Shakespeare & Company News

According to the Daily Mail, Haydn Gwynne has been cast as Margaret Thatcher opposite Helen Mirren as the Queen in Peter Morgan's play The Audience at the Gielgud Theatre. Preview performances begin Feb. 15, with the show's opening slated for March 5, and the run ending June 15, 2013.

The Royal Shakespeare Company recently got pummeled with criticism over Facebook due to questionable casting for their upcoming play, The Orphan of Zhao. In this Chinese play, written in 4th century BC, the RSC company only has three actors of east Asian descent. Following the Facebook reproaches, the vice chair of the Equity ethnic minority committee, Daniel York, demanded an apology from and debate with RSC representatives.

The first production of a chilling new play by an Emmy nominated writer, the first Carnegie performance by two Broadway actors, and the first Cincinnati collaboration with Dayton's premier theatre company all conspire together this fall in the Otto M. Budig Theatre with bloody excellent results.

'We're not getting all the evidence. I feel it in my bones. Unless some lucky chance comes our way, I fear that the Norwood Disappearance Case will not figure in that chronicle of our successes." Sherlock Holmes is speaking to his loyal friend Dr. Watson. They are trying desperately to prove that a young lawyer did not commit murder, while Inspector Lestrade of Scotland Yard is convinced of it.

The Country Playhouse will present Murdering Marlowe by Charles Marowitz, in its Black Box venue for three weekends only, November 2 - 17. Performances are todays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with a Sunday matinee on November 11 at 2:00 p.m., plus a weeknight show on Thursday, November 15, at 7:30 p.m.

The Theatre School at DePaul University presents IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER, by alumnus and award-winning playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, and directed by Marc David Pinate, as the first production of the 2012-2013 New Directors Series. IN THE RED AND BROWN WATER opens Today, November 2, and runs through Sunday, November 11, 2012, at the Greenhouse Theater Center. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 PM and Sundays at 2 PM. Previews are on October 31 and November 1 at 7:30 PM.

The Country Playhouse will pre­sent Murdering Marlowe by Charles Marowitz, in its Black Box venue for three weekends only, November 2 - 17. Performances are todays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, with a Sunday matinee on November 11 at 2:00 pm, plus a week­night show on Thursday, November 15, at 7:30 pm.

The Huntington's production of Harold Pinter's BETRAYAL opens on Wednesday, November 14 at 7pm, Avenue of the Arts / BU Theatre. The production is directed by Maria Aitken. The cast includes Alan Cox, Mark H. Dold, Gretchen Egolf, and Luis Negrón. Check out production photos inside!

Audiences can begin the holiday season with a family classic at the Sitnik Theatre in the David and Carol Lackland Center starting Thanksgiving weekend. The Wizard of Oz is a musical tradition following the story of Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, the Lion and Toto, too.

Tennessee Shakespeare Company's expanding Education Program this week launches its 2012-13 Schools Tour throughout the Memphis area, across the state, and into North Carolina with its newly conceived production of Shakespeare's Greatest Hits.

Joseph V. Melillo, executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, today announced programming for the BAM 2013 Winter/Spring season, which runs from January 17 to June 9. Season listings inside!

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company at The New American Shakespeare Tavern present Titus Andronicus, directed by Drew Reeves. Previews run tonight, Nov 1, 2012 & Friday, Nov 2, 2012, with the regular run continuing through November 25th.

Seattle Shakespeare Company opens its new season at the Playhouse at Seattle Center with the epic romance Antony and Cleopatra. Director John Langs, who staged the company's block-buster production of Hamlet, helms the legendary and tragic affair of two charismatic world leaders caught between their own desires and the duty they owe their country.

Previews begin today for John Caird's production of DADDY LONG LEGS, the second production at London's newest theatre complex, the St. James Theatre. DADDY LONG LEGS will run at the St. James Theatre until 08 December, with press night on 07 November 2012. Robert Adelman Hancock and Megan McGinnis will reprise the roles of Jervis Pendleton and Jerusha Abbott. Photos from the production inside!

ACT - A Contemporary Theatre's leadership, Executive Director Carlo Scandiuzzi and Artistic Director Kurt Beattie, have announced a new position, hiring critically acclaimed director John Langs as the new Associate Artistic Director. Langs has garnered a reputation as a determined and innovative freelance artist, who since 2004 has established an ongoing relationship with Seattle's theatre community. He recently directed The Dumb Waiter and Celebration for ACT's Pinter Festival and will direct this holiday season's annual production of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, adapted by Gregory Falls. In January 2013, he will begin his full-time staff post and also direct Chekhov's The Seagull for ACT's Central Heating Lab, followed by the mainstage offering of Will Eno's Middletown in the fall. Langs' production of Antony and Cleopatra with Seattle Shakespeare Company opens this Friday.

2012 Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer recreates his Tony Award winning role in the film adaptation of BARRYMORE, directed & adapted by Érik Canuel, which will be theatrically released jointly by BY Experience and Image Entertainment beginning Thursday, November 15 in New York and Los Angeles. BARRYMORE is based on the play by William Luce.

Harrisburg Shakespeare Company presents a riveting production of the Harper Lee inspired play.

FREUD'S LAST SESSION will celebrate Halloween today, October 31st by offering free tickets to the 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. performances to anyone who comes to the Mercury Theater, 3745 N. Southport, dressed as the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. It's time to brush the dust off your old tweed jacket, find your round spectacles and don a white beard. Bring a cigar! The production has been extended multiple times and is now in final weeks, ending its successful Chicago run on November 11.

Robert Adelman Hancock and Megan McGinnis will reprise the roles of Jervis Pendleton and Jerusha Abbott in John Caird's production of Daddy Long Legs, the second production at London's newest theatre complex, the St. James Theatre. Daddy Long Legs will run at the St. James Theatre from tonight, 31 October to 8 December, with press night on 7 November 2012. Get a first look at Hancock and McGinnis in character below!

Following the huge success of the Papatango New Writing Festival 2011 in partnership with the Finborough Theatre which saw unprecedented press acclaim for the sell-out production of the winning play, Dawn King's Foxfinder, the partnership between Papatango and one of London's leading new writing venues, the multi-award-winning Finborough Theatre, continues...??This year's competition saw 700 entries from all over the world.