Oscar Wilde News

The multi award-winning NoHo Arts Center Ensemble (NoHo ACE) is thrilled to present a world premiere play, SissyBoy, written and performed by James Mellon and directed by Kevin Bailey. SissyBoy will begin previews on Friday, February 5 at 8pm; will open on Friday, February 12 at 8pm and run for eleven performances through Sunday, March 6, 2016 at the NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd. (at Lankershim Blvd.) in North Hollywood.

OUR MOTHER'S BRIEF AFFAIR, the new play by Tony Award winner Richard Greenberg, directed by MTC's award-winning artistic director Lynne Meadow, opens tonight, January 20 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Let's see what the critics had to say...

2016 marks the 125th anniversary of Oscar Wilde's only novel and now THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY has been freshly adapted by Merlin Holland, Wilde's only grandson, and John O'Connor of European Arts Company. The production will play Trafalgar Studios, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY from Monday 18th January to Saturday 13th February 2016. Press Night is slated for tonight 20th January, 7pm.

In 1982, Actors' Theatre of Columbus (ATC) kicked off its first season with a single production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The success of that season proved that Schiller Park was an excellent venue for open air Shakespearean theater, and the troupe has continued this tradition for 35 years. Actors' Theatre will perform its 100th play in Schiller in 2016.

The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association (GALECA.org • Facebook • Twitter), comprised of over 130 professional critics and entertainment journalists nationwide, today released its choices for the best in movies and television of 2015.

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director; Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) will launch its 2016 John McDonald Salon Series with a reading of Harley Granville-Barker's controversial British drama Waste on Monday, January 25th at 7 PM at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater at the West Side YMCA, 10 W. 64th Street, New York, NY. Single tickets are $35 and include a post-show reception with the cast. Series subscriptions are also available. Purchase at www.theactingcompany.org or call (212) 258-3111.

The beloved English actor was a very frequent visitor to the New York stage.

The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, is considered Oscar Wilde's best work. It has been making audiences laugh since it debuted in London in 1895. With hilarious farce and witty dialogue, this exhilarating masterpiece is a true crowd pleaser. Luckily for Katy, this eternally popular play is coming to Katy Visual & Performing Arts Center (KVPAC) this month from Encore Players!

Paper Canoe Theater Company, a devised theatre company for families, presents A SOCK'S FABLES, a fun-filled, 45-minute, sock puppet show for kids 2+ based on Aesop's fables, by Greg Steinbruner with Paper Canoe Theater Company, in partnership with Triskelion Arts, at the Muriel Schulman Theater, also featuring a FREE puppet-making workshop.

THE MEETING* hosted by Justin Sayre, the acclaimed comedy/variety show, will return to Joe's Pub at The Public to launch the Winter/Spring 2016 season on Sunday, January 24 at 9:30 PM. This season will include tributes to Eartha Kitt (January 24 at 9:30 PM), the musical Cabaret (February 21 at 9:30 PM), Elton John (March 20 at 9:30 PM), Barbra Streisand (April 17 at 9:30 PM) and George Michael (May 22 at 7:00 PM). Special guests for each show will be announced.

Today in 1939, The Importance of Being Earnest opened at the Vanderbilt Theatre, where it ran for 61 performances. Written by Oscar Wilde, the show was first performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage, and the resulting satire of Victorian ways. Its high farce and witty dialogue have helped make The Importance of Being Earnest Wilde's most enduringly popular play.

Mother Road Theatre Company, fresh off the sold-out co-production ALL IS CALM: THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914, begins 2016 with a beautiful production of CHAPATTI, starring Joanne Camp and Peter Shea Kierst.

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that New York Festival of Song has set a starry, Broadway-filled cast for its 2016 spring gala, Topsy Turvy: The NYFOS Guide to Gilbert & Sullivan.

Walnut Street Theatre, America's oldest theatre and a National Historic Landmark, just announced its landmark 208th season of live entertainment and its 34th season as a not-for-profit producing theatre company. The line-up includes three dazzling musicals, a side-splitting comedy, and Oscar Wilde's most enduring classic hit. As a self-producing regional theatre, the Walnut has become not only the most popular theatre company in Philadelphia, but also the most subscribed theatre company in the world, boasting over 50,000 subscribers.

Kully Thiarai, the founding Artistic Director of Doncaster's Cast has today been named as the new Artistic Director and Chief Executive of National Theatre Wales, the country's English-language national theatre, following John McGrath's departure to run the Manchester International Festival.

The American Shakespeare Center's current 'Dangerous Dreams' tour-featuring Julius Caesar, The Life of King Henry the Fifth and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest-is an absolute blast from start to finish. Packed with some seasoned talent and boundless energy, you'll be swept up in the drama, the warmth and good humor in spite of yourself.

Leland Gannt's powerful one-man performance examining the question of race in America, Rhapsody in Black, comes to Concord's Capitol Center for the Arts on Friday, February 12 at 8pm. Tickets for this intimate Spotlight Cafe performance start at $15 and are on sale now.

Festival General Director Nigel Redden announces the program for the 40th annual Spoleto Festival USA, taking place May 27 through June 12, 2016 in Charleston, South Carolina.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST is a delightfully comic expression of the ridiculousness of Victorian society where things aren't as simple as they first appear.

Rasaka Theatre Company, in residence at Victory Gardens Theater, Continues its 2015-16 season with the Midwest premiere of Shane Sakhrani's A WIDOW OF NO IMPORTANCE, directed by Lavina Jadhwani. Rasaka is the Midwest's only theater ensemble illuminating the South Asian American experience.