Rob Handel News

Art House Productions has announced the 2020-2021 cohort of its INKubator Program. INKubator is a year-long generative process for a select group of 6 playwrights in residence at Art House Productions. This year's playwrights are Andrea Coleman, Izzi D'Esposito, Madeline Dennis-Yates, Nathaniel Foster, Aja Nisenson, and SMJ.

The Farm Theater in collaboration with Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL have awarded Playwright Amy Gijsbers van Wijk their Physical Distance Commission.

The OBIE-winning HERE, has announced HERE THERE EVERYWHERE, a return to live in-person events along with expanded online programming for its summer and fall 2020 season, featuring original relevant works by more than 235 diverse artists. A centerpiece of the season is #stillHERE: IRL, an adventurous new series that reimagines the live experience.

The McKnight Foundation and Playwrights' Center are continuing to invest in the future of theater by supporting some of today's most promising playwrights through the McKnight National Residency and Commission and McKnight Fellowships in Playwriting. The awards are all the more pertinent as many theater-makers face unprecedented challenges during this moment of crisis.

Just last night, The Public Theater presented the world premiere of WHAT DO WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT? Conversations on Zoom, a new play in the Rhinebeck Panorama, written and directed by Tony Award winner Richard Nelson. Commissioned by The Public Theater and written by Nelson from his home in Rhinebeck, New York, during the COVID-19 pandemic, this unique theatrical experience was performed as a benefit for The Public Theater.

HERE will present all decisions will be made by consensus, a 15-minute operatic experiment by composer Kamala Sankaram, librettist Rob Handel, and director Kristin Marting.

Renowned composer Kamala Sankaram (Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera) has embarked on an opera experiment during the current COVID-19 health crisis which has shut down the world's stages. Sankaram, along with librettist Rob Handel, have composed the world's first Zoom opera.

In response to the current pandemic, the OBIE-winning HERE has announced additional free online programming designed to uplift audiences during these challenging times.

Compiled by the New York Opera Alliance, with support from OPERA America, opera fans can turn to NYoperafest.com, a complete list of events hosted by local, New York City-based opera companies. More than 40 virtual events are scheduled for the month of April alone (scroll below for complete calendar).

In response to the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the Obie-winning HERE has announced several free online programming activities designed to uplift audiences during these challenging times.

OPERA America is pleased to announce the three pairs of protégés and mentors selected for the organization's Mentorship Program for Women, now in its third year. The Mentorship Program for Women provides a unique opportunity for promising opera company administrators to be paired with established industry leaders who can help them identify barriers to advancement and develop plans for professional growth. 

Each spring HERE offers a window into the creative process of their nationally recognized HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP). For 21 years, this exploration of new work in development, previously known as the Culturemart Festival, has blurred the boundaries between theatre, music, dance, new media, and visual art. The 2020 edition, which runs February 23-March 1, not only features seven daring workshop presentations but a new name that better captures the essence of the experience: HERE RAW / Resident Artist Works.

The Exponential Festival will present Savannah Reich's CAVEMAN PLAY at Patch Works (98 Moore Street, Brooklyn) from January 8-11, 2020.

The Civilians, under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Steve Cosson and Managing Director Margaret Moll, announces the members of its 2019-20 R&D Group, comprised of writers, composers, and directors who are creating new works derived from creative inquiry.  

HERE (Kristin Marting, Founding Artistic Director) and Opera on Tap in association with Experiments in Opera is presenting the world premiere of Looking at You (September 6a?'21) by composer Kamala Sankaram, librettist Rob Handel, and director Kristin Marting.

HERE has announced its 2019-2020 season, which marks the OBIE-winning institution's 27th year of producing daring new hybrid performances by artists from all disciplines - theatre, opera, music, art, dance, puppetry, and media art.

The Joust Theatre Company is thrilled to announce the four playwrights selected for the 2019-2020 WRITER'S ROUND TABLE. The Writer's Round Table is a developmental writers' group comprised of four carefully selected playwrights whose work challenges andor reimagines systemic norms

Receiving its world premiere at Theatre Vertigo, this script was workshopped at the Ashland New Plays Festival in 2017. A play about a young man, Brandon, who is always in and out of trouble. Until he is shot in the back by a member of his community. Through the perspectives of his family, friends, and girlfriend we learn the circumstances of a young American man's life and how seemingly unrelated events culminate in cutting it short. A cast of 6 diverse women bring to life the story of what we do when someone is lost violently and unexpectedly. Five of the women in our cast are making their Theatre Vertigo debut with this production and we are thrilled to welcome back Jocelyn Seid after her performance in the 2016-17 Season A Maze by Rob Handel.

Theatre Vertigo presents the world premiere of A Dark Sky Full of Stars by Don Zolidis directed by Jocelyn Seid, running April 12th-May 11th at the Shoebox Theater. 

The first of three Monday evening new-play readings at South Coast Repertory for the 2018-19 season will be Eureka Day by Jonathan Spector. The NewSCRipts reading on Monday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m., is directed by Jennifer Chambers. Tickets are available at www.scr.org.