National Theatre Company News

The Hypocrites is proud to announce the return production of Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado adapted and directed by Founding Artistic Director Sean Graney. The Mikado will be remounted at the Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St) this coming winter.

The American Theatre Wing (William Ivey Long, Chair; Heather Hitchens, Executive Director) announced today that its annual gala, held last night at the Plaza Hotel, was the most successful in the organization's history, raising nearly $700,000 (besting the previous record, which was set in 2012, by approximately $100,000). All proceeds from the evening will benefit the education and outreach programs of the American Theatre Wing, which include SpringboardNYC, the Theatre Intern Group, the National Theatre Company Grants and the Jonathan Larson Grants, and will also support free access for students, aspiring professionals, and the general public to programming on AmericanTheatreWing.org, including the long running television show "Working in the Theatre."

The Catastrophic Theatre is pleased to announce that the American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry 'Tony' Awards, is awarding the Company with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company grants.

Curious Theatre Company has announced its 2013/14 Season. Including a World Premiere and three Regional Premieres, Season 16 introduces Denver audiences to the work of award-winning playwrights Amy Herzog and Matthew Lopez, and continues our long-standing artistic relationship with Denver-born playwright Steven Dietz.

Cutting Ball Theater opens its 15th season with the World Premiere of SIDEWINDERS by Basil Kreimendahl. M. Graham Smith makes his main stage directing debut at Cutting Ball with SIDEWINDERS, featuring DavEnd, Sara Moore,Donald Currie, and Norman Muñoz. SIDEWINDERS plays October 18 through November 17 at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street) in San Francisco. For tickets ($10-50) and more information, the public may visitcuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater is pleased to announce that the American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards, is awarding the company with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company grants. Created by American Theatre Wing to recognize and support the most promising emerging theater companies from around the country, the National Theatre Company grant honors 10 theaters annually. Companies chosen to receive the $10,000 grant have articulated a distinctive mission, cultivated an audience, and nurtured a community of artists in ways that strengthen and demonstrate the quality, diversity, and dynamism of American theater. More information about the National Theatre Company grants can be found at http://americantheatrewing.org/grants/.

PHILOMENA, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, will premiere In Competition at Venice Film Festival and will be a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival. Check out a new clip from the film below!

The American Theatre Wing has announced the recipients of its 2013 National Theatre Company Grants. This year's recipients are: 16th Street Theater (Berwyn, Illinois), The Catastrophic Theatre (Houston, Texas), Constellation Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.),The Cutting Ball Theatre (San Francisco, California), Golden Thread Productions (San Francisco, California), The Hypocrites (Chicago, Illinois),Prospect Theater Company (New York, New York), Theater Latte Da (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Third Rail Repertory Theatre (Portland, Oregon), andTrue Colors Theatre Company (Atlanta, Georgia).

Know Theatre has announced nearly a full calendar year of programming as a part or our new programming model. Several months ago Know Theatre enacted our new strategic plan which moves us away from the traditional season model allowing us more flexibility in how we approach our programming.

PHILOMENA, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, will premiere In Competition at Venice Film Festival and will be a Special Presentation at Toronto International Film Festival. Get a first look below!

Shakespeare & Company arrives at Bard College at Simon's Rock in Great Barrington with a special collaborative production and World Premiere of William Coe Bigelow's Leap Year. Directed by Stephen Rothman and featuring a cast from both Bard College and S&Co., performances run August 23-September 1 in the McConnell Theater, located within the Daniel Arts Center on the campus of Bard College at Simon's Rock- 84 Alford Rd, Great Barrington, MA.

Kenny Leon and True Colors Theatre Company have announced their upcoming production of George C. Wolfe's Spunk, an adaptation of three short stories by Zora Neale Hurston directed by Hilda Willis. Spunk will run from September 17 - October 13, 2013 at the 14th Street Playhouse located at 173 14th Street, Atlanta, GA.

Joop Van Den Ende and Henk Kivits have jointly agreed that Mr Kivits will step down as CEO of Stage Entertainment Group today, 31 July 2013. Mr Kivits decided not to accept Joop Van Den Ende's offer to extend his contract as CEO of the interNational Theatre Company by an additional two years. Kivits has been CEO since 1 August 2007.

Center Theatre Group (CTG) has been awarded a four-year, $1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The grant will make possible a program focusing on collaboratively created contemporary work from ensembles, devisers and writers, supporting the creative arc from commissioning through development and production; the program will build on the work generated by a multi-year 2009 Mellon Foundation grant supporting the development of non-text based work.

Following the sell-out success as part of Shakespeare's Globe to Globe Festival,Othello: The Remix comes to the Unicorn Theatre with its fresh urban take on Shakespeare's tragedy.

Afrocentric Theatre by Carlton W. Molette and Barbara J. Molette updates their ground-breaking Black Theatre: Premise and Presentation that has been required reading in Black theatre courses for over twenty-five years. Afrocentric Theatre describes the nature of a theatre with roots in Africa that embraces and disseminates African American culture and values. The Molettes contend Black theatre is a culture-based art form, not a race-based one. They further assert culture and values shape perceptions of such concepts as time, space, heroism, reality, truth, and beauty. They say the nature of theatre is an outgrowth of a culture and its values and that culture and values form the framework for understanding theatre and govern the way theatre, film, and video drama is perceived. They identify standards for evaluating and analyzing Afrocentric theatre and posit an appropriate perspective for interpreting and evaluating its individual works.

Jujamcyn Theaters and True Colors Theatre Company (Kenny Leon, Co-Founding Artistic Director) have announced that Thembisile Gxuluwe from West Mifflin Area High School near Pittsburgh has won first place at the 5th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition held on Monday, May 6th at at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). Pablo Lopez from Los Angeles was the runner-up, and an honorable mention went to Branndin Phillips-Laramorefrom Chicago. The event, which was free and open to the public, featured high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh and Seattle performing monologues by the late, legendary American playwright.

Jujamcyn Theaters and True Colors Theatre Company (Kenny Leon, Co-Founding Artistic Director) have announced the 5th Annual August Wilson Monologue Competition on Monday, May 6th at 7:00 p.m. at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street). The event, which is free and open to the public, features high school students from Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh and Seattle performing monologues by the late, legendary American playwright.

59E59 Theaters will welcome the US premiere of THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME, written by Neil Bartlett and Jessica Walker, and directed by Mr. Bartlett to Brits Off Broadway. THE GIRL I LEFT BEHIND ME begins performances tonight, April 30 for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 19.

Are we ever really happy? That is the question posed in HAPPY, a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere by Robert Caisley at the New Jersey Repertory Company, 179 Broadway, Long Branch, from May 30 - June 30, 2013.