Okwui Okpokwasili News

Okwui Okpokwasili  performed a monologue from King Lear as part of The Public Theater's Brave New Shakespeare challenge!

Mario Cantone will host this year's Lucille Lortel Awards, which are being presented as a virtual broadcast and benefit for The Actors Fund on Sunday, May 3, at 7pm. The online event will bring together theatre performers, industry veterans, and fans worldwide in a celebration of Off-Broadway.

a??a??a??a??a??a??a??The Drama League has announced the 2020 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.

Nominations for the 35th Annual Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Achievement Off-Broadway were announced today by theatre veterans Jeremy Jordan and Ashley Spencer. The Awards will be presented during a special online event on Sunday, May 3, broadcast on the official website - www.LortelAwards.org - beginning at 7:00pm ET. A virtual 'host' and presenters will be announced at a later date. As always, the Lortel Awards will be a benefit for The Actors Fund and fans are encouraged to make donations at actorsfund.org/Lortel. The Lucille Lortel Awards are produced by the Off-Broadway League and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Foundation. Additional support is provided by TDF.

While live performances have temporarily shut down, many dance companies have brought their performances online! Here is a list of places to stream dance online:

From director Andrew Rossi (Page One: Inside the New York Times, The First Monday in May) comes an electrifying portrait of writer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili and her acclaimed one-woman show, Bronx Gothic. Rooted in memories of her childhood, Okwui – who's worked with conceptual artists like Ralph Lemon and Julie Taymor – fuses dance, song, drama, and comedy to create a mesmerizing space in which audiences can engage with a story about two 12-year-old black girl's coming of age in the 1980s.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced a fourth and final extension of the revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. Directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf began performances on Tuesday, October 8 in The Public's Martinson Hall and officially opened on Tuesday, October 22. for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, November 17, and was extended four times to now run through Sunday, December 15.

Back in 1976, when Ntozake Shange's ravishingly written celebration of survival, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENOUGH, transferred from The Public Theater to The Booth, if would have been a safe bet to say that Broadway had seen nothing like it before.

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) announced the third extension of the revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. Directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF began performances on Tuesday, October 8 in The Public's Martinson Hall and officially opened on Tuesday, October 22. In its third extension, FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF was originally scheduled to close on Sunday, November 17, and will now run through Sunday, December 8.

The Public Theater presents a major New York revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. The company celebrated opening night last night, and we're taking you inside the festivities below. 

The Public Theater presents a major New York revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. Let's see what the critics are saying...

Performance Space New York continues The Stages Seriesa?"rethinking the dominant form and aesthetics that have informed the stage for centuriesa?"with Martine Gutierrez's Circle (November 20, 22-23).

Get a first look at Ntozake Shange's FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown. Performances runs through Sunday, December 1, with an official press opening on Tuesday, October 22.

The Public Theater announced a second extension today for the major New York revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange.

Get a peek at the company in rehearsal for Ntozake Shange's FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Tony Award nominee Camille A. Brown. Performances begin on Tuesday, October 8 and run through Sunday, November 24, with an official press opening on Tuesday, October 22.

The Public Theater announced an extension today for the major New York revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange. Directed by Obie Award winner Leah C. Gardiner with choreography by Camille A. Brown, FOR COLORED GIRLS begins performances on Tuesday, October 8 in The Public's Martinson Hall, with a Joseph Papp Free Preview performance on Thursday, October 10 and an official press opening on Tuesday, October 22. This powerful revival has been extended one week and will now run through Sunday, November 24.

The Public Theater announced complete casting today for the major New York revival of FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF, written by legendary playwright/poet Ntozake Shange.

651 ARTS, Brooklyn's premier organization for the African Diasporic arts, today announced the appointment of seasoned nonprofit arts leader David J. Roberts as the renowned institution's new Executive Director. The selection of Roberts follows an extensive nationwide search led by cultural consulting firm CJAM Consulting, LLC and 651's Board of Directors. Roberts, who succeeds former Executive Director Shay Wafer, will report to the Board of Directors and will officially assume the role in August, 2019. 

A theatrical experience of dance, movement and spoken word. Performer Okwui Okpokwasili tells the story of her childhood experience of growing up in the Bronx.