Mike Lew News

It's a case of rather ironic programming that the press night for Mike Lew's Teenage Dick at the Donmar Warehouse was on the 12 December, the day of the General Election in the UK. An adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, Lew's new play is a meditation on the nature of power transposed to an American high school. Commissioned by The Apothetae, a theatre company dedicated to plays that discuss disability, and with direction by Michael Longhurst, Lew retells Shakespeare with a needed urgency, providing an arch reminder that the voices of the disabled have often been ignored, terrorised or shouted down from the earliest possibility.

The Donmar Warehouse announces casting for Lyndsey Turner's new production of Caryl Churchill's Far Away. BAFTA-winning actress Jessica Hynes will make her Donmar debut in the role of Harper alongside Aisling Loftus as Joan and Simon Manyonda as Todd. Casting for the role of Young Joan is to be announced at a later date.

Musical theater returns to McCarter Theatre Center with the 2021 arrival of Bhangin' It, a large-scale uplifting new musical that will premiere in June 2021, following a production at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego.

La Jolla Playhouse announces four of six productions for its 2020/2021 season, including the world premieres of Bhangin' It, book by Mike Lew (Tiger Style!) and Rehana Lew Mirza (DNA New Work Series' Child of Colonialism), music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, directed by Amy Anders Corcoran, co-produced with McCarter Theatre Center; and Mother Russia, by UC San Diego MFA alumna Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band), directed by Tyne Rafaeli (The Coast Starlight); along with What the Constitution Means to Me, the acclaimed work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi Schreck, directed by Oliver Butler; and the previously-announced, Broadway-bound musical Lempicka, book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer, music by Matt Gould, directed by 2019 Tony Award winner Rachel Chavkin (Broadway's Hadestown).

The Donmar Warehouse announces the full cast for Teenage Dick, Mike Lew's darkly comic take on Shakespeare's Richard III, directed by Donmar Artistic Director Michael Longhurst. Joining previously announced cast Daniel Monks and Susan Wokoma are Callum Adams, Alice Hewkin, Siena Kelly and Ruth Madeley.

Teenage Dick, Mike Lew's devastatingly funny, sharply written new play about perception, disability and the lengths we're willing to go to rise above our station in life, will receive its Chicago premiere at Theater Wit, March 6-April 19, 2020.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center is now accepting script submissions for the 2020 National Playwrights Conference. Writers may submit their new plays to the O'Neill's Open Submissions Process through Friday, October 11, 2019.

The Donmar Warehouse and Clean Break today announce full casting for the world premiere of [BLANK] a new play by Alice Birch. Directed by Maria Aberg, full casting includes Ayesha Antoine, Shona Babayemi, Sophia Brown, Jackie Clune, Grace Doherty, Lucy Edkins, Zaris-Angel Hator, Zainab Hasan, Joanna Horton, Thusitha Jayasundera, Petra Letang, Leah Mondesir-Simmonds, Kate O'Flynn, Ashna Rabheru, Jemima Rooper and Taya Tower.

Works & Process, the performing arts series at the Guggenheim, presents MCC Theater: Seared by Theresa Rebeck on Monday, September 9, 2019 at 7:30pm.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??The Lark, a theater company devoted to the support of extraordinary playwrights and the development of new plays, is thrilled to announce that Sam Chanse, J. Julian Christopher, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, C.A. Johnson, and Abe Koogler have been selected as the 2019-20 Rita Goldberg Playwrights' Workshop Fellows. This year marks the 20th iteration of the Workshop, which was established by renowned playwright Arthur Kopit, and brings together emerging and established playwrights in a space where they are free to explore new material, without commercial pressures.

Broadway and TV actor Frances Jue is currently starring in TheatreWorks' production of Julia Cho's 'The Language Archive.' Mr. Jue recently talked to BroadwayWorld about his lengthy and surprising career path, from his formative experiences with Stephen Sondheim and TheatreWorks to working with Tony winners David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori, and of course his continuing role on the CBS television series 'Madam Secretary.' His fascinating story serves as an inspiring example for anyone who doesn't see a clear path to success or struggles to find a place to fit in.

Let me admit when I saw MATILDA on Broadway in 2013 (winner of 5 Tony Awards), I did not enjoy it. I just could not understand the character of the buffoon Miss Trunchbell, the Olympian hammer throwing athletic principal of Matilda's school. He was the villain of all villains.

Since its founding in 1989, Ma-Yi Theater Company has distinguished itself as one of the country's leading incubators of new work shaping the national discourse about what it means to be Asian American today.

Since its founding in 1989, Ma-Yi Theater Company has distinguished itself as one of the country's leading incubators of new work shaping the national discourse about what it means to be Asian American today. Building on the recent success of the Lortel Award-winner KPOP and Mike Lew's Teenage Dick, Ma-Yi is pleased to announce programming for its 30th anniversary season.

Mara Isaacs, Director of Project Springboard: Developing Dance Musicals, today announced the recipients of the third annual residency awards: A Nation Grooves: A People's History of Hip-Hop, led by Kambi Gathesha (creator, director, choreographer), and Sinan Zafar (sound design, sonic dramaturgy); and The Quiet World, led by Charles Sutton (director, choreographer), Will Van Dyke (composer), and Matthew Greene (book). Both projects will be in residence June 10-28, 2019 in New York City.

La Jolla Playhouse announces the cast and creative team for its world-premiere production of The Luckiest, by Melissa Ross, directed by former Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda, running June 30 - July 28 (press opening: Sunday, July 8 at 7:00pm). in the Playhouse's Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre

Tiger Style! by Mike Lew, an outrageous and cutting satire of Asian-American identity, completes Olney Theatre Center's 81st season in the Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab (July 17 - August 18, 2019). The production is directed by the boundary-pushing director Natsu Onoda Power, who recently pulled off the rare feat of winning two Helen Hayes Awards (one for direction, one for design) in a single evening. Invited press night is Saturday, July 20 at 7:45pm.

La Jolla Playhouse announced today the appointment of National Disability Theatre (NDT) Co-Executive Directors Talleri A. McRae and Mickey Rowe as the Playhouse's 2019/2020 Artists-in-Residence.

The Drama League (Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Executive Artistic Director) today announced the 2019 Drama League Awards Nominees for Outstanding Production of a Play, Outstanding Revival of a Play, Outstanding Production of a Musical, Outstanding Revival of a Musical, and the much-coveted Distinguished Performance Award. The nominations were announced this morning by the current stars of Waitress, Shoshana Bean and Jeremy Jordan, at the official announcement event at Sardi's Restaurant, which was streamed live online here at BroadwayWorld.

The Donmar Warehouse today announces full casting for Artistic Director Michael Longhurst's inaugural Donmar production Europe by David Greig. Joining previously announced cast members Billy Howle (Berlin), Kevork Malikyan (Sava), Faye Marsay (Adele), Stephen Wight (Billy) and Shane Zaza (Morocco) will be Theo Barklem-Biggs as Horse, Ron Cook as Fret and Natalia Tena as Katia.