Shakespeare Theatre Company News

Milwaukee Repertory Theater announced final casting for the upcoming World Premiere production of Five Presidents. Broadway and television veterans Mark Jacoby, Martin L'Herault, Steve Sheridan, Jeff Steitzer, and Brit Whittle, along with Rep Associate Artist Reese Madigan, make up the cast of Five Presidents from Emmy Award-winning writer Rick Cleveland (The West Wing, House of Cards, Mad Men, and Six Feet Under).

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: PHANTOM gets a new masked man, Williamstown Theatre Festival hosts its 2015 gala and more!

The Washington Stage Guild continues its Season of Love and/or Marriage with the next installment of a three-year dramatic extravaganza that culminates in the company's 30th anniversary, February 19 -March 15, 2015.

Dunsinane, presented by The Shakespeare Theatre Company through February 21, shows us that the precarious balance among victor, vanquished, and peace-keeper is a timeless dilemma stretching from Macbeth's heaths to the Iraqi dessert. Dunsinane picks up where Shakespeare's Macbeth leaves off, when the English army, camouflaged as forest trees, kills the tyrant and takes the seat of power. But in the confusion of the skirmish a critical and messy mistake is made: the Queen of Scotland, Lady Macbeth, remains alive. With the queen living and with a claim to the throne, many in the country will refuse to accept a newly-installed king.

With the third and fourth shows of the Shakespeare Theatre Company's current season underway, Artistic Director Michael Kahn announced today the Company's 2015-2016 Season. Kahn has put together a season of contrasts and striking new voices, with international directors and adaptors bringing provocative approaches to the classics to Washington, D.C.

The course of love definitely does NOT run smooth when William Shakespeare's family-friendly comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream" plays on the Clarence Brown Theatre Mainstage February 19 through March 8, 2015. An Open Captioned performance will take place on Sunday, February 22 at 2:00 pm.

Following a hugely successful, critically acclaimed season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 the Reduced Shakespeare Company will set out to reduce the UK to tears of laughter in Spring 2015. Yes that's right, the bad boys of abridgement will finally tackle the subject they were born to reduce. From the high-brow to the low, THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF COMEDY (abridged) covers comedy through the ages, from Aristophanes and Shakespeare to Vaudeville and Charlie Chaplin.

In the fourth installment of Shakespeare Uncovered - Series 2, David Harewood asks a very difficult question. Could you kill a person you love? Shakespeare made his audience confront that question when he created the character of Othello 400 years ago. It holds a key to understanding how such a strong warrior could end up so vulnerable that he would actually consider killing his wife. Harewood says, 'Whether you love him or hate him, we have to understand Othello. If you don't understand Othello, I don't think you understand yourself.'

Four-time Helen Hayes Award winner and acclaimed D.C. actor Edward Gero stars as one of America's most brilliant and polarizing figures-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia-in the world-premiere political drama The Originalist, by Charles MacArthur Award winner and Arena Stage resident playwright John Strand. When a bright, liberal law school graduate embarks on a nerve-wracking clerkship with Justice Scalia, she discovers him to be both an infuriating sparring partner and unexpected mentor. How will their relationship affect one of the most incendiary cases ever to reach the nation's highest court? Artistic Director Molly Smith directs this daring new play, which offers a rare portrayal of a sitting Supreme Court justice, and for the first time the intimate Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle will be configured into a three-quarter thrust configuration. The Originalist runs March 6-April 26, 2015.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents Dunsinane, playwright David Greig's majestic sequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth, presented by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by Roxana Silbert. First premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Hampstead Theatre in 2010, this tour marks the U.S. premiere of Dunsinane after a highly successful tour to East Asia and Russia in spring 2014. Hailed by The Guardian as 'a work of compelling intelligence, provocation and wit,' Dunsinane will play at the Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from tonight, February 4-21, 2015.

Continuing the successful partnership between Artistic Director Michael Kahn and Venus in Fur playwright David Ives, the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents The Metromaniacs, the third installment in Ives's series of rediscovered French comedy masterpieces.

The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, just named 'Company of the Year' by the Wall Street Journal which also described the Theatre as 'one of America's half-dozen leading classical repertory companies,' proudly announces an ambitious 2015 Season of classic treasures and exceptional new work inspired by historic events and historic figures. Featuring works by Shakespeare, George Bernard Shaw, George S. Kaufman, Edna Ferber, and Ferenc Molnar, alongside a contemporary work by Bill Cain, the Theatre's line-up demonstrates an unwavering dedication to classic tales that inspire our present lives as well as future visions of the world.

Continuing the successful partnership between Artistic Director Michael Kahn and Venus in Fur playwright David Ives, the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents The Metromaniacs, the third installment in Ives's series of rediscovered French comedy masterpieces.

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, True Love Productions and The Theatre @ Boston Court have announced that the New York Premiere of Everything You Touch, written by Sheila Callaghan and directed by Jessica Kubzansky, will begin previews tonight, January 28 at 8pm at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce Street. The official opening night is set for Thursday, February 12 at 7pm. Everything You Touch is scheduled to run through Sunday, March 29, 2015.

Tonight before a crowd of 150 theatre makers and theatre lovers, theatreWashington announced the nominees for the 2015 Helen Hayes Awards. One of the country's most prestigious cultural honors, The Helen Hayes Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Watch the full announcement below, and scroll down for the list of nominees!

England's most storied rivalry takes center stage at Folger Theatre in Friedrich Schiller's classic drama Mary Stuart from tonight, January 27- March 8, 2015.

The idea of finding your voice is a two way street in the world premiere one-hour opera PENNY. Composer Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg have created a succinct, lyrical piece in which their title character discovers her talent for music and is able to communicate and take charge of her life in spite of incredible odds. At the same time, Pew and Weinberg's new work is part of Washington National Opera's American Opera Initiative, a commissioning program that works to expand the American operatic repertory. Young artists from WNO's Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program are able to collaborate on new works with living composers and librettists through the American Opera Initiative.

The international association of theaters producing Shakespeare's plays has chosen Baltimore as the site of its annual conference in 2017.

Washington National Opera (WNO) continues its 2014-2015 season with the world premiere of the one-hour opera Penny by composer Douglas Pew and librettist Dara Weinberg, presented under the auspices of WNO's American Opera Initiative, this weekend, January 23-24, 2015 in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater.

The Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) presents Dunsinane, playwright David Greig's majestic sequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth, presented by the National Theatre of Scotland and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and directed by Roxana Silbert. First premiered by the Royal Shakespeare Company at Hampstead Theatre in 2010, this tour marks the U.S. premiere of Dunsinane after a highly successful tour to East Asia and Russia in spring 2014. Hailed by The Guardian as "a work of compelling intelligence, provocation and wit," Dunsinane will play at the Sidney Harman Hall (610 F Street NW) from February 4-21, 2015.