The Royal Court Theatre News

Playwright, filmmaker and author Neil LaBute participated in the New York Times TimesTalks series at the new TimesCenter (242 West 41st Street) on Monday, March 23rd at 6:30 p.m.

Steven Weber, Jonathan Cake join Matthew Broderick in the Roundabout Theater Company revival of 'The Philanthropist.' Weber will play a friend of the leading character portrayed by Broderick in Christopher Hampton's 1970 take on 'The Misanthrope,' while Cake will play a writer. Anna Madeley is the female lead, reprising a role she played in the 2005 staging of the play at the Donmar Warehouse. Tate Ellington, Jennifer Mudge and Samantha Soule complete the rest of the casting. The cast met the press at at The American Airlines Theatre Penthouse in New York City. March 20, 2009 and BWW was there!

Playwright, filmmaker and author Neil LaBute will participate in an upcoming New York Times TimesTalks at the new TimesCenter (242 West 41st Street) on Monday, March 23rd at 6:30 p.m. The event, titled 'An Evening with Neil LaBute and Friends,' will feature Mr. LaBute in conversation about his career with New York Times reporter Patrick Healy and will also include excerpts from his trilogy of plays, The Shape of Things, Fat Pig and his latest work, reasons to be pretty (currently in previews at the Lyceum Theater), selected specifically for the occasion.

Terry Johnson is to return to the Menier Chocolate Factory to direct Ben Travers' farce Rookery Nook. Previewing from 16 April with press night on 29 April, Rookery Nook runs until 20 June. Designs are by Tim Shortall with lighting by Jason Taylor. Casting for Rookery Nook will be announced shortly.

Bristol Riverside Theatre continues its America Rising: Voices of Today reading series with Brett Neveu's Harmless. This reading will take place Sunday, March 29 at 5 p.m. at St. James Parish Hall, 225 Walnut Street in Bristol. Individual reading tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets include entertainment, a post-show discussion and a soul food dinner.

Florida Studio Theatre's production of Boleros for the Disenchanted is a hit on the Keating Mainstage. Audience exit comments include 'very powerful,' 'One of the most impactful shows I have ever seen' and 'very funny.' Added performances include Thursday, March 5 at 8:00 pm, Tuesday, March 17 at 8:00 pm and Wednesday, April 1 at 8:00 pm.

Emmy-nominated Paul Anthony Stewart stars as Raskolnikov in a gripping 90-minute adaptation of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment at The Cleveland Play House. In addition to numerous New York and regional theatre roles, Stewart, who was nominated for his recurring role on 'Guiding Light,' recently appeared on Broadway in the revivals of Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano - The Musical. Performed with only three actors, the adaptation of Crime and Punishment by Marilyn Campbell and Cut Columbus is being helmed by the acclaimed director of the 2005 Play House production of I Am My Own Wife, Anders Cato. Crime and Punishment begins in the Drury Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, February 27 and runs through Sunday, March 22, 2009. Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Crime and Punishment is presented in promotional partnership with National City and Baker & Hostetler.

The Drama Desk and Obie Award-wining Mint Theater Company (Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director) continues the 2008-2009 season with The Widowing Of Mrs. Holroyd by D.H. Lawrence opening March 1st. Today Mint announced it would extend the production through April 5th. Five years ago Mint Theater introduced New York audiences to D. H. Lawrence - the playwright - with their highly acclaimed production of The Daughter-in-Law, which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival and named one of the highlights of 2003 by The New York Times. Audiences and critics alike were surprised to learn that Lawrence had written a play - in fact he wrote eight.

Florida Studio Theatre's production of Boleros for the Disenchanted is a hit on the Keating Mainstage. Audience exit comments include 'very powerful,' 'One of the most impactful shows I have ever seen' and 'very funny.' Added performances include Thursday, March 5 at 8:00 pm, Tuesday, March 17 at 8:00 pm and Wednesday, April 1 at 8:00 pm.

West Coast Ensemble presents the first show of their 2009 season, THE GRADUATE, adapted by Terry Johnson, based on the novel by Charles Webb, and the motion picture screenplay by Calder Willingham and Buck Henry, THE GRADUATE will be directed by Jules Aaron (Great Expectations). THE GRADUATE will preview on Wednesday, February 11 and Thursday, February 12 at 8:00pm and will open on Friday, February 13 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, April 5 at the new home of West Coast Ensemble - The El Centro Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave. in Hollywood.

London Evening Standard theatre critic Nicholas de Jongh's Plague Over London, which was first presented at the tiny Finbourgh Theatre in Earls Court will transfer to the West End. It begins a limited engagement at the Duchess Theatre on February 11th, 2009.

The 2009 Master Playwright festival offered theatre and film enthusiasts the chance to experience the hard-hitting socio-political analogies and moving family dramas of one of the greatest playwrights of all time, Arthur Miller. Highly anticipated from the beginning, the festival started off with a bang, selling out of MillerPasses prior to opening. The momentum didn't slow down after that, with the lecture series attracting an impressive 333 people. Overall paid attendance reached 11,264, up from 10,249 at last year's MametFest. MillerFest is the second best attended Master Playwright Festival after BrechtFest in 2002, which had a ticketed attendance of 11,779.

Seven Jewish Children - A Play for Gaza by Caryl Churchill will receive a limited run at the Royal Court Theatre, beginning on 6 February. Written in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and examining the history of Israel, the play will be performed for free in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, with a collection taken afterwards for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP): Emergency Appeal for the People of Gaza. It will be directed by Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of the Royal Court. With a running time of around 10 minutes, the short play will be performed at 9pm each night after the scheduled 7.30pm performance of The Stone by Marius von Mayenburg. Tickets will be available from the Royal Court box office (not online) from Monday 26 January. Although there will be no official Press Night, the production will be open to the press from 10 February onwards. The script will be available to download for free from 11 February from the websites of the Royal Court Theatre, Caryl Churchill's publisher Nick Hern Books and her agents Casarotto Ramsay Ltd. There will be no charge for performance rights, on the condition that a collection is made for MAP. Casting is still to be confirmed.

Emmy-nominated Paul Anthony Stewart stars as Raskolnikov in a gripping 90-minute adaptation of Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment at The Cleveland Play House. In addition to numerous New York and regional theatre roles, Stewart, who was nominated for his recurring role on 'Guiding Light,' recently appeared on Broadway in the revivals of Fiddler on the Roof and Cyrano - The Musical. Performed with only three actors, the adaptation of Crime and Punishment by Marilyn Campbell and Cut Columbus is being helmed by the acclaimed director of the 2005 Play House production of I Am My Own Wife, Anders Cato. Crime and Punishment begins in the Drury Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, February 27 and runs through Sunday, March 22, 2009. Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com. Crime and Punishment is presented in promotional partnership with National City and Baker & Hostetler.

Steven Weber, Jonathan Cake have joined Matthew Broderick in the Roundabout Theater Company revival of 'The Philanthropist.' Weber will play a friend of the leading character portrayed by Broderick in Christopher Hampton's 1970 take on 'The Misanthrope,' while Cake will play a writer. Anna Madeley is the female lead, reprising a role she played in the 2005 staging of the play at the Donmar Warehouse. Tate Ellington, Jennifer Mudge and Samantha Soule complete the rest of the casting. Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present Tony? Award winner Matthew Broderick as 'Philip' in a new Broadway production of The Philanthropist by Tony? and Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton, directed by David Grindley.

Atlantic Theater Company (Neil Pepe, Artistic Director; Jeffory Lawson, Managing Director) and Druid will reteam in presenting Academy Award? winner and four-time Tony Award? nominee Martin McDonagh's play THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, directed by Tony Award? winner Garry Hynes, following an acclaimed UK tour.

Florida Studio Theatre opens Jose Rivera's Boleros for the Disenchanted in its continuation of the Winter Mainstage Season. 'Boleros for the Disenchanted is one of the most moving and life affirming stories of love and commitment I have seen on the stage in the past quarter century,' stated FST Artistic Director and show Director Richard Hopkins. From 1953 Puerto Rico to contemporary America a young couple overcomes adversity and discovers a world of hope and love. Immigrating to the United States, Flora and Eusebio experience new adventures, obstacles and life lessons. In a mystical journey through the ages, they realize they have overcome the biggest obstacle of all...finding true love. Boleros for the Disenchanted made its World Premiere at the Yale Repertory Theatre in April, 2008. Other productions include the Huntington Theatre in October of 2008. Jos? Rivera's plays have been translated into six languages. His plays include Marisol (Obie Award winner for Best Play), References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Obie Award), Cloud Tectonics, Each Day Dies with Sleep, The Promise, The House of Ramon Iglesia, Giants Have Us In Their Books, Sueno, The Street of the Sun, Sonnets for an Old Century, Brainpeople, and Adoration of the Old Woman. He studied with Gabriel Garc?a Marquez at the Sundance Institute and was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre, London, on a Fulbright Arts Fellowship in Playwriting. Mr. Rivera's television work includes the critically lauded NBC series Eerie, Indiana, which he co-created and produced. He has also written teleplays, among them an adaptation of his own The House of Ramon Iglesia for PBS, as well as feature screenplays, including The Motorcycle Diaries (Academy Award Nominee). The native Puerto Rican also serves on the boards of The Sundance Institute and the Independent Feature Project. The Boleros for the Disenchanted cast will include New York Actor Damian Buzzerio (Don Fermin/Older Eusebio). Buzzerio regional credits include Vinnie in The Odd Couple at the Carousel Dinner Theatre, Claudius in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead and Gremio/Vincentio in Taming of the Shrew at the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey. He has also been cast in leading roles in four NYC based Independent Films. New York Actress Rainbow Dickerson (Flora/Eve) has played Kate in Taming of the Shrew and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at Shakespeare Saturdays, Patriot ensemble in The Accidental Patriot at Stolen Chair Theatre Company and the Dalai Lama in The Buddha Prince for Tiger Lion Productions.

Seven Jewish Children - A Play for Gaza by Caryl Churchill will receive a limited run at the Royal Court Theatre, beginning on 6 February. Written in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and examining the history of Israel, the play will be performed for free in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, with a collection taken afterwards for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP): Emergency Appeal for the People of Gaza. It will be directed by Dominic Cooke, Artistic Director of the Royal Court. With a running time of around 10 minutes, the short play will be performed at 9pm each night after the scheduled 7.30pm performance of The Stone by Marius von Mayenburg. Tickets will be available from the Royal Court box office (not online) from Monday 26 January. Although there will be no official Press Night, the production will be open to the press from 10 February onwards. The script will be available to download for free from 11 February from the websites of the Royal Court Theatre, Caryl Churchill's publisher Nick Hern Books and her agents Casarotto Ramsay Ltd. There will be no charge for performance rights, on the condition that a collection is made for MAP. Casting is still to be confirmed.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) continues its 2008-2009 Mainstage series with George Bernard Shaw?s Saint Joan. Performances of Saint Joan will be given on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves, January 7-February 1, 2009. Curtain times are Tuesday at 7:00 pm; Wednesday-Friday at 8:00 pm, selected Wednesday matinees at 1:30 pm; Saturday evenings at 5:00 pm; selected Saturday nights at 9:00 pm; Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm; and selected Sunday evenings at 7:00 pm.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (The Rep) continues its 2008-2009 Mainstage series with George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. Performances of Saint Joan continue on the Browning Mainstage of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road, Webster Groves, through February 1, 2009.