Peter Callender News

Elm Shakespeare Company announced its free, online event series, Building a Brave New Theater: Exploring Shakespeare & Race in 2020. Five evenings of performances and moderated conversation with BIPOC artists and scholars will bring the New Haven community (and beyond) together to celebrate and interrogate the 400-year old white playwright's work.

San Jose Stage Company has announced the titles for its upcoming virtual 38th Season.

San Jose Stage Company has announced the titles for its upcoming virtual 38th Season. These virtual presentations will include NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (October 28 - 31, 2020), PERSUASION (December 23 - 27, 2020), KISS 2020 GOODBYE (December 31 - January 3, 2021), STRANGE COURTESIES (February 24 - 28, 2021) & BARCELONA (March 31 - April 4, 2021).

The nominees have been announced for the 2020 Theatre Tampa Bay Awards! 25 plays and 5 musicals were eligible for nomination before the remainder of the 2019-2020 season was cancelled in March.

Tampa Repertory Theatre will present a live, virtual production of award-winning Tampa Bay playwright Sheila Cowley's World War II drama Flying on Sunday, August 16 at 3 PM, on the Zoom videoconferencing platform. The production is helmed by internationally renowned stage director L. Peter Callender. A live talkback with the playwright, director and cast will be held following the performance.

With their 25th anniversary season interrupted by a global pandemic, The African-American Shakespeare Company will mount 5 productions in their 2021-22 season versus 4, which has been the norm for the last decade.

The African-American Shakespeare Company debuts its new online series of talk-backs in a format remiscent of The Actor's Studio with James Lipton.

San Jose Stage Company has announced BEYOND THE BOARDS, a virtual series of conversations between the company's Artistic Director, Randall King and leading artists in the community and beyond.

 San Jose Stage Company presents BEYOND THE BOARDS, a virtual series of conversations between our Artistic Director, Randall King and leading artists in our community and beyond. These weekly chats will take you behind the scenes of the powerful, provocative, and profound work you see at The Stage.

The African-American Shakespeare Company will present Noël Coward's classic Private Lives, directed by Clay David for six performances only this April. This draws their 2019/20 season to a close, a season that has seen the company mount a much-praised Othello, their annual holiday Cinderella, and the dramatic satire The Trial of One Short-Sighted Black Woman vs. Mammy Louise and Safreeta Mae.

The time is 2008, the place Detroit...this and more sets the stage for a hard hitting, knockout Tour de Force that chills you to the bone. Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew is a searing, eye opening look into the workforce division between blue-collar and white-collar and what might happen when the division of power crosses the line. I think director L. Peter Callender sums it up best in his director's notes by saying, 'Dominique Morisseau's 'Detroit Project' plays: DETROIT '67, PARADISE BLUE, and SKELETON CREW, not unlike August Wilson's 'Century Cycle' or Shakespeare's History plays, offer a sharply focused, raw, sometimes harsh, always heart-wrenching, beautifully penned look at the rigors of survival when driven souls must make high stakes, life or death choices. Dreams, hope, despair, mystery and secrets all fill the hearts and minds of her characters in the poetic and humorous Skeleton Crew.' The tight knit ensemble of four of the finest actors to hit the stage in some time do Morisseau's words justice and do so with gusto. From the moment the music is heard, to the first words spoke you are gripping on every breathtaking moment in this top-notch performance, that left you winded and exaspirated in all the best ways possible. The chill left down my spine from this show still lingers even days later.

The Marsh San Francisco presents Aren't Youa???, the newest solo show by actor Fred Pitts recounting his hilarious journey to visit all 21 California Mission churches, where he discovers being black makes him an instant celebrity a?" the question is which one? Set in the Summer of 2012, Pitts finds himself at one Mission after the next, encountering docents and fellow tourists.

American Stage Theatre Company Presents SKELETON CREW. It's 2008, and one of the last auto plants in Detroit is on shaky ground. The remaining factory workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck and now each of the workers must navigate the possibility of foreclosure. As power dynamics shift, and they are pushed to the limits of survival the line between blue collar and white collar gets blurred.  With moments of heartbreak and humor, SKELETON CREW is a beautiful homage to the American blue collar worker.

Funny, electric, and heart-breaking are three words director L. Peter Callender used to describe the debut of Dominique Morriseau's Skeleton Crew at American Stage January 22 a?' February 23.

25 Shows & Performances in the Tampa Bay Area That Rocked Our World from 2010 to 2019!

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the best of the best that he saw onstage in the Tampa Bay area in 2019.

For their 2th anniversary season the African-American Shakespeare Company presents their new production of Othello this October, with Artistic Director L. Peter Callender in the title role for the first time. Directed by Carl Jordan, he will be joined by Isabel Siragusa (Desdemona) and Michael Ray Wisely (Iago). 

The African-American Shakespeare Company begins its 25th season with an ambitious and varied slate of programming. Established in 1994 by professional theater artists from the American Conservatory Theatre as an alternative to the 'Color Blind Casting' initiative that began in the early 90s, the company flourished by bringing its artists rich cultural heritage to the fore. 

The African-American Shakespeare Company closes their production of Leslie Lee's Black Eagles this weekend on March 31st. The show is directed by the company's Artistic Director, L. Peter Callender. This marks a return of the company to the Marine's Memorial where it presents the extraordinary drama about the Tuskegee Airmen, America's first black fighter pilots. The play opens onstage during a reception honoring the airmen. As the now-elderly WWII pilots reminisce, their younger selves join them, which serves as the basis for the story of this brave company to be retold.

The African American Shakespeare Company will present Leslie Lee's Black Eagles under the direction of the company's Artistic Director, L. Peter Callender. This marks a return of the company to the Marine's Memorial where it will present the extraordinary drama about the Tuskegee airmen, America's first black fighter pilots. The play opens onstage during a reception honoring the airmen and Gen. Colin Powell. As the now-elderly WWII pilots reminisce, their younger selves join them, which serves as the basis for the story of this brave company to be retold.