Sarah Ruhl News

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) 'MONSTROSITY,' directed by Lear deBessonet. 'MONSTROSITY,' featuring a cast of 21, will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances.

Carrie Fisher set box-office records at Berkeley Repertory Theatre with her hilarious solo show, Wishful Drinking. Then it became a New York Times bestseller and played to sold-out crowds on a six-city national tour. Now Fisher returns to Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, her last stop before the show bursts onto Broadway! This limited run - 15 performances only - begins July 9 and ends July 23.

Stageworks Theatre's 2009-2010 season features MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA!, GOLDA'S BALCONY, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, EURYDICE, A PERFECT GANESH, and BAD DATES.

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced that Francois Battiste, Crystal A. Dickinson, Alano Miller and Wendell Pierce will be featured in its upcoming production of BROKE-OLOGY, a new play by Nathan Louis Jackson, directed by Thomas Kail.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES will feature Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will begin preview performances on Thursday, July 2. Opening night is Thursday, July 16 at 6:30pm

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey.

Award winning Steppenwolf playwright Lisa Dillman has chosen ROGUE MACHINE to present the West Coast premiere of her play HALF OF PLENTY, for their season opener of 2009. This hilarious and chilling take on lean times and family values in America uncovers some all too familiar anxieties in modern living.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open its summer season with one of Shakespeare's rarely produced history plays, Henry VIII. Last produced at OSF in 1984, the play will be staged with all the spectacle of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Some tickets remain available for previews and openings. To purchase tickets go to www.osfashland.org or call the Box Office at (541) 482-4331.

13P (Thirteen Playwrights, Inc), the OBIE Award-winning theater company made up of 13 playwrights, will present Lucy Thurber's (P#8) 'MONSTROSITY,' directed by Lear deBessonet. 'MONSTROSITY,' featuring a cast of 21, will be performed at The Connelly Theatre, 220 East 4th Street (between Avenues A and B), with performances running from July 9 through 19, 2009 for a total of twelve performances.

Second Stage Theatre (Carole Rothman, Artistic Director; Ellen Richard, Executive Director) will conclude its 30th Anniversary mainstage season with the New York premiere of VANITIES, a new musical written by Jack Heifner, featuring music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum, directed by Judith Ivey. With musical staging by Dan Knechtges, VANITIES will feature Lauren Kennedy, Sarah Stiles, and Anneliese van der Pol and will begin preview performances on Thursday, July 2. Opening night is Thursday, July 16 at 6:30pm

Berkeley Repertory Theatre, which has earned a national reputation for developing provocative new plays, has received two prestigious grants of $50,000 each to fund upcoming world premieres.

Playwrights Horizons, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tim Sanford and Managing Director Leslie Marcus, proudly announces the sixth and final production of its upcoming 2009/2010 Season, as well as additional casting. Presented at the theater company's home at 416 West 42nd Street, the new production will be: A COOL DIP IN THE BARREN SAHARAN CRICK - the World Premiere of a new play by Playwrights Horizons alumna Kia Corthron (Breath, Boom at Playwrights Horizons, Force Continuum), directed by Obie Award winner Chay Yew (Durango at The Public). A co-production with The Play Company (Kate Loewald, Founding Producer) and Culture Project (Allan Buchman, Artistic Director).

Marin Theatre Company presents the final show of its highly successful 2008-09 season with a seminal work of modern comedy, Joe Orton's uproarious farce What the Butler Saw in MTC's Boyer Theatre beginning June 4.

Carrie Fisher set box-office records at Berkeley Repertory Theatre with her hilarious solo show, Wishful Drinking. Then it became a New York Times bestseller and played to sold-out crowds on a six-city national tour. Now Fisher returns to Berkeley Rep's Roda Theatre, her last stop before the show bursts onto Broadway! This limited run - 15 performances only - begins July 9 and ends July 23.

Previews are now underway at Playwrights Horizons (Tim Sanford, Artistic Director; Leslie Marcus, Managing Director) for the New York premiere of Our House, a new play by Pulitzer Prize finalist Theresa Rebeck (The Butterfly Collection and Bad Dates at Playwrights Horizons, Broadway's Mauritius, co-author of Omnium Gatherum). A scathing new comedy that shakes up Reality TV, Our House is the final production of the theater company's 2008/2009 Season.

Award winning Steppenwolf playwright Lisa Dillman has chosen ROGUE MACHINE to present the West Coast premiere of her play HALF OF PLENTY, for their season opener of 2009. This hilarious and chilling take on lean times and family values in America uncovers some all too familiar anxieties in modern living.

Tarell Alvin McCraney and Will Power, two award-winning playwrights with longstanding relationships with McCarter Theatre Center, have both received national attention for their contributions to the American theatrical culture. The Advocate has selected McCraney for its special 'Forty Under 40' issue, while Power is featured in American Theatre magazine's 25th Anniversary issue.

13P, the OBIE-winning company comprising 13 playwrights presented its spring benefit The First (and Last) Annual 'THIRTINI AWARDS' at Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette Street, for one performance only on Monday, May 11.

Whidbey Island Center for the Arts, under the leadership of Executive Director Stacie Burgua, announces the cast of Franklin & Figaro, by Kristina Sutherland. The production, directed by the playwright, features Bob Atkinson, Tom Churchill, Ed Cornachio, Patricia Duff, Deana Duncan, David Gignac, Dave Mayer, L. Bennett Nolen, and Katie Woodzick.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival will open its summer season with one of Shakespeare's rarely produced history plays, Henry VIII. Last produced at OSF in 1984, the play will be staged with all the spectacle of the Field of the Cloth of Gold. Some tickets remain available for previews and openings. To purchase tickets go to www.osfashland.org or call the Box Office at (541) 482-4331.