The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis News

The 2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.S. playwright and Texas native Jennifer Haley for her play The Nether. At a private reception in London on February 28, the transatlantic theatre community gathered to honor the playwright and finalists of the annual prize.

Kathleen Turner, two-time Golden Globe winner and Academy Award and Tony Award nominee, returns to the Minneapolis stage in the national tour of playwright Matthew Lombardo's HIGH, a stirring drama about addiction, faith and redemption. Highruns for one week only, Wednesday-Sunday, April 18-22, 2012 at the Pantages Theatre, 710 Hennepin Ave., in downtown Minneapolis.Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m., Friday, March 2. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org or call 1.800.982.2787.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) will hold a special event, Conversations…Racism, surrounding the topic of race on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, February 27, 2012 from 7-9 p.m.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of The Suicide Club by Jeffrey Hatcher, which received its acclaimed world premiere at Arizona Theatre Company last fall has been nominated for an Edgar Award in the category Best Play. Each spring, Mystery Writers of America presents the Edgar Awards, widely acknowledged to be the most prestigious awards in the genre.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents David Mamet's Race, directed by Timothy Near, February 8 - March 4. The production stars Zoey Martinson (Susan), Morocco Omari (Henry), Jeff Talbott (Jack), Mark Elliot Wilson (Charles). Check out production shots below!

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings the cast of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to Roxbury's Hibernian Hall to perform a reading of the play on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm. The reading is free and open to the public, but an RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/raineyreading is encouraged, as seating is limited. Liesl Tommy, director of the Huntington's acclaimed 2011 production of Ruined, helms the production. The ensemble features "ER" cast member Yvette Freeman as the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and local favorite Jason Bowen (Ruined, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington) as Levee.

The Imaginary Theatre Company, the young audiences touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, supported by a $25,000 grant from Brown Shoe Company and a $25,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund, will present Puss in Boots on Saturday, March 17, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Heagney Theatre on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School, 530 East Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves. Tickets are $6. Check out the production photos below!

The Imaginary Theatre Company, the young audiences touring ensemble of The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, supported by a $25,000 grant from Brown Shoe Company and a $25,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund, will present Puss in Boots on Saturday, March 17, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Heagney Theatre on the campus of Nerinx Hall High School, 530 East Lockwood Avenue, Webster Groves. Tickets are $6.

Two-time Golden Globe winner, Academy Award & Tony Award nominee Kathleen Turner will make her Fort Lauderdale stage debut in the National Tour of Matthew Lombardo's play HIGH, February 29-March 4, 2012 at The Parker Playhouse. Directed by Rob Ruggiero, HIGH also features Evan Jonigkeit as 'Cody Randall' and Timothy Altmeyer as 'Father Michael Delpapp'.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) concludes its 2011-2012 Studio Theatre series with The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar. This timely and intriguing production will be performed in the Emerson Studio Theatre at the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, March 7-25, 2012.

The New Victory Theater presents The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Laura Eason, adapted from the Novel by Mark Twain.

Two-time Golden Globe winner, Academy Award & Tony Award nominee Kathleen Turner will make her Fort Lauderdale stage debut in the National Tour of Matthew Lombardo's play HIGH, February 29-March 4, 2012 at The Parker Playhouse. Directed by Rob Ruggiero, HIGH also features Evan Jonigkeit as 'Cody Randall' and Timothy Altmeyer as 'Father Michael Delpapp'.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) will hold a special event, Conversations…Racism, surrounding the topic of race on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, February 27, 2012 from 7-9 p.m.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) presents the powerful play Race by David Mamet. This suspenseful drama will be performed on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, February 8 - March 4, 2012.

The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has announced 10 Finalists for its prestigious playwriting award, now celebrating its thirty-fourth year. The ten Finalists for the 2011-2012 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, chosen from over 100 submitted plays, are:

As part of its 30th Anniversary Season celebration, the Huntington Theatre Company brings the cast of August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom to Roxbury's Hibernian Hall to perform a reading of the play on Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 7pm. The reading is free and open to the public, but an RSVP at huntingtontheatre.org/raineyreading is encouraged, as seating is limited. Liesl Tommy, director of the Huntington's acclaimed 2011 production of Ruined, helms the production. The ensemble features "ER" cast member Yvette Freeman as the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and local favorite Jason Bowen (Ruined, A Civil War Christmas at the Huntington) as Levee.

One of the most belovedcharacters of American literature comes to life in an imaginative new adaptation of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Twain's enduring paean to the joys of childhood is adapted for the stage by Laura Eason and directed by Jeremy B. Cohen. The production runs January 20-February 12 at Spencer Theatre in the James C. Olson Performing Arts Center on the UMKC campus.

The Tenth Annual St. Louis Food & Wine Experience, the region's largest international wine tasting and a delicious journey through the sensual pleasures of wine and fine foods, transforms the elegant Chase Park Plaza Hotel, 212 N. Kingshighway, St. Louis, into a spectacular culinary crossroads January 27 - 29, 2012.

It's easy to see some of the elements of A Steady Rain that playwright Keith Huff owes a debt to. There are certainly enough police procedural shows on television that reference enough of same plot points to breed a certain familiarity to the material, including a crucial bit concerning a Dahmer-like serial killer. But there's something more going on here that deserves your attention. Powered by two spectacular performances and crisp, incisive direction, A STEADY RAIN is an emotionally charged storm that never lets up, and you'll find yourself completely enraptured by the Repertory of St. Louis's current studio theatre production.

Writers' Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, continues its 20th Anniversary Season with Hesperia by Randall Colburn, directed by Associate Artistic Director Stuart Carden.