The Living Theater News

On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Mahira Kakkar) receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant (Greg Wood), a successful and charismatic restaurateur. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship with food and wine, only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Vangeline Theater and the New York Butoh Institute present ??re??? (Erasure), running May 16-19, 2019 at Theater for the New City's Johnson Theater, with performances Thursday-Saturday at 8pm and Sunday at 3pm. Tickets for the performance are $15 General Admission and can be purchased at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/re-erasure-tickets-57540984634.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) presents DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing, concludes with First Love andDeathwatch at the New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available atwww.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

Theater for the New City takes you to the past where theater ghosts enlighten the present in Ghost Light Now & Then, a new play by Barbara Kahn.

The Drama League (Executive Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks) has announced casting for DirectorFest 2019: The 35th Annual Directors Festival, the only festival in the United States exploring the art of contemporary stage directing. DirectorFest takes place at various locations around NYC: New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thompson Avenue, Long Island City), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). Festival programming, tickets and additional details are available at www.directorfest.org, or by calling (212) 244-9494.

The Enchanted Revolution -- written, directed by and featuring the multifaceted creative enchantress, Charlotte Lily Gaspard for Midnight Radio Show -- is 80 minutes of magic, with a six-person cast creating a modern fairytale for the whole family from another dimension in a basement black box theater located in the heart of the East Village at Theater for the New City.

We live in an age where our leaders convince people that made-up things are really true. That's what witches do.  So the Witches are the preoccupation of First Maria Ensemble's upcoming production of 'Macbeth,' directed by Celeste Moratti, to be presented December 6 to 21 at Teatro Circulo, 64 East 4th Street.  The company made an auspicious debut in 2016 with 'Hamlet,' which Theater Pizazz (JK Clarke) called one of the season's best small-company productions of Shakespeare plays and Front Row Center (Holli Harms) added, 'Here is hoping that Celeste Moratti continues on this trajectory of directorial discoveries.' 

The Tank (Meghan Finn and Rosalind Grush, Artistic Directors) in association with Anna & Kitty, Inc. will present the World Premiere of The Russian & The Jew, a political fairy tale about anti-semitism and female friendship in the Soviet Union in 1968, co-written by Liba Vaynberg and Emily Louise Perkins and directed by Ines Braun at The Tank (312 West 36th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues), December 4-20.

Varda Studio, a newly formed avant-garde theater company, will perform its 'All Roads Lead to the Kurski Station,' a theatrical version of 'Moscow Circles' by Venedikt Yerofeyev that is adapted and directed by Emil Varda, from October 9 to 21 as part of the Sublet Series at HERE, 145 Avenue of the Americas.

The New York Butoh Institute and Vangeline Theater present the New York Butoh Institute Festival 2018, a celebration of diversity in butoh featuring 16 artists from Japan, Brazil, Chile, UK, Israel, Italy, Germany, France, Costa Rica, Spain, and the United States. Curated by Butoh artist Vangeline, the Festival will consist of an exciting program of butoh workshops and masterclasses, as well as four nights of groundbreaking performances by fierce female butoh dancers from October 18-21, 2018 at the Theater for the New City's Johnson Theater, 155 1st Avenue, NYC, 10003.

BRIC presents Alchemy, its major summer 2018 exhibition, featuring the work of seven artists reconceiving non-conventional materials in a reflection on the ancient concept of alchemy-the transformation of matter (June 28 - August 12). Employing diverse media, these artists create visually layered statements about the body, gender, race, and the environment. Their work, which includes large-scale installations and work commissioned by BRIC, also manifests the potential for the spiritual to be drawn out from the quotidian world around us.

Theater for the New City, Crystal Field, Executive Director, presents Cyberbabies: A Musical Dot.Comedy, a world premiere musical with book, music and lyrics by Craig Silver. Lissa Moira directs a cast of 14, including William Broderick, Jef Canter, Selear Duke, Katie Fann, Becca Gottlieb, Jordan Griffey, Zander Kirby, David "Zen" Mansley, Michael Maricondi, Olivia Medley, James Parks, Johnathan Fox Powers, Dani Westhead, and Amanda Yachechak.  Performances will be staged at the Community Space at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (bet. 9th and 10th Streets), New York, NY 10003 from May 31-June 17, 2018. 

All Roads Lead to the Kurski Station, a play based on the postmodern Russian novel Moscow Circles by Vienya Efofeev, is set to play the East Village Playhouse (340 East 6th Street). Adapted and directed by Varda, the play stars Elliott Morse, Mia Vallet, and Rivers Duggan. Beginning Thursday, May 10, 2018, performances will be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 9pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Opening night is set for Thursday, May 17 at 9pm, the final performance is slated for Sunday, June 24. Tickets are $40 and available through OvationTix.com. There are also a select number of $30 under 30 and student tickets for $20.

ules Aaron has directed shows at GRT including The Paris Letter (a major critical success) and That Lovin' Feelin' (the Righteous Brothers musical that was extended and broke all house records).  Aaron is the winner of over 40 awards for direction around the country (including LA Drama Critics Award, Garland Award, Bay Area Critics Award, Philadelphia Critics Award, Utah Theatre Critics Award, etc.  He is bi-coastal, working frequently in fifteen California theatres including South Coast Repertory,  ICT, McCoy/Rigby, Pasadena Playhouse, Odyssey Theatre (most recently directed the acclaimed Two Fisted Love), TheatreWorks, Colony Theatre, Falcon Theatre and Theatre 40; In New York at The Public Theatre (personally developed plays with Joe Papp), Soho Rep, the Unit Theatre; regionally at the Humana Festival (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Philadelphia Theatre Co., Utah Shakespearean Theatre among many others. Aaron is currently in rehearsal for Deathtrap expected to open at Group rep Friday April 6.

Verzet Amsterdam [Resistance Amsterdam] dramatizes the true story of artists in World War II occupied Amsterdam who band together to resist fascism and protect Jews from deportation and death. Written by Barbara Kahn. Directed by Robert Gonzales Jr. and Barbara Kahn. Set and light design by Mark Marcante. Costume design by Everett Clark. Sound design by Joy Linscheid. Vintage prop design by Lytza Colon. Featuring Steve Barkman, Benjamin Cardona, Robert Gonzales Jr., Carl Ellis Grant, Jared Johnston, Anya Krawcheck, Christopher Lowe, Paolo Solis, Steph Van Vlack. April 5-22, 2018. Theater for the New City 155 1st Ave (9th & 10th Sts.)

Young Jean Lee is the winner of the 2018 Edwin Booth Award. The Award Ceremony will take place Wednesday, March 21, 2018 beginning at 6:30 pm in The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center at the CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, at 34th Street. Admission is FREE but seating is limited. Reservations: boothawardrsvp@gmail.com

Theater For the New City (TNC) presents the world premiere engagement of AMERICA'S FAVORITE NEWSCASTER, a new musical with book and lyrics by Tom Attea, music by Arthur Abrams, and directed by Mark Marcante (the creative team behind the acclaimed Heather Smiley For President, Living in a Musical, An American Worker, etc.).

Theater for the New City presents Happenstance Theater's BrouHaHa in its NYC premiere, with previews January 4 & 5 for an opening today, January 6, and a run through January 21st, 2018.

Theater for the New City presents Happenstance Theater's New York Premiere of BrouHaHa, an existential clownesque escapade devised by Happenstance Theater at Theater for the New City (155 1st Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets), January 4-21.

Theater For the New City (TNC) presents the world premiere engagement of AMERICA'S FAVORITE NEWSCASTER, a new musical with book and lyrics by Tom Attea, music by Arthur Abrams, and directed by Mark Marcante (the creative team behind the acclaimed Heather Smiley For President, Living in a Musical, An American Worker, etc.). AMERICA'S FAVORITE NEWSCASTER will play a limited 4-week engagement, running Thursday, January 4, 2018 through Sunday, January 28, 2018 at Theater For the New City (155 1st Avenue, between East 9th and East 10th Streets, NYC). The Opening is Sunday, January 14, 2018 (3 PM).