Studio Theatre News

Celebrating its 10th anniversary with a ceremony held in the iconic Grand Hall of Battersea Arts Centre on Sunday 8 March 2020, the Off West End Awards once again celebrated the best of independent, fringe and alternative theatres across London.

Clubbed Thumb has announced the complete line-up for the 25th annual SUMMERWORKS, its festival of new plays. SUMMERWORKS will run May 15 - July 1, 2020 at The Wild Project (195 E. 3rd Street) in Manhattan and will feature productions of three new plays: SPINDLE SHUTTLE NEEDLE by Gab Reisman and directed by Tamilla Woodard; BODIES THEY RITUAL by Angela Hanks and directed by Knud Adams; and THE WOMAN'S PARTY by Rinne Groff and directed by Tara Ahmadinijad.

South London's favourite fried chicken franchise, Morley's Chicken, is lending its support to South London actor and playwright Corey Bovell's new edgy and moving one-man play Chicken Burger n Chips. The production, which has sold out in advance, plays the Brockley Jack Studio Theatre from Tuesday 10 until Saturday 14 March - a venue just a stone's throw away from the streets, estates and takeaways of South East London at the heart of Corey's drama.

HUDSON STAGE announces the cast of its world premiere of the riveting and provocative new play by Joshua Allen, THE OCTOBER STORM.

Leah Ryan's Fund For Emerging Women Writers celebrates ten years of awarding it's prize to women playwrights with 10 X 10: An Evening of 10 Minute Plays Celebrating Ten Years of Winners. The gala event will take place at Cherry Lane Theatre on March 30 and will feature world premiere short plays from past recipients Megan Mostyn Brown, Genia Femia, Jiehae Park, and Eliana Pipes. A pre-show cocktail reception begins at 6:00pm, followed by the main performance at 7:00pm and an afterparty at Cowgirl. The evening will be under the direction of Daniella Topol. For more information, visit https://leahryansfeww.com/.

Ovalhouse has announced its new Artistic Director, Gbolahan Obisesan, will start in April 2020. Gbolahan will be leading the theatre into its new venue in Brixton, South London and succeeds Deborah Bestwick who steps down after 20 years at the helm.

Due to continued audience demand, Florida Studio Theatre (FST) announces the extension of Outlaws and Angels into its 22nd week. Now playing through April 19 in FST's Goldstein Cabaret, Outlaws and Angels celebrates the 'outlaws' of country music and the 'angels' who loved them. Featuring songs from music legends like Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson, audiences have called the production 'Fun and Uplifting,' 'Outstanding,' and 'The Best Ever.'

The 2019-2020 season of The Met: Live in HD will continue Saturday, March 14 with Wagner's DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER at 12:55 pm in the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre. The 2019-2020 season is sponsored by Viron Rondo Osteria. A complimentary 45 minute pre-opera lecture by Dr, Marguerite Mullée will be offered in the Studio Theatre Lobby two hours before the broadcast, sponsored by Land Rover Hartford.

Pieter-Dirk Uys returns as Bambi Kellermann in the satirical, scandalous and sparkling NEVER TOO NAKED. Coming to the Fugard stage later this month, Uys reveals Bambi's beginnings, journey, and what to expect next from Tannie Evita's younger sister.

The New York City-based Kairos Italy Theater along with the Italy-based KIT Italiana and Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU will present the eighth annual In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY, a festival of Italian theater taking place in all five boroughs of NYC, April 27-May 11. Participating venues include Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimo' at NYU (24 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011), Italian Cultural Institute in NY (686 Park Ave, New York, NY 10021), Advent Lutheran Church (2504 Broadway, New York, NY 10025), BAAD! - Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (2474 Westchester Avenue, Bronx, NY 10461), South Bronx NeON Center (198 E. 161st Street Bronx, NY 10451), St. John's Lutheran Church (81 Christopher Street, New York, NY 10014), Cherry Lane Studio Theatre (38 Commerce Street, New York, NY 10014), The Brick (579 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211), Bernie Wohl Center at Goddard Riverside (647 Columbus Avenue, NY 10024), Greek Cultural Center (2680 30th Street b2, Astoria, NY 11102), Center of the Arts, College of Staten Island (2800 Victory Boulevard, Bldg 1P, Staten Island, NY 10314), and Casa Italiana Ente Promotore (595 1/2 3rd St NW, Washington, DC 20001). Admission to all shows and events in the festival will be FREE. All shows will be presented in Italian with English supertitles, unless otherwise noted. For more information please visit www.inscenany.com.

Six months after their Birdland debut, The Swingaroos return to the legendary jazz club for the New York premiere of a?oeHollywood Serenade.a??

The Boston premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's 2018 Tony Award-nominated play THE CHILDREN at SpeakEasy Stage Company is an affecting drama, thanks to a combination of the playwright's excellence at her craft, Director Bryn Boice's focus, and the trio of Elliot Norton Award-winning actors whose portrayals constitute a collective master class. Inspired by the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, THE CHILDREN puts issues of climate change, the environment, and a generation's responsibility for stewardship under an unforgiving spotlight, challenging the audience to engage in self-reflection.

Renaissance Theaterworks will continue its 27th season of 'Transformation' with Anna Ziegler's ACTUALLY. Tom and Amber are college freshmen at Princeton. They are overwhelmed, overstimulated, sleep-deprived, surrounded by strangers, full of tension, uncertainty, and alcohol. What could possibly go wrong?

This August, The Studio Theatre Tierra del Sol (806 San Marino Drive, The Villages, FL) will present its annual Summer Song Cycle, Elegies from August 13th through August 22nd, 2020. Written by Tony Award-winning composer William Finn, this 5-person show is inspired by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Elegies is a heartfelt collection of songs about the deaths of various people Finn has known, including some of his closest friends and family members. This work is a commentary on the rewards and woes of being part of a family, a group of friends, and a society in good times and bad. Although the show is all about death and dying, it's no sad trip down memory lane. Never morbid, Elegies is touching, funny, and ultimately buoyant; floating on the spirits of those who inhabit its songs.

Inspired by a true friendship, Deborah Brevoort's My Lord, What a Night produced by Orlando Shakes in partnership with UCF - Central Florida's largest professional theater company, runs from March 18 - April 26, 2020. This production of My Lord, What a Night is part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere. Tickets (starting at $30) are available now by phone (407) 447-1700 ext. 1, online at orlandoshakes.org, or in person at the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center (812 East Rollins Street).

The Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University will stage Jaclyn Backhaus' 'Men on Boats' March 5-8 in the PSH Foundation Studio Theatre.

ATG Colonial has announced the Boston engagement of Jacqueline Novak's GET ON YOUR KNEES, fresh off its four-time-extended hit off-Broadway engagement. Written and performed by comedian Jacqueline Novak, directed by John Early, executive produced by Mike Birbiglia and originally presented by Natasha Lyonne, ATG Colonial presents the Boston engagement in the Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre at the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA for an intimate experience, the show will play a 16-performance run beginning Tuesday, March 31, 2020 and running through Sunday, April 12, 2020.

After a strong critical & audience response, Irish Repertory Theatre (Charlotte Moore, Artistic Director and Ciarán O'Reilly, Producing Director) announced today a one-week extension for Lady G: Plays and Whisperings of Lady Gregory. Lady G is written by Lady Augusta Gregory with additional material by Ciarán O'Reilly (Dublin Carol), and direction by O'Reilly. Originally set to close on March 22, 2020, Lady G will now play in the W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre through March 29, 2020.

EVERY BRILLIANT THING at Florida Repertory Theatre, directed by Eleanor Holdridge, is a beautiful show about mental health, love, loss, and what makes life brilliant. 

The Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) recently announced a five-year artistic exchange program, bringing RADA graduates and student productions to the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival, as well as training workshops for students, faculty and staff in both Utah and London. The five-year collaboration began Jan. 1, 2020 and will continue through Dec. 31, 2024, based on financial support from an anonymous donor.