Stephen Michael Spencer News

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program announces the debut performance of the Class of 2020. Fifth of July, from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lanford Wilson, will run in the Helen Theatre at Playhouse Square.

The Tony Award-winning Oregon Shakespeare Festival will launch its 83nd year with preview performances beginning on February 16. The 2018 season officially kicks off Friday night, February 23, in the Angus Bowmer Theatre with Shakespeare's Othello (director, Bill Rauch). On Saturday afternoon, Shakespeare's Henry V (director, Rosa Joshi) opens in the Thomas Theatre, and the West Coast premiere of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Sense and Sensibility (director, Hana S. Sharif) opens that evening in the Angus Bowmer Theatre. On Sunday afternoon, Karen Zacarias's Destiny of Desire (director, Jose Luis Valenzuela) will be staged in the Angus Bowmer Theatre.

General ticket sales are underway for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's (OSF) 83rd season, which begins with the first preview on Feb. 16 and continues through Oct. 28. The 2018 season features four plays by William Shakespeare, a re-imagined classic musical, two West Coast premieres, one U.S. premiere and two world premieres as well as a host of events and opportunities to further engage with the onstage works.

The Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program opens their 2017-18 season with Shakespeare's timely classic: Macbeth.

Playwright Lynn Nottage notches another feather in her cap of outstanding work.

Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage's SWEAT, currently making its premiere at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, could be headed off-Broadway next year. 

Cleveland Play House (CPH) will begin the New Year with a captivating production of Yentl. Based on the short story 'Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy' by Isaac Bashevis Singer and adapted for the stage by Leah Napolin and Singer, Yentl tells the story of a young Jewish woman rebelling against the limitations placed upon her gender by society. This incredible CPH production will be directed by Michael Perlman and will run from tonight, Jan. 10 - Feb. 2 in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

Cleveland Play House (CPH) will begin the New Year with a captivating production of Yentl. Based on the short story "Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy" by Isaac Bashevis Singer and adapted for the stage by Leah Napolin and Singer, Yentl tells the story of a young Jewish woman rebelling against the limitations placed upon her gender by society. This incredible CPH production will be directed by Michael Perlman and will run from Jan. 10 - Feb. 2 in the Allen Theatre at PlayhouseSquare.

The Case Western Reserve/Cleveland Play House MFA Acting Program's class of 2014 has some excellent actors who should do well in their professional pursuits. Their production of TWELFTH NIGHT has some performance highlights, but the students appear to have been done a disservice by what could be declared a misdirected version of TWELFTH NIGHT. Maybe they can use the experience to learn the necessity of consistency of intent and directing execution.

Cleveland Play House's The 2013 New Ground Theatre Festival lit up the three stages in the Allen Theatre complex starting on May 2nd with parts running through the 19th.