 18 at Hartford Stage in downtown Hartford, CT.

Hartford Stage has announced the Tony Award-winning theater's highly-anticipated lineup for the 2023/2024 season.

Over its nearly sixty-year history, Hartford Stage has become synonymous with breathtaking productions of Shakespeare. Since its very first production, Othello in 1964, Connecticut audiences and beyond have traveled to downtown Hartford to experience world-class interpretations of The Bard's favorites and lesser-known works.

What did our critic think of THE ART OF BURNING at Hartford Stage? Kate Snodgrass' world premiere play, The Art of Burning, presented by Hartford Stage in association with Huntington Theater Company, is a disappointingly thin work, though the producing theaters are to be congratulated for supporting new scripts. The production itself, led by the sure hand of Hartford Stage Artistic Director Melia Bensussen, is well cast and fascinating to look at: Luciana Stecconi's scenic design creates an atmosphere of alienation, leaving the characters looking uneasy, often lost, and like chess pieces trying to defend their positions on a brutally cold board. However, the set is more original than the plot, which attempts to put a feminist spin on old themes: marriage is difficult; raising a child is even more difficult; affairs lead to thorny divorce settlements; and children get caught in the middle.

The cast has been announced for Hartford Stage's upcoming production The Art of Burning. This inspired new comedy by award-winning playwright Kate Snodgrass explores the love, rage, and responsibility that go with marriage and parenting in America.

The trend of modern plays seems to be that playwrights a trimming down their plays, often to ninety minutes or less. While this brevity can work for many plays, it doesn’t work for all. There’s only so much a playwright can say or do in ninety minutes and sometimes plays move too quickly and the audience leaves wondering if they missed something.

Hartford Stage will present the New England premiere of the bilingual drama Espejos: Clean written by Christine Quintana with Spanish translation and adaptation by Paula Zelaya Cervantes. 

The latest standings as of Monday, December 19th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The Huntington will present the world premiere of The Art of Burning, a new play from acclaimed Boston playwright Kate Snodgrass and directed by Melia Bensussen, in association with Hartford Stage.

The latest standings as of Monday, December 12th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Artistic Director Melia Bensussen and Managing Director Cynthia Rider, invites the community to ring in the holiday season at ¡Felices Fiestas! Holiday Open House on Saturday, December 10 from 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the Tony Award-winning theatre (50 Church Street, Hartford, CT).

The latest standings as of Monday, December 5th, have been released for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

The first live standings have been announced for the 2022 BroadwayWorld Connecticut Awards! Nominations were reader-submitted and now our readers get to vote for their favorites.

Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) announced the results of its 2022 Executive Board election at its Annual Membership Meeting on Monday night, November 14. Evan Yionoulis was elected to serve a second term as Executive Board President.

Usher in the season with the holiday hit It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at Hartford Stage, starting performances November 25. In this stage adaptation directed by Zoë Golub-Sass, Connecticut playwright Joe Landry has refashioned the 1946 Jimmy Stewart movie into a play reminiscent of the Golden Age of Radio.Originally co-directed by Melia Bensussen and Rachel Alderman, the staging, complete with a Foley sound effects artists and period commercials, is certain to charm and entertain.

CT Chapter LPTW Presents Panel on 'Rebuilding Theater with Greater Relevance' and Presents Ivoryton Playhouse with 'Seal of Approval' for Promoting Theater Women at WOmen Playwrights Fest Oct. 29