Phyllis Nagy News

Strand Theater Company welcomes Baltimore playwright, performer and theater professor Susan McCully with her three-woman show Inexcusable Fantasies, exploring, often comically, her secret and not-so-secret obsessions with Martha Stewart, Harley Davidson, and Grandma's Oil of Olay. The production is a Baltimore premiere and the second offering of the Strand 2012-13 Season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Rain Pryor. It runs November 1-17.

Deadline.com reports that Cate Blanchett and Mia Wasikowska will join the cast of the film adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's CAROL (aka 'The Price of Salt). Highsmith is best known for her works 'Strangers on a Train' and 'The Talented Mr. Ripley'.

Blake Robison, a highly accomplished director and producer, has been named the next artistic director of the two-time Tony Award-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park in a unanimous vote by the Playhouse's board of trustees.

The Scarlet Letter opens April 1st- Nathaniel Hawthorne's magnum opus that explores sin, hypocrisy and society is vividly re-imagined in this sexually charged tale of obsession and revenge.

The Scarlet Letter opens April 1st- Nathaniel Hawthorne's magnum opus that explores sin, hypocrisy and society is vividly re-imagined in this sexually charged tale of obsession and revenge.

LoNyLa, a new space for artists worldwide will launch its first lab with the development of nine scripts. LoNyLa, is a transatlantic lab that helps writers develop material over a 12-week period, by communicating with seasoned artists in three linked hubs, London, New York and Los Angeles, where writers are exposed to different creative approaches and processes.

CST will hold auditions for THE SCARLET LETTER on February 6th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Auditions will be held at the Carpenter Square Theatre office at 1015 N. Broadway, Suite 210, just south of 10th & Broadway on the West side of the street. Coffeeslingers is a business on the first floor, and CST is located on the 2nd floor.

CST will hold auditions for THE SCARLET LETTER on February 6th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Auditions will be held at the Carpenter Square Theatre office at 1015 N. Broadway, Suite 210, just south of 10th & Broadway on the West side of the street. Coffeeslingers is a business on the first floor, and CST is located on the 2nd floor.

Phyllis Nagy's play, The Scarlet Letter, has the words 'adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne,' as opposed to simply saying 'an adaptation,' which is more typical. This is a subtle way of stating that the play is not intended to be a literal lifting of the story but more of a re-telling --with a purpose. Nagy's play is an examination of the deep, conflicting, often childish emotions of the adult characters, as partly witnessed and narrated by Hester Prynne's illegitimate daughter, Pearl, and shared with us. It is also a feminist work, in which the fates of a woman and a girl are seemingly controlled by the men, only to be thwarted because of Hester and Pearl's courageous willingness to follow their own paths. This gives the play a much more modern feel, in spite of the Puritan-style clothing the cast will wear. The language of the play is also more contemporary - and therefore less stilted than many plays set in an imagined past. We are approaching the play as a metaphor for our modern society: this is the past from which we came - where are we now?

Phyllis Nagy's play, The Scarlet Letter, has the words 'adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne,' as opposed to simply saying 'an adaptation,' which is more typical. This is a subtle way of stating that the play is not intended to be a literal lifting of the story but more of a re-telling --with a purpose. Nagy's play is an examination of the deep, conflicting, often childish emotions of the adult characters, as partly witnessed and narrated by Hester Prynne's illegitimate daughter, Pearl, and shared with us. It is also a feminist work, in which the fates of a woman and a girl are seemingly controlled by the men, only to be thwarted because of Hester and Pearl's courageous willingness to follow their own paths. This gives the play a much more modern feel, in spite of the Puritan-style clothing the cast will wear. The language of the play is also more contemporary - and therefore less stilted than many plays set in an imagined past. We are approaching the play as a metaphor for our modern society: this is the past from which we came - where are we now?

Phyllis Nagy's play, The Scarlet Letter, has the words 'adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne,' as opposed to simply saying 'an adaptation,' which is more typical. This is a subtle way of stating that the play is not intended to be a literal lifting of the story but more of a re-telling --with a purpose. Nagy's play is an examination of the deep, conflicting, often childish emotions of the adult characters, as partly witnessed and narrated by Hester Prynne's illegitimate daughter, Pearl, and shared with us. It is also a feminist work, in which the fates of a woman and a girl are seemingly controlled by the men, only to be thwarted because of Hester and Pearl's courageous willingness to follow their own paths. This gives the play a much more modern feel, in spite of the Puritan-style clothing the cast will wear. The language of the play is also more contemporary - and therefore less stilted than many plays set in an imagined past. We are approaching the play as a metaphor for our modern society: this is the past from which we came - where are we now?

Following the success of the recent Hometown season, Royal & Derngate presents The Talented Mr Ripley as its next Made in Northampton production, which launches the Autumn season. Featuring film and TV star Michelle Ryan, this gripping psychological thriller takes to the Royal stage from Friday 17 September until Saturday 9 October.

In September, DC area theatres are filled with almost a dozen musical productions opening -- classics, family shows, and many wonderful plays being performed on our over 200 theatre venues. The humidity is finally melting away, and it's a perfect time to welcome the cooler weather and the colors of the Fall by making a trip to the Nation's Capital and catching a show or two or three. There are family shows with canines and rabbits, a Labor Day weekend theatre festival that's FREE, a new jazz musical with some of the area's most talented singers, and bugs and ants that swing on trapezes. Mr. Ripley is finally coming to town, while I'm hoping that all will be well at Shakespeare Theatre. Someone is trying to deal with a very troubling inch, a Bar-Mitzvah boy has to deal with his crazy family, spelling champions battle it out, and a beagle pilot takes flight. There's so much to choose from, so read on and see what's playing in September in this monumental town. Happy New Year to all my fellow Jewish lovers of the theatre!

Following the success of the recent Hometown season, Royal & Derngate presents The Talented Mr Ripley as its next Made in Northampton production, which launches the Autumn season. Featuring film and TV star Michelle Ryan, this gripping psychological thriller takes to the Royal stage from Friday 17 September until Saturday 9 October.

From the opulent 16th Century Amalfi court to the beautiful, serene landscape of the Italian Riviera in the 1950s, the Royal & Derngate's pairing of plays for the Autumn season chooses Italy as the stage for two psychological dramas incorporating deception, love, murder and revenge.

Next Theatre Company and Artistic Director Jason Southerland are thrilled to announce the 30th anniversary season, a year dedicated to plays that explore the myths that men and women create about their lives.

Next Theatre Company and Artistic Director Jason Southerland are thrilled to announce the 30th anniversary season, a year dedicated to plays that explore the myths that men and women create about their lives. The season opens in the fall with a world premiere presented at the National New Play Network's annual showcase. It continues with the regional premiere of a play Southerland first read when he met with Israeli playwright Motti Lerner (Pangs of the Messiah) in Tel Aviv earlier this year. The season comes to its climactic end with a pair of plays by Phyllis Nagy (pronounced 'Naij') who has captured wide acclaim in the United Kingdom but has been rarely produced in the U.S.

Goblins, ghouls and ghosts of the 1980s haunt SCR's latest world premiere, Doctor Cerberus, which makes its debut April 11 - May 2 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.

New plays for college-age actresses provide a varied evening of impressive performances at University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Goblins, ghouls and ghosts of the 1980s haunt SCR's latest world premiere, Doctor Cerberus, which makes its debut April 11 - May 2 on the Julianne Argyros Stage.