Stephen Belber News

Stage & Screen, a collaboration between Coolidge Corner Theatre and Huntington Theatre Company that explores the depictions of shared themes in Huntington productions and acclaimed films begins its second season of collaboration on Monday, October 14 at 7pm with Sidney Lumet's Academy Award-winning film Network. The screening will be followed by a conversation with playwright, screenwriter, and film director Stephen Belber and others from the Huntington's production of The Power of Duff.

Worst. Thanksgiving. Ever. A family gathering to celebrate the iconic American holiday turns into a scathing indictment of phony liberal values in The Pain and the Itch by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Bruce Norris(Clybourne Park), opening Oct. 26 at the Zephyr Theatre.

David Wilson Barnes (Becky Shaw at Second Stage Theatre and London's Almeida Theatre) plays Charlie Duff, a burnt-out local newscaster who transforms first his community and then himself when he begins praying on-air in the Huntington Theatre Company's new production of Stephen Belber's moving new drama The Power of Duff. Amy Pietz ('The Office,' 'Caroline in the City') plays Duff's ex-wife Lisa, and Jennifer Westfeldt (Kissing Jessica Stein, Friends with Kids) plays Sue, Charlie's co-anchor, in the production helmed by Huntington Artistic Director Peter DuBois. Performances begin on October 11 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The Power of Duff is produced in association with New York Stage and Film and Vassar's Powerhouse Theater.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater announces the full company for Charles Randolph-Wright's world premiere drama Love in Afghanistan. Randolph-Wright, a Resident Playwright through Arena Stage's American Voices New Play Institute and director of Motown the Musical currently on Broadway, joins forces with director Lucie Tiberghien (MCC Theater's Don't Go Gentle) to bring to life the tale of two fantastically different people discovering love in the most unlikely of places: war-torn Afghanistan. One, an emerging hip-hop artist, the other, a high-level Afghan interpreter, both fight to navigate the pitfalls of romance, religious differences and political unrest. Love in Afghanistan runs October 11-November 17, 2013 in the Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center is set to present the Los Angeles premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the Davidson/Valenti Theatre with preview performances tonight and tomorrow, September 11 and 12, and the official opening set for Friday, September 13 at 8pm. Written by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, and directed by Ken Sawyer, the production will run through November 16.

Single tickets to the remaining six productions of the Huntington Theatre Company's 2013-2014 Season will go on sale to the general public at midnight on Tuesday, August 6. Single tickets to The Jungle Book, which was recently extended due to popular demand through October 13, 2013, are on sale now. The upcoming season from the recipient of the 2013 Regional Theatre Tony Award and Best of Boston 2013 winner features the return of many celebrated artists who are beloved by Boston audiences.

The L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center's Lily Tomlin/Jane Wagner Cultural Arts Center is set to present the Los Angeles premiere of The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later at the Davidson/Valenti Theatre with preview performances on September 11 and 12, and the official opening set for Friday, September 13 at 8pm. Written by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, and directed by Ken Sawyer, the production will run through November 16.

The producers of I Forgive You, Ronald Reagan, the new play by John S. Anastasi, in which the present is on a collision course with the past, present a limited Off-Broadway run this summer. Directed by Charles Abbott, performances began at The Beckett Theatre (410 West 42nd Street - between 9th & 10th Aves.) on Monday, July 15. Opening Night was last night, July 30. The show is scheduled to play through August 25th. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!

The Ojai Playwrights Conference (OPC), one of the most acclaimed new play developmental programs in the country, announces its 16th season with an extraordinary program of playwrights, new play workshops and special performance events from August 7 through 11, 2013 in Ojai, California. The OPC Summer New Works Festival will feature eleven events over five days with established and up-and-coming playwrights. Participating in this year's conference with new works are Luis Alfaro (winner of the National Hispanic Playwriting Prize), Lucy Alibar, Richard Cabral, Samuel D. Hunter, Sean Lewis, Jiehae Park, Laura Schellhardt and David Wiener. Alice Tuan will be this year's "Writer-In-Residence," and as always, there will be two unforgettable "Intersection Series" events: one featuring a first-ever musical theatre collaboration Walt Disney Imagineering, Creative Entertainment, and the other showcasing the talents of actors, writers, songwriters and storytellers in an evening of profound solo performances.

NYC playwright Eugenie Carabatsos is coming to Columbia at the start of August as her Trustus Playwrights' Festival winning script PINE comes to life on the stage for the first time. This premiere production will have a limited run. PINE opens on the Thigpen Main Stage on August 2nd, at 8:00 p.m. The show runs through August 10, 2013, and tickets may be purchased at www.trustus.org.

MCC Theater recently announced that Neil LaBute's new play, Reasons to be Happy, also directed by LaBute, will now extend through Saturday, June 29th. Reasons to Be Happy is a companion piece to LaBute's critically-acclaimed award-winning play,Reasons to Be Pretty, first produced at MCC Theater in 2008 before moving to Broadway where it was nominated for three 2009 Tony Awards, including Best Play. Performances began at the Lucille Lortel Theatre (121 Christopher Street, NYC) on May 16, 2013. It officially opened last night and BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the theatre arrivals below!

Born and abandoned in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant, Bob travels across America determined to become a 'great' man. The Echo Theater Company presents the Los Angeles premiere of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's hilarious, award-winning comedy, BOB: A Life in Five Acts. Echo artistic director Chris Fields helms the limited 4-week run, tonight, June 8 through June 30 at Atwater Village Theatre.

Two area favorites E. Faye Butler and Nova Y. Payton will unite to star in Smokey Joe's Cafe - The Songs of Leiber and Stoller in Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater's 2013/14 season.

TAPE runs 8pm from 28 May - 8 June and has an age restriction of 15. Secure off street parking is available. Tickets cost R80, or R50 for SAFA members and students. Please present your card for concession prices. For bookings, email gabriella-pinto@hotmail.com or call 0834538146.

Long Wharf Theatre concludes its 2012-13 season with Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park, by Bruce Norris, and directed by Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting. The play will take place on The Claire Tow Stage in the C. Newton Schenck III Mainstage from tonight, May 8, 2013 through June 2, 2013.

Born and abandoned in the bathroom of a fast food restaurant, Bob travels across America determined to become a 'great' man. The Echo Theater Company presents the Los Angeles premiere of Peter Sinn Nachtrieb's hilarious, award-winning comedy, BOB: A Life in Five Acts. Echo artistic director Chris Fieldshelms the limited 4-week run, June 8 through June 30 at Atwater Village Theatre.

Lynne Meadow (Artistic Director), Barry Grove (Executive Producer), and Mandy Greenfield (Artistic Producer) have announced full casting for the world premiere of THE EXPLORERS CLUB, the new play by Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin, directed by Marc Bruni.

Knife Edge Productions will present the World Premiere of OWNED by Drama Desk Award nominee Julian Sheppard. Directed by Sam Helfrich, previews begin tonight, April 26 at TBG Theatre. Opening night is slated for Thursday, May 2.

Ten local actors are hard at work in rehearsals for The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber. The show will be performed at The Wesley Arena Theatre, 271 East 9th Street, Cookeville under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick on Saturday, May 4 at 8:00 p.m. as part of the day long Upper Cumberland Pride Festival celebration. Performances will continue on Thursday through Saturday, May 9, 10 & 11 also at 8:00 p.m. All tickets are $10.00 per person except for Thursday, May 9 which is a pay-what-you-can-performance. Thursday, May 9 tickets will not be sold in advance - they will only be available at the door. Tickets are currently on sale at Art a la Carte Gallery, 121 West Broad Street, Cookeville. Tickets will also be available at Upper Cumberland Pride on May 4 from 1-7 pm at Dogwood Park and at the door the night of the performances. The show produced by UC Pride, United Church of Christ and Stan Rodriquez, is an epilogue to The Laramie Project, which was performed in 2006 at the Wesley Arena Theatre also under the direction of Kathleen Gilpatrick.

Chance Theater presents the second show of its 2013 season with the Orange County Premiere of THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER by Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris and Stephen Belber, playing in repertory with the award-winning masterwork, THE LARAMIE PROJECT, by Moises Kaufman and members of Tectonic Theater Project, both directed by Chance Theater's Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen. THE LARAMIE PROJECT will preview tonight, April 18 & Saturday, April 20 at 8pm and will open on Tuesday, April 23 at 8pm.