In Conflict - 2008 - Off-Broadway Articles Page 18

Film and television star, pop culture icon and social media powerhouse George Takei (Star Trek, 'Heroes') has been blazing trails as an activist over the last decade, championing gay rights and marriage equality in the U.S., and in recent years sharing his childhood experiences of being imprisoned in a Japanese-American internment camp during World War II.

Growing up should be this much fun! Join Tommy Stohlgren, his four irreverent brothers and friends in an old neighborhood in Oakland, California for eight days in 1964. 'It's a story based on actual events,' Stohlgren said, 'as well as I can remember them fifty years later. My brothers and friends think it was a comically accurate re-telling, and that matters most to me.' Stohlgren's autobiographical gem traces his transition from a sweet Catholic school kid to a skeptical smart-ass. We laugh along side him as he finally notices girls, and gets tossed from religion class. After an hour-long lecture that 'God is All-loving and All-merciful' from 'Sister Mary-something (the names have been changed to protect the innocent), young Tommy reaches a logical conclusion, 'If God is all-loving and all-merciful, there could be no Hell!' Needless to say, the nuns at St. Theresa's Catholic School are not pleased. Then, Stohlgren begins to question everything about his faith-based upbringing. He stumps a young priest in confession, and botches his first and only Mass as an altar boy. With a lot of help and sketchy philosophical advice from his wild brothers, with whom he shares one bedroom, Tommy fully develops a strong conflict with authority, abandons his ancestral religion, and becomes an evidence-based learner, and later, a scientist - laughing all the way! Today, Dr. Stohlgren, a globally renowned scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, teaches ecology and critical thinking. Although Stohlgren has worn Hawaiian shirts every day for thirty years, he approaches the topic of critical thinking with some seriousness. 'It's amazing to me how many teens and adults believe in ghosts, Bigfoot, ESP, UFOs, the Devil, and other mythical beings, for which there is no evidence,' Stohlgren says. 'I follow the advice of comedian George Carlin (1937- 2008), who said, 'Don't just teach your children to read...Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything.' However, it's the humor in the book that steals the show. The scenes with five uncontrollable boys in the cramped bedroom, around a tiny kitchen table, and the same Catholic school are uproariously funny. Different shenanigans in the book are compassionate, caring, awkward, disgusting, and illegal - a true coming of age story! Stohlgren laughs, 'Despite the book being available for several hours now, there has been no official response from the Vatican!' The Kindle version of the book can be ordered for $1.99. The screenplay also available.

Mosaic Theater Company of DC announces the return of the critically acclaimed VOICES FROM A CHANGING MIDDLE EAST FESTIVAL, an expansive exhibition of some of the finest Israeli, Arab and American artists from across the country and around the world. The five offerings included in the 2015-16 Festival, which runs from January 6-May 1, 2016, grapple with issues of peace and conflict in a divided Middle East.

The Old Globe today announced it will present the Third Annual New Voices Festival, a weekend of readings of new American plays by professional playwrights, January 15 - 17, 2016.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Director Diane Quinn, is pleased to present the new American play Nice Fish, conceived, written, and adapted by Mark Rylance and Louis Jenkins, and directed by Claire van Kampen.

Donmar Warehouse Announces the 2016 Spring Season!

San Francisco Opera today announced casting updates to the 2016 summer season which begins May 27 with the American premiere of Spanish director Calixto Bieito's production of Georges Bizet's CARMEN, followed by Giuseppe Verdi's DON CARLO opening on June 12 and Leoš Janácek's JENUFA starting on June 14.

English Touring Theatre return to the Exeter Northcott Theatre at the end of November (tonight 24-28 Nov 2015), this time with THE ODYSSEY: MISSING PRESUMED DEAD, their acclaimed collaboration with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. The production reunites Simon Armitage and Nick Bagnall after their recent collaborations on The Last Days of Troy and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

The Play Company's (PlayCo) 2015-16 Idea Lab features three curated events, November 18 & 28 and December 4, following performances of award-winning, German playwright Maria Milisavljevic's Abyss. The critically acclaimed U.S. premiere, directed by Maria Mileaf, runs through December 6 at Theaterlab, 357 West 36th Street. Writing about Abyss for The New York Times, Ben Brantley praised the 'poetic drama,' as 'genuinely artful...And it will take you places you didn't expect to go.' Speaking about the play's painfully current themes, he said it considers, 'some very topical questions of European national identities in a time of permeable and shifting borders.'

Bertolt Brecht's masterful drama 'A Life of Galileo,' portraying Galileo's struggle to defend his scientific observations at the risk of personal ruin, will run from tonight, Nov. 13 to Dec. 6 at Northwestern University.

The Company Theatre Group, Inc. is pleased to present COLLECTED STORIES, written by the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Donald Margulies. 

The Fountain Theatrecontinues its 15-year relationship with master playwright Athol Fugard, presenting the West Coast premiere of his newest play. Directed by Simon Levy, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek opens on November 7 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

The Fountain Theatre continues its 15-year relationship with master playwright Athol Fugard, presenting the West Coast premiere of his newest play. Directed by Simon Levy, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek opens tonight, November 7 at the Fountain Theatre in Hollywood.

English Touring Theatre return to the Exeter Northcott Theatre at the end of November (24-28 Nov 2015), this time with THE ODYSSEY: MISSING PRESUMED DEAD, their acclaimed collaboration with Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse. The production reunites Simon Armitage and Nick Bagnall after their recent collaborations on The Last Days of Troy and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Bertolt Brecht's masterful drama "A Life of Galileo," portraying Galileo's struggle to defend his scientific observations at the risk of personal ruin, will run from Nov. 13 to Dec. 6 at Northwestern University.

En Garde Arts presents BOSSS, its new site-specific outdoor performance festival featuring new works by some of the New York City's most promising emerging theatre artists, this weekend, October 23-25 throughout Hudson River Park. The opening night party at The Frying Pan will now take place on October 23 at 7pm. (Tickets for the opening night party, on board the Frying Pan at Pier 66, are $250 or $75 for artists.)

Soho Rep. and Ars Nova present the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's FUTURITY, opening tonight, October 20, and running through November 15, 2015. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, FUTURITY is a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. The production, which features 13 actor-musicians, is presented at the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.) and in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

Excerpts from Yunus Emre (1946), an oratorio composed by Ahmed Adnan Saygun, the most important Turkish classical music composer of the twentieth century, will be performed at Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall at 8 PM tonight, October 17, 2015 as part of MidAtlantic Opera and Seton Hall University's co-production entitled A Prayer for Peace. This rarely-heard piece will be sung in Turkish by the 100-voice Seton Hall University choir.

TV One celebrates the holidays with a programming slate of original movies, series and specials focused on love, laughter and lyrics.

In response to popular demand, Soho Rep. and Ars Nova extend the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's FUTURITY to November 15. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, FUTURITY is a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. The production, which features 13 actor-musicians, is presented at the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.) and in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays.

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the details for Action and Anarchy: The Films of Seijun Suzuki, November 6-17.

At the Connelly Theater (220 E. 4th St.), Soho Rep. and Ars Nova present the New York premiere of Cesar Alvarez's Futurity, a new, avant-Americana musical with music by Alvarez and The Lisps, and lyrics and book by Alvarez. Directed by Soho Rep. Artistic Director Sarah Benson, the production will feature 13 actor-musicians. The production is presented in association with Carole Shorenstein Hays. Performances begin tonight, October 6, 2015.

Ideologies clash. Boundaries are crossed. Exactly how far will we go in the struggle for the upper hand? Theatre Exile begins their 19th season by searching for the moral center with the world premiere of Rizzo, by award-winning playwright and South Philadelphia resident Bruce Graham.

Due to tropical storm Joachim, En Garde Arts has postponed BOSSS, its new site-specific outdoor performance festival featuring new works by some of the New York City's most promising emerging theatre artists, to October 23-25 throughout Hudson River Park. The opening night party at The Frying Pan will now take place on October 23 at 7pm.