Shakespeare & Company News

The Public Theater and British Council announced today that they will present THE ARTISTS EXCHANGE on Saturday, March 8 at 12:00 p.m. with MacArthur Fellow Tarell Alvin McCraney and CenterStage's Kwame Kwei-Armah swapping stories about creating theater on both sides of the pond. All tickets to this exciting one-on-one discussion at Joe's Pub at The Public are free and can be reserved on-line at www.publictheater.org or by calling (212) 967-7555.

Trap Door Theatre extends run of Judith through March 18th. In Howard Barker's Judith, his re-telling for 'the Theatre of Catastrophe' of the apocryphal Book of Judith, the beautiful widowed heroine offers her body as sacrifice to the enemy's general Holofernes in order to save her country only to end up as woman in love 'who kills the thing she loves.'

West End and Musical theatre star Warren Sollars (Mamma Mia!, From Here To Eternity) will lead the cast of the musical 20th Century Boy, playing the Glam Rock legend Marc Bolan. He will be joined by TV stars Sue Jenkins (Brookside, Coronation Street) and Luke Bailey (Waterloo Road, Casualty).

Today is my dad's birthday. As a father myself now, I think of him daily and nightly as I have my hands full with twin three-year-old boys and running a theatre company. I mostly consider how often he went without being thanked by me when I was a child. He did an awful lot I am thankful for now.

Walnut Street Theatre's 2013-2014 Independence Studio on 3 season continues with a World Premiere play by Eric Conger, BEAUTIFUL BOY. The Walnut is proud to have served as a home for many World Premieres, including Eric Conger's Eclectic Society. Directed by David Stradley, BEAUTIFUL BOY began previews on February 18th, opens tonight, February 20th and continues through March 9th in the Walnut's Independence Studio on 3.

The UK's very finest spoken word talent descends on Deptford with astonishing feats of breakneck poetry. Featuring an all-star line-up of guest artists, as well as a razor sharp Headline Poem cooked up in response to the day's news events, Classic Corner, showcasing verse of yesteryear for audiences to test their poetic knowledge, and well-loved anthems on the decks, the Albany's Chill Pill nights present an eclectic mix of original works, re-spun classics and cutting edge underground poetry.

Marin Theatre Company begins the second half of its 2013-14 Season with the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Lasso of Truth, which was co-commissioned by MTC and NNPN in 2010 from Minnesota-based playwright Carson Kreitzer. Running for a limited time from today, February 20 to March 16, this multimedia theatrical event explores the history of Wonder Woman - from her creation as a comic book superhero character to her lasting influence in American pop culture. The play is directed by MTC artistic director Jasson Minadakis and features local actors Lauren English, Jessa Brie Moreno and Liz Sklar, as well John Riedlinger (Minnesota) and Nicholas Rose (Ohio). Opening night is Tuesday, February 25. Based in Mill Valley, MTC is a 47-year old professional nonprofit theater that is a destination for exhilarating performances, inspired new American plays and powerful theatrical experiences.

PSC Founder and Artistic Director Guy Roberts has received the first inaugural Sidney Berger Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA). The 'Sidney' Award was announced and presented by STA President Jeffrey Watkins on January 25, 2014 at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario at the annual STA conference. Sidney Berger was the founder of the Houston Shakespeare Festival and longtime Chairman of the Drama Department at the University of Houston.

Love and laughs are in the air at Centenary Stage Company (CSC) in this season's romantic comedy The Liar by Pierre Corneille, adapted for modern audiences by celebrated playwright David Ives and starring a vibrant cast of classical and Broadway luminaries. Running February 21st through March 9th at The Lackland Center, this story of mistaken identity and half-truths has delighted audiences and critics time and again. The Wall Street Journal says, 'I laughed so hard that I was sore the next day...By wedding [Ives'] verbal prestidigitation to Corneille's mistaken-identity plot, Mr. Ives has come up with a play in which the laughs flow freely and joyously.'

In the 2014-15 season, David Mirvish will present 16 shows in Toronto, consisting of seven shows in the Mainstage Subscription Series, three in the Off-Mirvish Subscription Series and six shows off-subscription.

Regent's Park Open Air Theatre has confirmed lead casting for Hobson's Choice and the Gershwins' Porgy and Bess. Mark Benton will play Henry Hobson in Hobson's Choice, with Jodie McNee as his daughter Maggie. Rufus Bonds Jr and Nicola Hughes play the title roles in Porgy and Bess with Phillip Boykin re-creating his Tony Award nominated performance as Crown, and Sharon D Clarke as Mariah.

Graham Parker, General Manager WQXR and Vice President of NYPR will moderate the Breakfast With Mugabe post-performance talk back, as the play celebrates its 100th performance and on the eve of president Robert Mugabe's 90th birthday celebration, tonight, February 19.

Some of my smartest Memphis Callboard colleagues put their heads together and made a list of ALL the local theatre companies in Memphis. Some are community efforts, others are professional, all contribute to making our ever-growing arts community so much fun!

Graham Parker, General Manager WQXR and Vice President of NYPR will moderate the Breakfast With Mugabe post-performance talk back, as the play celebrates its 100th performance and on the eve of president Robert Mugabe's 90th birthday celebration, Wednesday, February 19.

The Laguna Playhouse Executive and Artistic Directors, Karen Wood and Ann E. Wareham invite you to take 83 books, with three chameleon-like actors in 98 minutes, and mix it all up into one hilarious evening of ridiculous fun! It's the Reduced Shakespeare Company's production of ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (abridged), written and directed by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor with additional material by Matthew Croke and Michael Faulkner. ALL THE GREAT BOOKS (abridged) will begin previews on Tuesday, March 4 and will open on Saturday, March 8 at 7:30pm and run through Sunday, March 30, 2014 at the LagunaPlayhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

The God Box: A Daughter's Story, performed by acclaimed author Mary Lou Quinlan based on her bestselling book, will play the Cherry Lane Theater (38 Commerce Street) on Monday March 3rd at 7PM as a benefit performance for Gilda's Club NYC. Based on Mary Lou Quinlan's New York Times' bestselling book, The God Box, Sharing my mother's gift of faith, love and letting go, the performance explores the laughter and tears of a family in love, in loss, and in triumph. Quinlan is donating 100% of the night's proceeds to Gilda's Club NYC, the free cancer support program founded in memory of comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989. The God Box: A Daughter's Story is co-written and directed by Martha Wollner of the LAByrinth Theater Company.

'Something wicked this way comes...' Gamut Theatre, the combined theatre of Harrisburg Shakespeare Company and Popcorn Hat Players Children's Theatre, presents its highly acclaimed educational outreach production of 'MACBETH'. One of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies, 'MACBETH' follows the rise and fall of a Scottish lord-turned-King, whose ambition turns him into a brutal murderer consumed by the dark arts. The play also explores the concept of fate vs. personal responsibility.

The Broadway Cast - led by Hannah Yelland and Tristan Sturrock - will appear in the internationally celebrated Kneehigh production of Noel Coward's Brief Encounter, which will have a 43-performance limited engagement at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts today, February 15 to March 23, 2014 (press opening February 19).

Harrisburg Shakespeare Company will continue its 2013-2014 Mainstage Season with Ronald Harwood's 'THE DRESSER' which will run Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. from today, February 15-March 9 at Gamut Classic Theatre, located on the Third Floor of Strawberry Square, Downtown Harrisburg.