Sam Shepard News

GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2012, the largest summer theater event in the City of Los Angeles, begins its performances June 28 and runs Thursdays through Sundays at 7 p.m. through to September 2. All Performances are free.

Rising Phoenix Rep (Daniel Talbott, Artistic Director) will host an event to launch the newly published CINO NIGHTS: Plays from Rising Phoenix Rep, edited by Daniel Talbott and Addie Johnson and with a foreword by Todd London, on Thursday, June 28th at 6:00 p.m. at The Drama Book Shop

Signature Theatre (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) just announced casting for the world premiere of HEARTLESS by Sam Shepard and directed by Daniel Aukin. The production runs August 7 through September 16, 2012 with an August 27 opening night in The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

Polarity Ensemble Theatre in association with Azusa Productions presents ADRIFT, a new play by David Alex, directed by Maggie Speer, playing July 26 - August 26, 2012 at the Greenhouse Theater Center Upstairs Studio, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago.

Lesser America, in residence at Theater for the New City has announced that it will present the world premiere of American River, written by Micheline Auger and directed by Stephen Brackett, opening Saturday, July 14th at 8pm at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, between 9th and 10th Streets. American River marks the close of the inaugural season for Lesser America, a young theater company in residence at Theater for the New City.

Following the sold out performances and overflow crowds for its Cino Nights presentations, Rising Phoenix Rep finished the series on June 10th with Break My Face on Your Hand by Daniel Talbott. Check out photos from the production below!

A celebration of the life of Tony Award-winning producer and noted director Burry Fredrik (1925-2012) will be hosted by Westport Country Playhouse on Sunday, July 1, 3 p.m. The tribute will be in the campus' Lucille Lortel White Barn Center's Sheffer Rehearsal Studio, 25 Powers Court, Westport, CT. A reception will follow. Fredrik died in her Weston, Connecticut home on May 22 caused by complications from a stroke she suffered over two years ago.

Mary-Arrchie is not taking a vacation this summer. The group finishes its 26th Season with a new partnership with Illinois State University when it presents an energetic staging of Electra in a new adaptation by Sonja Moser in July. And Mary-Arrchie will be performing a special two-week extension of Jeff Nominated Superior Donuts at Metropolis Arts Center in Arlington Heights. Plus, the Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins Theatre Festival celebrates it's 24th year this August.

piece by piece productions, Rising Phoenix Repertory, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater have announced that the world premiere of 3C, written by David Adjmi and directed by Jackson Gay, opens tonight Thursday, June 21 at 7pm at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, 224 Waverly Place.

GRIFFITH PARK FREE SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL 2012, the largest summer theater event in the City of Los Angeles, begins its performances June 28. This year ISC is offering over 40 nights of programming. In addition to the productions, there are nine PLAYERS IN THE PARK/JUGAMOS EN EL PARQUE pre-show workshops on select evenings. These workshops are an interactive, entertaining way for families to learn about the evening's performance. There are also these are lectures on topics related to Shakespeare as well as curtain-raising performances by local musicians and dancers.

The Glendale Centre Theatre continues its 2012 season with the heartwarming and poignant Tony Award-nominated On Golden Pond starring stage and screen veterans Andrew Prine and Salome Jens, July 12 through August 11, 2012 at the Glendale Centre Theatre in Glendale, Calif.

The first installment in this series is the 2011 Twentieth Century Fox film Margaret, written and directed by Residency Five Playwright-in-Residence Kenneth Lonergan, on Tuesday, July 10th at 7:00 p.m. in The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues).

Following the sold out performances and overflow crowds for its first year and a half of Cino Nights presentations (including new plays by Gary Sunshine, Mando Alvarado, Courtney Baron, Florencia Lozano, Kristen Palmer, Emily DeVoti, Lucy Thurber, Jessica Dickey, Adam Szymkowicz, Laura Eason, Daniel Reitz, Megan Mostyn-Brown, Dael Orlandersmith, Keith Reddin, Crystal Skillman, Charlotte Miller and Brooke Berman), Rising Phoenix Rep finished the series on June 10th with Radiance by Cusi Cram and on June 17th with Break My Face on Your Hand by Daniel Talbott.

Following the sold out performances and overflow crowds for its first year and a half of Cino Nights presentations (including new plays by Gary Sunshine, Mando Alvarado, Courtney Baron, Florencia Lozano, Kristen Palmer, Emily DeVoti, Lucy Thurber, Jessica Dickey, Adam Szymkowicz, Laura Eason, Daniel Reitz, Megan Mostyn-Brown, Dael Orlandersmith, Keith Reddin, Crystal Skillman, Charlotte Miller, Brooke Berman and Cusi Cram), Rising Phoenix Rep finishes the series tonight, June 17th with Break My Face on Your Hand by Daniel Talbott.