The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) has selected John Hurt, Stacy Keach and Dame Diana Rigg as the 2014 recipients of The William Shakespeare Award for Classical Theatre (Will Award), which recognizes artists who have made significant contributions to classical theatre in America. The Beech Street Foundation will be awarded the Sidney Harman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts. The awards will be presented at the Harman Center for the Arts Annual Gala on Sunday, October 5, 2014, hosted by STC at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) and the National Building Museum (440 G Street NW).
The Shakespeare Theatre Company announces its 2014-2015 ReDiscovery Series with a selection of five plays by significant women playwrights of the early 20th Century, directed by local D.C. directors. The first reading to kick off the series will be Chains of Dew by Susan Glaspell, directed by Holly Twyford, on Monday, September 15.
Quintessence Theatre Group launches its fifth season of progressive classic theatre with an all-male Shakespeare repertory: AS YOU LIKE IT presented in rotating repertory with RICHARD II. Bringing together the best professional actors and designers from Philadelphia and across the country, Artistic Director Alexander Burns leads this collective of artists on a mission to ignite the classics through visceral, actor-focused and text-driven productions.
The Old Globe today announced the full cast and creative team for the World Premiere of Bright Star, a new American musical featuring music by Edie Brickell and Steve Martin, lyrics by Brickell, and book by Martin, based on an original story by Martin and Brickell. Directed by Walter Bobbie, Bright Star will run September 13 - November 2, 2014 on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run September 13 - September 27. Opening night is Sunday, September 28 at 7:00 p.m. Single tickets go on sale on Friday, August 8 at noon.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company brings two productions by the Isango Ensemble to Washington, D.C., as part of STC's 2014-2015 Presentation Series. The Isango Ensemble's unique performances reset Western theatre classics within a South African township, utilizing music, dance and elements of South African heritage. The Ensemble will perform an adaption of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute- Impempe Yomlingo and Shakespeare's epic love poem Venus and Adonis in repertory at the Lansburgh Theatre September 12-21, 2014. Tickets for non-subscribers will be available starting August 1, when individual tickets for the 2014-2015 STC Season go on sale.
Berkshire Theatre Group presents Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. Opening Night is August 2 at 8pm. Preview performances begin tonight, July 30 at 7pm and the production closes August 16 at 8pm.
Artistic Director Molly Smith announces D.C.-area based playwright John Strand will join Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater for a yearlong playwright residency as part of the American Voices New Play Institute, effective this month through June 2015. Through the residency Strand will receive a salary; health benefits; a budget to be used at his discretion to cover collaborator fees, workshop costs and research expenses to support his new play development process; and a commitment from Arena Stage to produce a new work in a future season and to continue cultivating an ongoing, long-term relationship.
As one of the largest theatrical events in the world, The New York International Fringe Festival boasts an impressive roster of world premieres yearly. Of them, Los Angeles native Joshua Metzger's new play Sitting Shiva will see its first three dimensional presentation this August. Christopher Scott will direct the 90 minute play. The Broadway and Regional vet cast includes Eddie Boroevich*, Neal Mayer*, and Jeffery Plunkett*. The Production Stage Manager is Katy Moore*, and the production will be designed by Joan Racho-Jansen. *Appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association. Sitting Shiva is an AEA-approved showcase.
Berkshire Theatre Group presents Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge. Opening Night is August 2 at 8pm. Preview performances begin on July 30 at 7pm and the production closes August 16 at 8pm.
Principal casting has been announced for the upcoming world premiere production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS. The cast will include Robert Fairchild as Jerry Mulligan, Leanne Cope as Lise Dassin, Veanne Cox as Madame Baurel, Jill Paice as Milo Davenport, Brandon Uranowitz as Adam Hochberg, and Max Von Essen as Henri Baurel.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company announces the addition of David Greig's Dunsinane from the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company to its upcoming 2014-2015 Season. This international production, which has toured Scotland, the U.K., Russia and China, will replace the previously announced production of Enrico IV, slated for spring 2015.
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is proud to present Buyer & Cellar as a part of its STC Presentation Series. Written by Jonathan Tolins and directed by Stephen Brackett, Buyer & Cellar will launch its North American tour in Chicago in May before coming to D.C. Buyer & Cellar had its world premiere in April 2013 at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, where it received rave reviews and played a sold-out, extended run before transferring to the Barrow Street Theatre where it opened June 24, 2013. Buyer & Cellar stars Michael Urie (Ugly Betty) as a struggling (and recently fired) L.A. actor named Alex More, who finds himself taking an odd job working in the Malibu basement of a Hollywood mega-star (and though her name is not mentioned, there are numerous similarities to Barbara Streisand). When the A-lister makes a rare appearance one day, the comedy launches into an outrageous look at fame and the price that accompanies it. Buyer & Cellar will run from June 20-29, 2014, at STC's Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW).
The Shakespeare Theatre Company will present a special engagement of Buyer & Cellar. Written by Jonathan Tolins, directed by Stephen Brackett and starring Michael Urie, Buyer & Cellar was heralded by The New York Times as "a seriously funny and remarkably sustained slice of absurdist whimsy." Washington, D.C. marks the second stop of the production's national tour, where it will play at Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW), from June 20-29, 2014.
On June 9 from 6-8 pm, The Shakespeare Society will host their second annual Playing Shakespeare Celebration at The Century Club (7 West 43rd Street). The Shakespeare Medal will be presented to Richard Easton, and The Linda Gross Playing Shakespeare Award will be presented to Hamish Linklater.
Apply by May 30, 2014 to be eligible for all 25 PAID opportunities through the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF). Applications are available online at SDCFOUNDATION.ORG.
Noel Coward's fast-talking comedy of manners Private Lives will close the Shakespeare Theatre Company's 2013-2014 Season. Directed by Maria Aitken (2009-2010 Season's As You Like It), Private Lives enjoyed wild success at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2012, being deemed 'a diamond-sharp production' (The Boston Globe) and will find a home at the Lansburgh Theatre from tonight, May 29-July 13, 2014 (450 7th Street NW).
SPAIN arts & culture and The Shakespeare Theatre Company present a staged reading of Life is a Dream (La vida es sueño) by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, newly translated by Helen Edmundson. In this special presentation at the Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain, the philosophical masterpiece comes to life in a one-night-only staged reading by some of Washington's finest actors.
Tony Award-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will feature Resident Actor Jeffrey Bean as Vanya, Sharon Lockwood returning to the Alley as Sonia, Alley Artist Josie de Guzman returning as Masha, and Resident Actor Jay Sullivan as Spike. Rounding out the cast and making their Alley debuts are Rachael Holmes as Cassandra and Sarah Nealis as Nina. Jonathan Moscone, Artistic Director of California Shakespeare Theater, helms the production and returns after having directed the Alley's 2011 production of Amadeus.
For over 40 years, Erkiletian has developed, constructed and owned properties in the Washington, D.C area. The business has a wide range of commercial and residential properties in their portfolio, rendering them a good match for STC's proposed mixed-use space.