William F. Buckley News

The Public Theater and Elevator Repair Service will kick off The Public’s 55th anniversary season with the New York premiere production of BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE. BALDWIN AND BUCKLEY AT CAMBRIDGE will begin performances in the Anspacher Theater with a Joseph Papp Free Performance on Saturday, September 24.

The Public Theater has announced casting for the upcoming revival of A RAISIN IN THE SUN written by Lorraine Hansberry and directed by Tony Award nominee Robert O’Hara. The cast of A RAISIN IN THE SUN will include Francois Battiste (Walter Lee Younger), Tonya Pinkins (Lena Younger), and more.

Tamara Rojo and James Graham have both triumphed in South Bank Sky Arts Awards, announced at a ceremony on Sunday (10 July) at The Savoy Hotel in London.

James Graham’s new play Best of Enemies will transfer to the West End from this November. The sold-out hit from the Young Vic and Headlong, which originally premiered at the Young Vic in December 2021, examines the bitter political rivalry between William F Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal.

The Public Theater announced the schedule today for The Public’s 2022-23 Season at the Public Theater. Learn all about the shows, schedule and how to get tickets.

Three plays where what seems like the truth might be a subjective point of view.

the american vicarious will present the world premiere of Shooting Celebrities by John Ransom Phillips, a multidisciplinary artist equally celebrated for his painting and writing. The production stars Julia Watt as Mary Lincoln, wife of President Abraham Lincoln, and Gene Gillette as Mathew Brady, America’s first celebrity photographer. 

Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley is an extraordinary recreation of A 1965 televised debate, Glass Town is a fun rock concert with a Bronte band, The Life gets reworked for Encores! and an O'Neill drama involving Andrew Jackson may be seen differently today.

In honor of Black History Month, The Park Theatre will screen the historic debate between African American author and activist James Baldwin and public intellectual and conservative author William F. Buckley, Jr. The showing of the film will happen on Sunday, February 27 at 2pm in the King Auditorium screening room. 

the american vicarious will present Debate: Baldwin vs Buckley, a staging of the historic clash between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. Adapted and directed by Founding Artistic Director Christopher McElroen, the production stars Teagle F. Bougere (Broadway's The Tempest with Patrick Stewart, A Raisin In The Sun with Phylicia Rashad, and Ivo van Hove's The Crucible) as Baldwin and Eric T. Miller (Mope at the Ensemble Studio Theater) as Buckley with Spencer Hamp. Charlie O'Rourke, and Oliver Shirley.

From March 3-5, 2022, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater (REDCAT), CalArts’ center for contemporary arts in downtown Los Angeles, will present New York-based performance ensemble Elevator Repair Service with their powerful new adaptation, Baldwin and Buckley at Cambridge.

Gary Naylor finds some magnificent productions in a difficult year for theatre

Ringing in a hopeful 2022, Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, CalArts' downtown center for contemporary arts, will kick off a full year of live performance and art. Through performances, screenings, and exhibitions, REDCAT will once again welcome in-person audiences—as well as online audiences around the world—from January through June 2022. 

James Graham's new play bristles with wit, recreating Gore Vidal and William F Buckley's TV debates of 1968 - and a whole lot more

The Young Vic today announce the complete cast and creative team for James Graham's bold new play Best of Enemies, directed by Jeremy Herrin, in a co-production with Headlong.

Syracuse Stage reopens its doors for public performances with a fully staged professional reading of “Baldwin vs. Buckley: The Faith of Our Fathers,” a “theatricalization” by Stage's resident playwright Kyle Bass of the 1965 debate between writer and Civil Rights activist James Baldwin and conservative commentator William F. Buckley, Jr. The debate took place at Cambridge University and was broadcast by the BBC.

As theatre comes roaring back, this autumn and winter see plenty of exciting new productions, including big West End musicals and intriguing plays. Here are the shows that we’re most looking forward to seeing.

Syracuse Stage Artistic Director Robert Hupp today announced an expansion of the senior artistic staff. As of September 1, veteran New York based director Melissa Crespo becomes the theater's associate artistic director. Kyle Bass, who currently holds that position, will transition to a new role as the theater's first resident playwright and will remain a member of the theater's senior artistic staff.

PEAK Performances at Montclair State University today announced its 2021-2022 season, presenting a slate of gripping new works on film via the organization’s PEAK Plus streaming platform, free of charge, and then welcoming audiences back into the Alexander Kasser Theater for a robust lineup of exhilarating on-stage premieres.

Syracuse Stage today announced plans to resume live and in person performance in the 2021/2022 season.