Rebecca Gilman News

Magic Theatre is delighted to celebrate the return of Magic's 2011 Playwright in Residence, Christina Anderson, with the world premiere of PEN/MAN/SHIP. The production is directed by Magic Theatre's Associate Artistic Director Ryan Guzzo Purcell and will run May 21 - June 15, 2014 at Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor. OPENING NIGHT is May 28, 2014. Press Dates are May 29 - June 1, 2014.

On May 13, Goodman Theatre celebrates the life and creative contributions of Robert (Bob) Christen, its longtime Resident Lighting Designer and one of the most prolific live performance designers in the country, who passed away last month at age 64.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $1,108,000, allow 39 productions extra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, helping to extend the life of the play after its first run.

Magic Theatre will welcome back one of Scotland's leading contemporary playwrights, Linda McLean, with the world premiere of Every Five Minutes, directed by Producing Artistic Director Loretta Greco. Every Five Minutes runs today, March 26 - April 20.

Bloomsbury Publishing, the UK's leading publisher of dramatic texts, is thrilled to announce that L.A. Theatre Works will be joining Drama Online with a new audio collection launching in January, 2015. The addition of 400+ audio files of recorded plays will add another dimension to the 1000+ play texts on the platform, allowing students to engage with the plays as performed as well as read.

A graduate of the Rep's Ignite! Play Festival (the 2014 festival takes place this week), playwright Rebecca Gilman's work, SOUPS, STEWS AND CASSEROLES: 1976, is currently receiving it's world premiere in the Studio Theatre of the Loretto-Hilton. This is a smart and funny piece with a message that still resonates today, and I found myself genuinely moved by it. Having been a teen during the year 1976 when this action takes place, I can readily identify with the themes and values presented here. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) concludes its 2013-2014 Studio Theatre series with the topical Soups, Stews and Casseroles: 1976 by Rebecca Gilman and directed by Seth Gordon. This moving production will be performed in the Emerson Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, today, March 12-30, 2014.

Magic Theatre will welcome back one of Scotland's leading contemporary playwrights, Linda McLean, with the world premiere of Every Five Minutes, directed by Producing Artistic Director Loretta Greco. Every Five Minutes runs March 26 - April 20. Deemed 'a gritty, fiercely empathetic realist of great skill' (San Francisco Chronicle), McLean's new play celebrates the miraculous power of the human spirit. Every Five Minutes begins with a simple homecoming dinner that takes a fantastical turn as Mo slips into a dreamscape that even those closest to him can't imagine.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) concludes its 2013-2014 Studio Theatre series with the topical Soups, Stews and Casseroles: 1976 by Rebecca Gilman and directed by Seth Gordon. This moving production will be performed in the Emerson Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, March 12-30, 2014.

Actress Emma Wisniewski, a Queens native and graduate of NYU-Tisch, will join the cast of award-winning playwright Rebecca Gilman's Soups, Stews and Casseroles: 1976, a world-premiere play commissioned for the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Rehearsals begin in St. Louis on February 18th, and the play runs March 12th-30th.

Who best determines an infant's fate among differing values concerning drugs, religion and child rearing? Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman asks this question and more in her latest play, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls in their fourth collaboration. Gilman's seven Goodman productions-six of which were world premieres, including five commissions-make her one of the most-produced contemporary playwrights in the theater's history. Luna Gale runs now through February 23 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 27). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

The question of who determines a child's fate amidst drug addiction, religion and child custody laws takes center stage in Rebecca Gilman's newest work, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls.

Goodman Theatre introduces a new subscription package for 2014, 'Great Women at Play,' featuring works written and directed by a handful of the most popular female playwrights working in the American theater today. This special package for women-and men-includes five plays for the price of four, a complimentary visit to the exclusive Goodman Lounge and the opportunity to win a $100 gift certificate from the Goodman's preferred restaurant partner, Petterino's. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org/GreatWomen for more information, and check out a video of the artists involved below!

Who best determines an infant's fate among differing values concerning drugs, religion and child rearing? Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman asks this question and more in her latest play, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls in their fourth collaboration. Gilman's seven Goodman productions-six of which were world premieres, including five commissions-make her one of the most-produced contemporary playwrights in the theater's history. Luna Gale runs January 18 - February 23 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 27). BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!

Who best determines an infant's fate among differing values concerning drugs, religion and child rearing? Pulitzer Prize finalist Rebecca Gilman asks this question and more in her latest play, Luna Gale, directed by Goodman Theatre Artistic Director Robert Falls in their fourth collaboration. Gilman's seven Goodman productions-six of which were world premieres, including five commissions-make her one of the most-produced contemporary playwrights in the theater's history. Appearing in her 16th Goodman production, Chicago stage favorite Mary Beth Fisher-who also originated roles in Gilman's Spinning Into Butter and Boy Gets Girl-stars as veteran social worker Caroline, who is charged with making tough decisions about the future of Luna Gale, a vulnerable child. The recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award, Luna Gale is part of the Goodman's 'Great Women at Play' subscription package, featuring works written and/or directed by Rachel Rockwell (Brigadoon), Joanie Schultz (Venus in Fur), Jessica Thebus, Tracey Scott Wilson (Buzzer) and Mary Zimmerman (The White Snake). Luna Gale runs January 18 - February 23 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 27). Tickets ($25 - $81; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Luna, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). The Goodman Women's Board is a Major Production Sponsor and Mayer Brown is a Corporate Sponsor Partner. Ogletree Deakins and U.S. Bank are the Opening Night Sponsors. Audience enrichment events and a full performance calendar follow.

A new crop of local talent joins Goodman Theatre's artistic team for the 2013/2014 Season. The four Chicago-based writers named to the fourth season of the Playwrights Unit-a year-long residency program designed to support and develop new works-include Andrew Hinderaker, Gift Theatre ensemble member; Mickle Maher, cofounder of Theater Oobleck; Anne Garcia-Romero, a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists; and Laura Schellhardt, who oversees undergraduate playwriting at Northwestern University. A partnership with Chicago Dramatists, the Playwrights Unit meets twice per month with members of the Goodman's artistic team to discuss their plays-in-progress and provide feedback for one another. The program includes readings of the playwrights' works-in-progress at Chicago Dramatists in early 2014, and culminates in summer 2014 with staged readings of their completed works at the Goodman. Playwrights Unit alumni include Greg Allen, Alice Austen, Ike Holter and Christopher Oscar Peña (2012/2013 Season); Philip Dawkins, Nambi E. Kelley, Elaine Romero and Martin Zimmerman (2011/2012 Season); and Seth Bockley, Lisa Dillman, Laura Jacqmin and Rohina Malik (2010/2011 Season).

Magic Theatre will welcome back Obie Award-winning playwright Taylor Mac with the world premiere of Hir. The production is directed by Niegel Smith and will run January 29 - February 23, 2014 at Magic Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D, 3rd Floor. Press Dates are February 6-9, 2014.

Now in its 10th year, Goodman Theatre's 2013 New Stages festival features five FREE new plays-two fully staged workshop productions performed in repertory plus three staged readings-in the Owen Theatre, today, December 7 - 22.

On December 2nd, Believe Theatrical will host the first public reading of Rebecca Gilman's screenplay adaptation of Blue Surge at the Pater Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street. Michael Walker (Price Check) will direct the stellar NYC cast to be led by Rachel Brosnahan (House of Cards) and to include Jayce Bartok (The Cake Eaters), Phil Burke (Hell on Wheels) and Kate White (Fall to Rise), Autumn Dornfeld (Law & Order), Katy Wright-Mead (The Knick) and Patrick James Lynch (Peter & The Star Catcher) among others.

The most wonderful time of the year is underway as rehearsals begin this week for Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol, 'a joyous present for the entire family' (Chicago Sun-Times), in its 36th annual production. Directing the holiday favorite for the first time, Henry Wishcamper's production features all-new on stage magic-set elements, special effects and more. The cast of 27 (below, includes 14 new and 13 returning cast members) stars Larry Yando, who most recently appeared in Mary Zimmerman's production of The Jungle Book as Shere Khan, in his sixth turn as Ebenezer Scrooge and 8-year-old Matthew Abraham as Tiny Tim for the second year. A Christmas Carol runs tonight, November 16 - December 28 in the Goodman's Albert Theatre.