Vichet Chum News

Today, for the first time in two years as a result of the pandemic, SPACE on Ryder Farm, the artist residency program and organic farm, opened applications for its 2022 Residency Season.

The Trustees of the Laurents Hatcher Foundation (David Saint, President) announced $1,320,000 in grants to theaters across the country in an effort aid in the process of reopening theaters and restarting productions amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.  Twenty-nine unsolicited awards were given in lieu of traditional grantmaking to specific productions.

F*It Club, the New York Innovative Award-winning film and theatre company, will complete ten years of its annual series of short, commissioned world-premiere plays at the IRT Theater as part of their 3B Development Series in Manhattan's West Village with The Spring Fling: Happily Ever After.

The season will include the world premiere of The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge by Trista Baldwin, a new concert of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway classics, the East Coast premiere of Best Summer Ever, and two productions that were postponed due to the pandemic.

Theatre Communications Group has announced the recipients of the first round of the 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $1,072,000, allow 28 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.

As the Theatre begins to reopen, the Alley will keep guests updated on any changes to subscription packages, seating capacities, ticketing options, and safety protocols for returning. 

The 24 Hour Plays: Viral Monologues will host a special edition tonight in support of Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC. The actors performing the series of Viral Monologues will include: Deborah S. Craig, Eugene Young, Francesca McKenzie, Jackie Chung, Ken Leung, Louis Ozawa, Manu Narayan, Maureen Sebastian, Pun Bandhu, and more.

Cleveland Play House has announced the return of the New Ground Theatre Festival, this season as the two-part virtual event Mapping New Ground on Saturday, May 15, 2021. 

After having closed its doors to the public in March 2020 due to COVID-19, the Alley Theatre has announced its plans to reopen the theatre in Fall 2021. Reopening the Alley Theatre coincides with its 75th Anniversary Season with performances beginning on October 1, 2021.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre will present the New England premiere of Until the Flood by Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith from April 17 to May 2 – via video on demand only, according to Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director Courtney Sale and Executive Director Bonnie J. Butkas.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's new play development initiative, SCOUT is pleased to present A Virtual Reading of Mosque4Mosque by Omer Abbas Salem on Sunday, March 28th at 2pm CST.

MRT will return with two new productions – on film – this spring: Dael Orlandersmith’s Until the Flood, based on a series of interviews after Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO, and Rebecca Gilman’s A Woman of the World, an evening with the adventurous woman who introduced Emily Dickinson to America.

The Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association will partner on the production, which will premiere in a later season. MRT presented a reading of excerpts from Kween, directed by Pironne Yousefzadeh, as part of its FIRST LOOK series last November.

Page 73 today announced its 2021-2022 group of Interstate 73 residents. The 2021-2022 Interstate 73 residents are Heidi Armbruster, Jahna Ferron-Smith, Dylan Guerra, Roger Q. Mason, April Ranger, Scott R. Sheppard, juliany taveras, and Max Yu.

Be An #ArtsHero & The Dramatists Guild of America released brand new “Dear Mr. President and Madam Vice President” letters as part of ARTS WORKERS UNITE: 100 Days of Art and Activism, to make Arts & Culture Workers a legislative and economic priority.  Additional playwrights include John Leguizamo, Martyna Majok, Jeanne Sakata and Stephen Flaherty.

The Alley Theatre has announced the cancellation of all in-person performances of the 2020-21 season. The following shows are affected by the cancellation: Born with Teeth by Liz Duffy Adams (January 22 – February 14, 2021), Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (March 5 – 28, 2021), and more.

MRT will present a new work-in-progress by playwright and actor Vichet Chum (KNYUM at MRT in 2018) as the final entry in MRT's FIRST LOOK reading series live on Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 12, according to Courtney Sale, the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director, and Bonnie J. Butkas, Executive Director. Pirronne Yousefzadeh will direct.

MRT will present The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge, Trista Baldwin's winsome new comedy, as the second entry in MRT's FIRST LOOK reading series live on Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 22, according to Courtney Sale, the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director, and Bonnie J. Butkas, Executive Director.

Ars Nova has announced details for its upcoming 2020-2021 season. Ars Nova is committed to artistic and operational activities that build an anti-racist foundation and create a platform for diverse, adventurous artists.

MRT will celebrate the commissioning of two of the country's most adventuresome playwrights, Trista Baldwin and Vichet Chum, with the launch of a new reading series, MRT's First Look. The series will kick off September 24 with a new adaptation of a classic, spinetingling thriller, Patrick Hamilton's Gaslight by Steven Dietz, according to Courtney Sale, the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director, and Bonnie J. Butkas, Executive Director.