Timothy Douglas News

Akhtar's script is so beautifully complex yet simple, and asks some hard questions. The performances and physical production elements are first-rate. This is one of the strongest productions I've seen all season, and perhaps in recent years in the Washington, DC area.

The Drama League has announced the 11 stage directors who have been selected as the 2016 Directing Fellows of The Drama League Directors Project: Noa Egozi, Drew Feldman, Sara Holdren, Candis Jones, Yavor Kostov, Katie Lupica, James Palmer, Jesca Prudencio, Ilana Ransom Toeplitz, Chloe Treat, Shaun Patrick Tubbs. More information can be found at www.dramaleague.org

Lest you might think careers are well-planned, organized endeavors, take a lesson from director Timothy Douglas, who is gracing Washington in a return visit to Arena Stage (last season's King Hedley II was his Arena Stage debut) with his work with Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced, a play about being Muslim or, perhaps more importantly, being perceived as Muslim, in America in current times. 'I tripped into directing,' says Timothy, 'I went to LA as an actor, but found I didn't have the skin for it, so I stepped back and thought I'd be a career teacher, but through some dumb luck, I directed a show, and some people liked what they saw, and I ended up with the Center Theatre Group in LA, as a director. When I finally stopped resisting the path, it started to work.' 'It seems every good thing,' he laughingly reflects, 'has happened as I was being dragged through the back door kicking and screaming.' So, it seems, tripping doesn't always mean falling.

Sundance Institute today announced the acting company, dramaturgs and creative advisors participating in its pilot Theatre Lab in the MENA region, including Sandra Oh, Hoon Lee, Deanna Dunagan, Hala Omran and Raeda Taha. The Lab, held in Morocco next month, is part of the Institute's international cultural exchange programs for independent artists and will kick off a new, multi-year commitment to support artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). For the Lab, the Institute will provide promising, fresh voices from the U.S. and MENA region with a rigorous artistic retreat and new opportunities for cross-cultural discovery, artistic reflection and creative experimentation.

Arena Stage presents the final production of its 2015/16 season, Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama DISGRACED. Director Timothy Douglas (Arena's King Hedley II) tackles this emotionally-charged play by Akhtar, author of the novel 'American Dervish' and currently the most produced playwright in the United States. DISGRACED runs April 22-May 29, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater. BroadwayWorld has photos from the company's first rehearsal below!

YALE REPERTORY THEATRE announces its 50th Anniversary Season, which will include three world premieres commissioned by Yale Rep and two contemporary masterpieces.

Sundance Institute today announced the eight new projects selected for its pilot Theatre Lab in the MENA region, held in Morocco, May 2016. The Lab is part of the Institute's international cultural exchange programs for independent artists, which include a new, multi-year commitment to support artists from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), broadening the work of its East African Theatre Exchange over the past 15 years. For the Lab, the Institute will provide promising, fresh voices from the U.S. and MENA region with a rigorous artistic retreat and new opportunities for cross-cultural discovery, artistic reflection and creative experimentation.

Artistic Director Blake Robison announced the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's 2016-17 season today with a richly layered collection of world premieres, a joyously entertaining musical, adaptations of beloved novels, a comedy-tinged detective caper, new and classic dramas, a salute to a bestselling Ohio author and the return of The Second City with a holiday-themed revue. The Playhouse is celebrating its 57th season as the region's preeminent professional theatre and Robison's fifth season as artistic director.

Terrence McNally's acclaimed play MOTHERS AND SONS, nominated for Tony and Drama League awards in 2014, explores change, reconciliation and what it means to be a family. MOTHERS AND SONS will run in the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park's Thompson Shelterhouse Theatre March 18 through April 17.

American Blues Theater continues its 30th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT'S SHOULDER, by Artistic Affiliate James Still and directed by Timothy Douglas. A solo show featuring Ensemble Member Manny Buckley, LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT'S SHOULDER tells the story of African-American White House Butler Alonzo Fields, who served four presidents between 1931 and 1953. LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT'S SHOULDER runs now through March 6 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Avenue. Opening night is Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016 at 7:30 p.m. BroadwayWorld has a first look at Buckley in action below!

Arena Stage announces casting for the final production of the 2015/16 season, Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Disgraced. Director Timothy Douglas (Arena's King Hedley II) tackles this emotionally-charged play by Akhtar, author of the novel 'American Dervish' and currently the most produced playwright in the United States. Hailed as 'emotionally shattering, a smart and provocative work of unusual daring that should be seen by anyone who cares about serious theater' by Newsday, Disgraced runs April 22-May 29, 2016 in the Kreeger Theater.

Suzan-Lori Parks has made her name updating Civil War lore in striking modernist terms in Topdog/Underdog, the Pulitzer Prize winner from 2001, the same year she won a MacArthur 'genius' grant.

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity Ensemble celebrating 30 years of presenting visceral theatrical works while engaging its audience in missions of local service agencies, are proud to announce the Chicago premiere of LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT'S SHOULDER, by Artistic Affiliate James Still and directed by Timothy Douglas, February 5 - March 6, 2016 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.

Tonight, before a gathering of theatre artists and patrons, theatreWashington announced the nominees for the 2016 Helen Hayes Awards, drawn from 202 eligible productions presented in the 2015 calendar year. Scroll down for the full list of nominees!

American Blues Theater continues its 30th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of Looking Over the President's Shoulder, by Artistic Affiliate James Still and directed by Timothy Douglas.

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity Ensemble celebrating 30 years of presenting visceral theatrical works while engaging its audience in missions of local service agencies, are proud to announce the Chicago premiere of LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT'S SHOULDER, by Artistic Affiliate James Still and directed by Timothy Douglas, February 5 - March 6, 2016 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave.

Arena Stage announces the 2015/16 programming for Actors Arena, a professional development and community-building forum for experienced D.C.-area actors.

Juilliard Drama announces its 2015-16 season of fully-staged productions featuring Juilliard's 45th group of acting students in their fourth and final year in the drama program at Juilliard.

Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea beautifully balances a heightened sense of wonder and allegory with humor and earthy practicality. Theater Alliance's production is a winning combination of Nathan Alan Davis' compelling script, beautiful design elements, and an expert cast giving us appealing and convincing characters which renders theatrical storytelling at its best.

The Desert Rose Playhouse, in Rancho Mirage, California, is presenting yet another fine production - its last show for the 2014-15 season. Douglas Carter Beane's THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED is an edgy comedy which raises serious questions and which contains serious moments, especially in the second act. It is well-acted and superbly staged. I recommend this show for adults with one caveat: It contains brief moments of full frontal male nudity, and is therefore not suitable for everyone.