Play Without Words - 2012 - West End Articles Page 19

Rattlestick Playwrights Theater's Artistic Director David Van Asselt and Managing Director Brian Long have announced the World Premiere of The Long Shrift, written by Robert Boswell and directed by James Franco, will begin previews July 7th, 2014. The official opening night is set for July 13th, 2014 and closing night is August 23rd, 2014.

Now in its 3rd year, Talawa Theatre Company's acclaimed new-writing festival, TALAWA FIRSTS will return between today 11 and 27 June. Talawa Studios -- the company's dedicated performance space in Old Street -- will become a hub of activity for three weeks, showcasing and developing the best in Black British writing.

Broadway Entertainment Group in association with New Adventures are delighted to announce that one of the most popular dance productions ever staged, MATTHEW BOURNE'S multi award-winning hit 'SWAN LAKE', will extend its current UK tour internationally from September 2014. The show will visit the Tokyo Theatre Orb, Shanghai Cultural Square, Singapore Esplanade, the Regent Theatre, Melbourne and the Theatre Royal, Sydney. Further venues will be announced shortly.

The Brick Theater, Inc. announces The Comic Book Theater Festival Issue #2, today, June 3rd-29th, 2014.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 40th Anniversary Season 'Fabulous at 40' with the Indianapolis premiere of Carrie: The Musical, opening tonight, May 30th, and continuing for a limited run three weekends through Sunday, June 15th.

Noel Coward's fast-talking comedy of manners Private Lives will close the Shakespeare Theatre Company's 2013-2014 Season. Directed by Maria Aitken (2009-2010 Season's As You Like It), Private Lives enjoyed wild success at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2012, being deemed 'a diamond-sharp production' (The Boston Globe) and will find a home at the Lansburgh Theatre from tonight, May 29-July 13, 2014 (450 7th Street NW).

Now in its 3rd year, Talawa Theatre Company's acclaimed new-writing festival, TALAWA FIRSTS will return between 11 and 27 June. Talawa Studios -- the company's dedicated performance space in Old Street -- will become a hub of activity for three weeks, showcasing and developing the best in Black British writing.

Sky Candy Aerial and Circus Arts Collective and B. Iden Payne award-winning director Rudy Ramirez are thrilled to announce their collaboration on COSMICOMICS, an aerial theatre adaptation of the internationally beloved short stories of Italo Calvino, running June 21 - 29, 2014, at the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center.

The Almeida Theatre today announces its body of work for the autumn: a World Premiere of a new work by Alecky Blythe will be directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins and the London Premiere of David Cromer's acclaimed production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

British playwright Mike Bartlett is a wordsmith. He has an ability to tell a story through dialogue and stage direction that it completely unique to anything else. He has had quite a few success in London, notably, King Charles III, a three hour epic about the eventual rise of the Prince of Wales. He called it a 'future history play' mimicking the history plays of Shakespeare.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the New York premiere of battle hymns tonight, May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York, NY.

The Buck Creek Players will continue their 40th Anniversary Season 'Fabulous at 40' with the Indianapolis premiere of Carrie: The Musical, opening Friday, May 30th, and continuing for a limited run three weekends through Sunday, June 15th.

If you are even a semi-regular reader of this column of reviews, you know that about every three or four months, I post a compilation of observations of shows from the previous quarter of the year. This cabaret critiquing mash up happens for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I admittedly see too many cabaret shows for the amount of time I have to promptly review them (and then, of course, the usual writer's procrastination sets in). So I have to prioritize the timeliness of the reviews based on the prestige of the performer, the length of a show run, the strength (or lack thereof) of the performance, etc. The quality of the shows in these compilations—which can range from a half dozen to a dozen reviews in one shot—are usually a mixed bag of outright raves, qualified positives, and constructive pans (I'm not a fan of the word “negative” in the reviewer lexicon). With that in mind here are a collection of cabaret show reviews going back to the start of a very harsh winter.

Noel Coward's fast-talking comedy of manners Private Lives will close the Shakespeare Theatre Company's 2013-2014 Season. Directed by Maria Aitken (2009-2010 Season's As You Like It), Private Lives enjoyed wild success at the Huntington Theatre Company in 2012, being deemed 'a diamond-sharp production' (The Boston Globe) and will find a home at the Lansburgh Theatre from May 29-July 13, 2014 (450 7th Street NW).

People's Light & Theatre presents Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie running today, May 7-25 on the Leonard C. Haas Stage.

Goodspeed Musicals kicks off its 2014 season at the Goodspeed Opera House with the home run hit Damn Yankees. Goodspeed brings a unique New England flavor to its production, setting it in 1955 Boston and pitting the storied Yanks against the beloved Boston Red Sox. This ace musical comedy runs now through June 21 at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, Conn.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the New York premiere of battle hymns on May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York, NY.

Bethpage, NY

The Brick Theater, Inc. announces The Comic Book Theater Festival Issue #2, June 3rd-29th, 2014.

With a suggestive title and a fascinating premise, Mike Bartlett's COCK is making a stir in Houston. Produced by Theater LaB Houston at Obsidian Art Space, the 90-minute one-act play that took London by storm in 2009 and received glowing reviews in New York City in 2012, lives up to its in-town and out-of-town hype. Be warned though, this show is for adults only, and patrons under the age of 18 will not be admitted.

People's Light & Theatre presents Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie running May 7-25 on the Leonard C. Haas Stage.

Nick News with Linda Ellerbee explores how kids can get hurt playing sports and what's being done to reverse this trend in the brand-new special, 'Sidelined: How Safe Are Kids' Sports?' premiering Tuesday, April 15, at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on Nickelodeon. In the half-hour special, kids from around the country share stories of the injuries they have endured playing the sport they love.

Tomorrow, April 11, Houston Grand Opera presents Das Rheingold, launching the American debut of a visionary and groundbreaking treatment of Der Ring des Nibelungen by La Fura dels Baus. As the first staging of Wagner's epic cycle in HGO history, the event marks an important company milestone-one that HGO follows two weeks later with a new take on Carmen from Broadway sensation Rob Ashford. These two productions come at a time when HGO has once again been making headlines, not only for the world premiere of A Coffin in Egypt and an acclaimed revival of A Little Night Music, but by successfully appealing to new audiences. 'The most recent NEA survey shows that only 2% of Americans go to the opera each year. Yet HGO is bucking the trend. Since the 2009-10 season it has seen its attendances grow by 24 percent,' reported the Economist last month. As Houston History noted in a recent feature article, 'many arts programs across the nation are shutting down due to financial failure, [but] HGO has succeeded in remaining relevant.'

What happens when someone "lives long enough to see everything you liked and loved crumble before you?" Playwright Henry Murray confronts the question of aging within the context of marriage, conceived completely in an intriguing contemporary format.

The Collegiate Chorale announces the New York premiere of battle hymns on May 15, 2014 at 7:30pm at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Pier 86, 12th Ave. & 46th Street in New York, NY.