Samuel Beckett News

Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is pleased to announce their 10th Anniversary Season, beginning with a free outdoor version of their acclaimed production of Ain't Supposed To Die A Natural Death. The season continues with Anton Chekhov's classic Three Sisters, Supreme Jealous Divine, an adaptation of Molière's classic Tartuffe, and Paul Carter Harrison's 1974 play The Great MacDaddy.

Brava! for Women in the Arts celebrates the opening of their 2nd Stage with the Regional Production of Friends, written by Kobo Abe and directed by Brava's Artistic Director, Raelle Myrick-Hodges.

The New Group presents the U.S. premiere of Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth directed by Mark Brokaw as the first production in its 2008-2009 season. Slated for a limited Off-Broadway engagement from October 21 - December 27, this production features New Group artist David Cale, Lisa Emery and Elizabeth Jasicki. Mouth to Mouth will have its Official Opening on Thursday, November 6 @ 7:00 PM at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

A celebration art and social activism begin on October 17th when the Stella Adler Studio of Acting kicks off its third annual Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts.

The New Group presents the U.S. premiere of Kevin Elyot's Mouth to Mouth directed by Mark Brokaw as the first production in its 2008-2009 season. Slated for a limited Off-Broadway engagement from October 21 - December 27, this production features New Group artist David Cale, Lisa Emery and Elizabeth Jasicki. Mouth to Mouth will have its Official Opening on Thursday, November 6 @ 7:00 PM at The New Group @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts presents DRUID theater company in a double bill of The Shadow of the Glen and The Playboy of the Western World in the Terrace Theater October 22-25, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Center's etcetera! series.

Rupert Goold will direct Michael Gambon, David Bradley, David Walliams and Nick Dunning in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land, opening at the Duke of York's Theatre on 27 September 2008, with press night on 7 October 2008.

Abingdon Theatre Company will present the world premiere of BEACHWOOD DRIVE, a gripping new drama exploring contemporary themes of human trafficking, October 17 - November 16, 2008 at the Abingdon Theatre Arts Complex's June Havoc Theatre. The official opening will be on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 at 7 PM.

The Harold Clurman Festival of the Arts will kick off with a symposium discussing Art and Social Activism: Spotlight on Africa with participants Nima, Elbagir, Mira Sorvino, Winter Miller, Melissa Fitzgerald, John Prendergast and others.

Abingdon Theatre Company will present the New York premiere of Robert Brustein's comedy, THE ENGLISH CHANNEL, with previews beginning on Saturday, September 13, 2008.

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater opens its 2008-09 season with VICTIMS OF DUTY from the master of absurdism, Eugène Ionesco. Cutting Ball Artistic Director Rob Melrose helms Ionesco's most surreal and autobiographical play, starring David Sinaiko and Felicia Benefield, and featuring Avery Monsen and Ryan Oden, October 24 through November 23 (Press opening: Thursday, October 30).

The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center has acquired the papers of renowned performers and acting teachers Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof. The collection consists of thousands of pages of unpublished correspondence, diaries, scripts and manuscripts, photographs, clippings and other documentation relating to the dynamic theatrical careers of both Hagen and Berghof. This collection of professional and personal papers, spanning nearly 100 years of theater history, is being made public for the first time. To celebrate the bequest, the Library is planning a series of eight free public programs featuring many close friends and colleagues of Ms. Hagen and Mr. Berghof's including such figures as Harold Prince, Edward Albee, David Hyde Pierce and Eli Wallach. Programs take place in the Bruno Walter Auditorium in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center located at 111 Amsterdam Avenue (between 64th and 65th streets). Admission to all programs is free and first come, first served. For information, please call (212) 642-0142 or visit www.nypl.org/lpaprograms. Programs are curated by Alan Pally, Manager of Public Programs at the Library for the Performing Arts.

Japan Society kicks off its 2008-09 Performing Arts Season with the U.S. debut of ARICA Performance Company's one-woman show with live music, KIOSK. This production marks the first installment in Japan Society's season theme, Beyond Boundaries: Genre-Bending Mavericks, which expands the borders of conventional performing arts whether melding new technologies with age-old performance techniques, marrying the classical with the ultra-modern, weaving text into dance and the fabric of space itself, or lacing stunning visual effects of light, video and innovative design into live performance. KIOSK plays at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street) Thursday September 18, Saturday September 20 @ 7:30 PM.

Performers Under Stress (PUS) opens its fourth season of critically acclaimed stage-work in the Bay Area with the World Premiere of GHOST TRAIN COMING, a new dark comedy by PUS co-founder Charles Pike (Chicago's Steppenwolf, Second City, and others). Scott Baker, PUS co-founding Artistic Director, helms this gritty, surreal, campy, and spiritual exploration of a week in the life of Jackie-O, a struggling sex worker, starring Monica Cortes Viharo, Valerie Fachman, and Vince Faso, and featuring Anoulack, Glen Caspillo, Dale Tagtmeyer, and Gareth Whitlow. GHOST TRAIN COMING plays October 30 through November 22 (press opening: October 31) at The Garage, 975 Howard St. in San Francisco.

Remy Bumppo Theatre Company presents the Chicago premiere of David Mamet's sleek adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance by Harley Granville-Barker, running Sept. 18 through Nov. 2 in the Upstairs Mainstage of the Greenhouse Theater, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. Preview performances begin Thursday, Sept. 18 with opening night Sunday, Sept. 21 at 7:00 pm. The Voysey Inheritance is directed by Remy Bumppo Artistic Director James Bohnen, and features Artistic Associate David Darlow and guest artist Raymond Fox.

Back on the regular schedule! New this week: News from BSF and a New Theatre Company! Plus a benefit featuring local leading ladies abd a One Act Plat Festival at Laurel Mill Playhouse!

Brooklyn's Premier Off-Off Broadway Company kicks off its 42nd season with the social satire The Underpants. The Underpants, the Steve Martin adaptation from the classic German farce by Carl Sternheim, is directed by Seth Soloway (artistic director, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts), and features an entertaining veteran Gallery Players cast.

The New School for Drama has announced that award-winning actor John Turturro will be the distinguished Artist-in-Residence for the 2008-09 academic year. Turturro is the recipient of a multitude of awards and accolades for his extensive acting work in theater, film and television.

NEW THIS WEEK! The final entrants of this year's BPF! News of Theatre Project! MET!

Abingdon Theatre Company will present the New York premiere of Robert Brustein's comedy, THE ENGLISH CHANNEL, with previews beginning on Saturday, September 13, 2008.