Richard Maxwell News

Amidst Performance Space New York's exhilarating first series of interdisciplinary works under the new leadership of Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, the organization's 2018 gala will celebrate game-changing and iconic figures from the arts sector (April 14).

Soho Rep.'s 2018 Spring Fete, emceed by Ghanaian-American writer and actor Jocelyn Bioh, and hosted by actress Jennifer Ehle (Pride & Prejudice) will honor philanthropists Janice Lee and Stuart Shapiro, Monday, April 16 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers (Pier 61, Chelsea Piers) in Manhattan.

Kaneza Schaal's The Cotillion expands the investigation of ceremonial entrances into society. From re-entry into society after prison, to 'entering society' at debutante balls, her new work draws on traditions of mimicry and mirroring, as seen in early waltz notation and in balls sponsored by African American social clubs since the early 1900s.

Soho Rep.'s 2018 Spring Fete, emceed by Ghanaian-American writer and actor Jocelyn Bioh, will honor philanthropists Janice Lee and Stuart Shapiro, Monday, April 16 at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers (Pier 61, Chelsea Piers) in Manhattan.

St. Ann's Warehouse and Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens present the American Premiere of Nikos Karathanos' The Birds, a modern, feast-for-the-senses adaptation of Aristophanes' offbeat and poetic comedy.

As previously announced, the Marquis Theatre and the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre would dim their lights in memory of five-time Tony Award nominated actor, singer and performer Jan Maxwell, who passed away on Sunday, February 11th at age 61. The lights dimmed on February 21, 2018, at exactly 7:45pm for one minute.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director), has extended the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar, a second time, through March 31.

The Broadway community mourns the loss of five-time Tony Award® nominated actor, singer and performer Jan Maxwell, who passed away on Sunday, February 11th at age 61. The Marquis Theatre (210 W 46th St.), where she made her final Broadway appearance, will dim its lights in her memory on February 21, 2018, at exactly 7:45pm for one minute.

Elevator Repair Service, "one of the city's few truly essential theater companies" (New York Times), is pleased to present the world premiere of Everyone's Fine With Virginia Woolf, a new play written by longtime company member Kate Scelsa and directed by Elevator Repair Service Artistic Director John Collins.

Performance Space New York kicks off its East Village Series, contemplating the past, present, and future of the organization and its neighborhood, with Welcome to Lenapehoking (February 17, 4pm, Free), a partnership with the The Lenape Center, and Avant-Garde-Arama, the extravaganza of experimentation that's also the organization's longest-running program (February 18, 6pm, Free). Performance Space New York's Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka steps into her new curatorial role with these events honoring the neighborhood's original caretakers and the organization's own trailblazing roots, as springboards into an exhilarating new chapter.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) extends the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar by two weeks, through March 25. In this play, which dauntlessly cracks jokes as it eviscerates, twin sisters Anaia (Alfie Fuller) and Racine (Dame-Jasmine Hughes) undertake a murderous journey from the Dirty South to the California desert, seeking payback for a horrendous act. Is God Is treats both morality and genre as notions to be exploded, drawing on the ancient, the modern, the tragic, the Spaghetti Western, hip-hop and Afropunk in its subversion of theatrical constructs.

REDCAT, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, presents the Los Angeles premiere of Poor People's TV Room, the newest work by Bessie Award-winning choreographer/artist Okwui Okpokwasili, Thursday February 8 to Sunday February 11, 2018.

Performance Space New York (formerly Performance Space 122) presents the East Village Series, its first semi-annual themed series, and the first program curated by the institution's new Executive Artistic Director, Jenny Schlenzka. This presentation of works from some of today's most radical performers and multidisciplinary artists resituates the institution in newly revamped spaces, designed by Deborah Berke Partners, in 122 Community Center (150 First Avenue, at East 9th Street), where Performance Space 122 was founded, and where it operated until it moved out in 2011 for the building renovation. The series contemplates the past, present, and future of the organization and its neighborhood.

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City. The institution will welcome the public to its newly renovated, column-free facilities at 150 1st Avenue - custom-designed by Deborah Berke Partners for interdisciplinary performance - with its 2018 Coil Festival (January 10 February 4, 2018).

Theatre Exile continues its 2017/2018 season with Really by Jackie Sibblies Drury. In the studio she once shared with her boyfriend Calvin, a photographer poses Calvin's mother for a portrait. Like many artists, she struggles to capture on film what she envisions in her mind. As the photo shoot progresses, the women grapple with their memories of the man who was once the center of their lives.

On February 12, 1915, the Abrons Arts Center's Henry Street Settlement Playhouse opened its doors on the Lower East Side. Since that day, it has remained a vital cultural resource, providing audiences with artistically bold work while offering artists opportunities to dynamically grow. The OBIE Award-winning institution has drawn a diverse audience to its historic home at the Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side and has garnered a wealth of critical acclaim across artistic disciplines. The work Abrons presents reflects the social and political challenges of our times in ways that are programmatically integrated into broader conversations that affect New York City and beyond.

Soho Rep. (Sarah Benson, Artistic Director; Cynthia Flowers, Executive Director) reopens its iconic downtown Manhattan theater with the world premiere of Aleshea Harris's Relentless Award-winning Is God Is, directed by Taibi Magar (Ars Nova's Underground Railroad Game), February 6 - March 11, 2018.

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City. The institution will welcome the public to its newly renovated, column-free facilities at 150 1st Avenue - custom-designed by Deborah Berke Partners for interdisciplinary performance - with its 2018 Coil Festival (January 10 February 4, 2018).

Performance Space 122, the birthplace of contemporary performance as it is known today, returns to its legendary home in the East Village, under the leadership of new Executive Artistic Director Jenny Schlenzka, after nearly six years presenting new works in partnership with venues across New York City.

Parity Productions, New York's theatre company that ensures the hiring of at least 50 percent women and transgender artists (directors, designers, and playwrights) on each of their productions, presents its annual gala tonight, October 25, featuring Tony nominee Emily Skeggs and award-winning transgender actor, writer, and performer Becca Blackwell.