Shakespeare & Company News

William Shakespeare's Hamlet will be performed by the renowned five-member British touring group, Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS), September 12, 13, and 14, 2018 at Notre Dame's Washington Hall.

For the first time in over 20 years the Bay Area will have the chance to experience Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls When The Rainbow is Enuf. This transformative and riveting evening of provocative dance, music and poetry tells the stories of 7 individual women dealing with the at times brutal, tender and dramatic arcs of their lives. 

The signature storytellers festival, Talk Story, brings back two performers to reprise their 2018 Festival performances. As an art form and a means of communication, storytelling is one of our deepest-rooted instincts, and thanks to the phenomenal successes of series such as Porchlight, Bawdy, and The Moth, it's enjoying a renaissance in the Bay Area and across the country. Join us this fall as we present two powerful storytellers and their unique stories, spoken straight from the heart.

The Baltimore Shakespeare Factory (BSF) named Bethany Mayo as Education Director.

A powerful new play by the award-winning American writer Ken Urban, A Guide for the Homesick will make its European debut at Trafalgar Studios Two from 16 October - 24 November, with press night on 18 October 2018. This gripping thriller will star Douglas Booth (Jupiter Ascending, Speech and Debate) and Clifford Samuel (McMafia, The Events) and is directed by Jonathan O'Boyle.

A wheeler-dealer charlatan has taken control of the country… and everybody underestimated him. Seattle Shakespeare Company launches its 2018-2019 season with a masterclass in political intrigue, Shakespeare's Richard III. The production is a collaboration with upstart crow collective, and features an all-female acting company. Richard III will be directed by Rosa Joshi, and previews September 12 and 13, opens September 14, and runs through October 7 at the Leo K. Theatre.

Pulled from the streets of 1960's Ireland, this gritty monodrama tells the story of Austin "Occi" Byrne, abused and isolated, violent and vulnerable, flawed and searching for redemption. This is theatre that doesn't settle for easy answers.

The fascinating history behind Shakespeare's greatest plays continues with a third series of Shakespeare Uncovered, premiering Fridays, October 12-26 from 9-11 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) and streaming the following day at pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered and on PBS apps. The ambitious series concludes with celebrated new hosts Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher, who seamlessly weave their personal passions with history, biography, iconic performances and new analysis to tell the stories behind the stories of Shakespeare's famous works. The final season investigates “Much Ado About Nothing,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “Measure for Measure,” “Julius Caesar,” “The Winter's Tale” and “Richard III.” 

Created in collaboration between Drama Desk award-winning playwright Adam Mathias and Bakerloo Theatre Project Artistic Director William Addis, this stunning, fast-paced, four person adaptation uses Shakespeare's text in a post-modern exploration of the English language's most enigmatic anti-hero. In the instant following his death, Hamlet awakens in a surreal dreamscape and must replay the pivotal moments of his tragedy with the help of his mother, his friend, and his love.

Taming of the Shrew closed last weekend but Madison Shakespeare's busy schedule is just beginning, with three unusual destinations ahead.

The Menier Chocolate Factory today announces a major revival of one of the world's most-beloved musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof in a new staging by Trevor Nunn. The production opens on 5 December, with previews from 23 November, and runs until 9 March. Booking opens for supporters of the Menier on 28 August, with public booking on 5 September.

Rainbow Theatre Project will open its sixth season with Siegmund Fuchs' In the Closet. Presented as a join world premier with Cleveland's Convergence-Continuum, In the Closet will run from August 16 - September 15, 2018 at the District of Columbia Arts Center.

Queens-based Rude Grooms announced today initial details for the company's inaugural public production: William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, led by actor-manager Laura Piccoli (Unhealthy at Battalion Theatre Co) and produced in partnership with Long Island City Artists at the Plaxall Gallery and the Astoria Park Alliance. The production will play shows in Queens at the Plaxall Gallery, Astoria Park, Queensbridge Park, and Rainey Park as well as in Manhattan at the West End Theatre. Reservations are strongly encouraged and can be made online at rudegrooms.com.

Celebration Theatre announces that the third and final show in its 2017-2018 season, the smash-hit, critically acclaimed production of CABARET

Actors Theatre of Louisville and Managing Director Kevin E. Moore are thrilled to announce the return of Fifth Third Bank's Dracula, in the Bingham Theatre from September 7-October 31, 2018. With fangs bared and eyes aglow, Louisville's favorite vampire is back! Based on Bram Stoker's gothic tale of the immortal Transylvanian count and his unexpectedly feisty human prey, this fast-paced, fright-filled adaptation is a Halloween treat that drips with suspense-and even more blood.

Vision Films and award-winning event cinema distributor, Trafalgar Releasing announced today that tickets are now on-sale for Living In The Future's Past, a beautifully photographed tour de force produced and presented by Academy Award Winner, Jeff Bridges who explores who we are, where we come from, how we think and why we do the things we do. Bridges shares the screen with profound thinkers, scientists, and a dazzling array of the Earth's creatures to reveal profound concepts about ourselves and our future in ways that have never been presented quite like this on film before.  The limited theatrical release will include an onscreen discussion and commentary with Bridges and the film's collaborators curated exclusively for cinema audiences.

Centenary Stage Company, the not for profit professionally producing Equity Theatre in residency on the campus of Centenary University will be holding a variety of educational opportunities during the fall of 2018. Continuing its tradition of cultivating a vibrant arts community, Centenary Stage Company will be offer the fall Conservatory of Dance, as well as, the Adult Acting Workshop. Both programs are open to the public with registration deadlines of August 24, 2018.

Vision Films and award-winning event cinema distributor, Trafalgar Releasing announced today that tickets are now on-sale for Living In The Future's Past, abeautifully photographed tour de force produced and presented by Academy Award Winner, Jeff Bridges who explores who humans are, where they come from, how they think and why they do the things they do. Bridges shares the screen with profound thinkers, scientists, and a dazzling array of the Earth's creatures to reveal profound concepts about themselves and their future in ways that have never been presented quite like this on film before. The limited theatrical release will include an onscreen discussion and commentary with Bridges and the film's collaborators curated exclusively for cinema audiences.

The Growing Stage - The Children's Theatre of New Jersey, located in the Historic Palace Theatre on Route 183 in Netcong, New Jersey presents its 2018 - 2019 Main Stage Season

Winner of the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? is about a profoundly unsettling subject: the irrational, confounding, and convention-thwarting nature of love. Martin-a hugely successful architect who has just turned fifty-leads an ostensibly ideal life with his loving wife and gay teenage son. But when he confides to his best friend that he is also in love with Sylvia, he sets in motion events that will destroy his family and leave his life in tatters. Albee's boundary-pushing play is puzzling, powerful, bawdy, and disturbing.