SEVAN News

Portland Stage will stage the World Premiere of Refuge Malja by Bess Welden with Arabic Translation by Ali Al-Mshakheel begins Oct 30 through Nov 18, opens for reviewers Friday Nov 2, 2018. When a Jewish-American war photographer feels compelled to assist a young refugee who steps in front of her camera, she calls an old friend to translate but hesitates to reveal why she is so drawn to the boy. This poetic, decade-spanning drama explores how we each define and find our own malja (refuge). Affiliate Artist Bess Welden's Refuge Malja was developed as part of the 2017 Little Festival of the Unexpected and was subsequently workshopped in the Studio Series in January of 2018. Refuge Malja is made possible with support from the Maine Humanities Council and the Maine Arts Commission.

Noor Theatre is thrilled to announce initial casting for its upcoming workshop production of Dead Are My People, a play with music by Ismail Khalidi (Tennis In Nablus).  Obie-Award winning direc

Artistic Director Mark Cuddy and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli have announced that Pirronne Yousefzadeh will be joining Geva Theatre Center in the newly-created position of Director of Engagement / Associate Artistic Director. She will be a member of the senior leadership team and will be responsible for planning, leading and growing the organization's community engagement efforts. She will also be a key member of the artistic staff, participating in season planning and directing productions in both the Wilson and Fielding Stages. Ms. Yousefzadeh will begin her new position in September, and relocate to Rochester in the spring of 2019. Geva's new Engagement Department is supported in part by a grant from the Allen and Joyce Boucher fund of the Rochester Area Community Foundation.

Atlantic Theater Company announces casting for Middle Eastern MixFest, a series of free readings co-curated by playwrights Mona Mansour and Heather Raffo that will run Wednesday, August 8th through Thursday, August 16th at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street).

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) will present Middle Eastern MixFest, a series of free readings co-curated by playwrights Mona Mansour and Heather Raffothat will run Wednesday, August 8th through Thursday, August 16th at Atlantic Stage 2 (330 West 16th Street).

A reading of Indonesian playwright N. Riantiarno's Time Bomb, was the first of three plays featured in the Inaugural Columbia University School of the Arts International Play Reading Festival, organized by Dean Carol Becker and David Henry Hwang, at the Flexible Performance Space, Lenfest Center for the Arts in New York on June 15, 2018.

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English; Producing Director Susi Damilano) announced casting for the fifth show of its 2017-18 Mainstage Season-the world premiere of An Entomologist's Love Story, written by Melissa Ross. Giovanna Sardelli will direct.

Noor Theatre is thrilled to announce initial casting for its 4th annual 48 Hour Forum. The diverse roster of actors will each be randomly assigned to a playwright and director during the event. Joining Tala Ashe ("Legends of Tomorrow," "Smash") are Nikki Massoud ("Succession," "Mozart in the Jungle"), Marjan Neshat ("Quantico"), Dan Domingues ("The Blacklist"), May Calamawy ("The Long Road Home," "Madam Secretary"), Amel Khalil (There is a Field), Thomas Muccioli (The Trojan Women), Kesav Wable (Lily in the Grinder), Sharina Martin (Manhood), Leta Renee-Alan (The Place We Built), Cleo Gray (#serials@theflea), J.D. Goldblatt (Les Miserables), Isra Elsalihie (The Good Man), Veracity Butcher (Benghazi Bergen-Belsen), Wesley T. Jones ("Seven Seconds"), and Grace Canahuati ("Celebrity Ghost Stories").

San Francisco Playhouse (Artistic Director Bill English; Producing Director Susi Damilano) announced casting for the fifth show of its 2017-18 Mainstage Season-the world premiere of An Entomologist's Love Story, written by Melissa Ross. Giovanna Sardelli will direct.

Playwrights Amina Henry (Ducklings, The Animals), Sevan K. Greene (This Time), Michele Lowe (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab Artist-in-Residence), and Melisa Tien (Yellow Card Red Card), and directors Ralph Peña (Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theater Company) and Ed Sylvanus Iskandar (The Mysteries, These Seven Sicknesses) join Noor Theatre's 3rd Annual 48 Hour Forum, a 48-hour play festival inspired by news events of the day.

PlayPenn, the new play development organization which assisted in the development of the Tony Award-winning international hit OSLO by J.T. Rogers, has announced their 2018 New Play Development Conference plays and writers. The conference, which takes place July 10 through July 29, 2018 in Philadelphia, includes workshops and readings of six plays, at least two additional readings of works-in-progress, and forums for artists and theatre lovers.

Coming to London after a barnstorming, critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015, Wound Up Theatre's Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy, now has its London debut at VAULT Festival this Spring, exploring the strange new reality of youth in modern day Britain and examining social alienation, radicalisation, disenfranchisement and the rock band Queen.

Working Theater (Mark Plesent, Producing Artistic Director) will present the World Premiere of Adam Kraar's Alternating Currents, directed by Kareem Fahmy (James Scruggs's 3/Fifths at 3LD) as part of their Five Boroughs/One City Initiative with performances in Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, Staten Island, and Brooklyn, April 26-May 27.

Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musical Developments today announce Hannah Chissick, Adam Lenson, James Dacre, Peter Rowe, Josh Seymour, Tania Azevedo, Cressida Carre and Kate Golledge as directors for the eight 25-minute extracts from new musicals to be presented at BEAM2018.

Coming to London after a barnstorming, critically acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2015, Wound Up Theatre's Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy, now has its London debut at VAULT Festival this Spring, exploring the strange new reality of youth in modern day Britain and examining social alienation, radicalisation, disenfranchisement and the rock band Queen.

Following the opening of the Company's first permanent home, Target Margin Theater has announced that 13 diverse artists, via three distinct programs, will be supported in 2018. The Company's new home, located in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn, enables Target Margin Theater to deepen their support of the next generation of theater makers through its annual incubator LAB festival, it's five-year-old fellowship program, and its new artist-in-residency program.

Musical Theatre Network and Mercury Musical Developments today announce the programme selected from their pitching days held around the UK between September and November for BEAM2018. Fifty-eight of the new British musicals pitched at these days have been selected to be shared at the biennial industry showcase which will next year be held at Theatre Royal Stratford East on 1 and 2 March. BEAM is designed for anyone in a position to help develop and stage new British musicals to attend, bringing the most exciting musical theatre projects together from around the UK for industry professionals to grab the opportunity to become involved from the early stages of development.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, is proud to present its biennial signature program: ReOrient 2017 Festival of Short Playsfeaturing plays and artists from Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the U.S. all on one stage.

Noor Theatre is gearing up for its 2017-2018 season. As the barrage of issues affecting Middle Eastern communities across the globe grows, this unique company continues to create a dialogue between their artists and audiences and shed light on these varied and complex perspectives.

Voyage Theater Company and Crossroads Theatre Company will present the New York Premiere of Rohina Malik's THE MECCA TALES, directed by Kareem Fahmy (3/Fifths at 3LD; This Time with Rising Circle Theater Collective), at The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture (18 Bleecker Street at the corner of Elizabeth Street), October 20-November 4.