William Inge News

With the original run and four-week extension completely sold out, Steep Theatre Company is adding three more performances of Simon Stephens' Birdland on June 10, 14, and 15. With the ensemble's next production (Penelope Skinner's Linda directed by Robin Witt) right around the corner, June 15 will be the last chance to catch this runaway hit at Steep.

Picture if you will, the classic American family. A son in the military, a tomboyish daughter, a typical housewife mom, a Joe-the-Plumber father.  But in Taylor Mac's subversive and outrageous comedy, HIR, this archetypal group gets completely turned inside-out in a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West beginning Today, May 17.

Abingdon Theatre Company has launched its 25th Anniversary main stage season with The Gentleman Caller, the New York premiere production of a new play by Philip Dawkins. Check out photos from opening night below!

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) launches its 25th Anniversary main stage season with The Gentleman Caller

Last month, I had the opportunity to talk to playwright, Phillip Dawkins, about his latest play, THE GENTLEMAN CALLER. We chatted about the men who are about to start previews in the New York premiere of the play, Juan Francisco Villa and Daniel K. Isaac. I was very specific that I wanted to chat with them. Sometimes, you get exactly what you ask. Both Juan and Daniel braved spending time with me, and we had a fantastic chat about the show, their careers, and being non-traditionally cast in the roles of Tennessee Williams and William Inge, respectively.

Picture if you will, the classic American family. A son in the military, a tomboyish daughter, a typical housewife mom, a Joe-the-Plumber father.  But in Taylor Mac's subversive and outrageous comedy, HIR, this archetypal group gets completely turned inside-out in a 5-week regional premiere run at Stage West beginning Thursday, May 17.

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Doyle, and Transport Group, under the leadership of Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director), announced today that their new co-production of Tennessee Williams' SUMMER AND SMOKE, directed by Cummings, will extend its run through Friday, May 25 at CSC (136 East 13th Street). The cast of SUMMER AND SMOKE features Glenna Brucken (Rosemary), Phillip Clark (Dr. Buchanan), Nathan Darrow (John Buchanan), Hannah Elless (Nellie Ewell), Elena Hurst (Rosa Gonzales), Marin Ireland (Alma Winemiller), Tina Johnson (Mrs. Bassett), Gerardo Rodriguez(Papa Gonzales), T. Ryder Smith (Reverend Winemiller), Ryan Spahn (Archie Kramer), Jonathan Spivey (Roger Doremus), and Barbara Walsh (Mrs. Winemiller).

Jenine overworks herself until she goes insane in this hour long, satirical play featuring an eccentric ensemble of characters. How to be Lazy and Not Feel Guilty premieres at this year's Hollywood Fringe Festival with the talents of director Natasha Gualy and writer Drew Petriello. They are Leaky Faucet & Sons and have created an ensemble comedy that is as absurd as it is biting and honest.

The Artistic Home Ensemble will present the Chicago premiere of Lauren Gunderson's ADA AND THE ENGINE as the final entry in its three-play 2018-19 season, according to company Artistic Director Kathy Scambiatterra, who announced the season today. The 36-year-old Gunderson was the most-produced playwright in America during 2017, according to American Theatre Magazine.

En Garde Arts presents Asiimwe Deborah Kawe and Sean Christopher Lewis's Red Hills, returning the company to its trailblazing site-specific origins with a work that speaks "precisely to its time" (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). This haunting two-person play follows an American and a Rwandan who, as teens during the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, shared a chance encounter that changed them forever. En Garde, with director Katie Pearl, has adapted Red Hills to a New York-specific space: an empty floor in a downtown office building one block from Wall Street, where it will run from June 6-July 1.

With the original run completely sold out, Steep Theatre Company is adding sixteen more performances of Simon Stephens' Birdland. Tickets for the extension will go on sale at 3:00pm on Monday, April 16, and they're expected to sell very quickly. Tickets will be available at steeptheatre.com/birdland.

Any actor worth their salt will tell you that every great play begins with the words on the page.  Because of the worlds that playwrights (and Librettists) create, many people, even more than actors,  have jobs inside and outside of the theater.  So any chance to talk to a young playwright as delightful and talented as Chicago-based playwright, Philip Dawkins, I will take.  His current opus, The Gentleman Caller is currently in rehearsals to make its New York debut at Cherry Lane Theater, as it coincides with its simultaneous World Premiere production, still running at Chicago's The Raven Theater, through May 27, 2018. 

Wendy Wasserstein's witty, award-winning comedy, The Sisters Rosensweig, wraps up the 2017-18 season at South Coast Repertory. The production, directed by Casey Stangl, runs May 5-June 2 on the Segerstrom Stage. Tickets are now available at www.scr.org.

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) has announced casting for the first production of its 25th Anniversary main stage season, The Gentleman Caller, a new play by Philip Dawkins (Charm, Le Switch, The Homosexuals).

Roundabout Theatre Company will present the world premiere of the Roundabout - commissioned play, Bernhardt/Hamlet by Pulitzer finalist Theresa Rebeck, directed by Tony nominee Moritz von Stuelpnagel, will kick off Roundabout's 2018 - 2019 Broadway season.

Oceanside Theatre Company (OTC) announces its production of RED by John Logan. Produced by OTC artistic director Ted Leib, the production is directed by Kevin Hafso-Koppman and features Robert May and Luke Monday. The production will run May 4th - 20th.

When you can have whatever you want, whenever you want it, what do you ask for next? When you've pushed every boundary until there's nothing left to hold you in, how do you find your way back home? Birdland is a sexy, searing exploration of empathy and the impact of unchecked privilege by Olivier and Tony Award winner Simon Stephens.

Review: Make a Date for a Captivating THE GENTLEMAN CALLER

Helen Olaketi Mariah Shute-Pettaway, a 2011 First Night Honoree and one of Nashville's most revered actresses, will take on the iconic role of Regina Giddens in the ACT 1 production of Lillian Hellman's The Little Foxes. Directed by 2014 First Night Honoree Jeffrey Ellis, senior contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com, The Little Foxes runs at Darkhorse Theatre May 4-19.

Raven Theatre is pleased to continue its 35th anniversary season with the world premiere of Philip Dawkins' provocative drama THE GENTLEMAN CALLER, directed by Artistic Director Cody Estle.