the week of april 11-17, 2025
queer anthems, pittsburgh diners, artemisia gentileschi
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
world premieres
Keiko Green’s You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! is now running through May 3rd at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, CA. The “irreverently funny celebration through the cosmos” is directed by Zi Alikhan.
Robert Ford’s In the Grove of Forgetting starts performances April 16th at Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, AR. Damon Kiely directs the “taut emotional thriller” about a Hungarian-Jewish concert pianist in 1938 “caught in one of history's darkest moments and fighting to find a way forward.”
productions
August Wilson’s Two Trains Running starts performances April 15th at A.C.T. in San Francisco. Lili-Anne Brown directs the seventh play in Wilson’s Century Cycle about “Memphis Lee, a diner owner in a historically black neighborhood in Pittsburgh at the height of the civil rights movement, who must decide if he should allow the government to take over his building or sell the property to a ruthless businessman.”
Vickie Ramirez’s Pure Native runs April 15 - May 11 at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY. Randy Reinholz directs the comedy about “a prodigal son returning home to pitch his tribe on a business proposal to bottle the reservation’s water, sparking a heated a debate and pitting him against his childhood sweetheart.”
John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch starts performances April 15th at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Ethan Heard directs the “queer anthem cult classic celebrating surviving against all odds.”
Rajiv Joseph’s Archduke runs April 15 - May 4 at The Wilma in Philadelphia. The “humanized glimpse into the catalyst of WWI” is directed by Blanka Zizka.
a.k. payne’s Furlough's Paradise starts performances April 16th at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Tinashe Kajese-Bolden directs the 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize-winning “poetic and theatrical exploration of family dreams of a utopia yet to be realized.”
Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens’ It's True, It's True, It's True runs April 16 - May 4 at Marin Theatre in Mill Valley, CA. The “wildly original, fast-paced drama detailing the riveting 1612 trial of Agostino Tassi for the rape of 17-year-old female Baroque painter Artemisia Gentileschi” is directed by Rebecca Wear.
Alexis Scheer’s Laughs in Spanish runs April 17 - May 11 at Seattle Rep. Dámaso Rodríguez directs the “part telenovela, part whodunit” about a Miami art gallerist’s career-defining show derailed by a day-of heist and assorted hijinks.
workshops & readings
Psalmayene 24 & Deirdre Kinahan’s The Frederick Douglass Project will have a reading on April 11th presented by Solas Nua at the Fillmore School in Washington, DC. Mekala Sridhar directs the story of Douglass's 1847 journey to Ireland.
Tonya Pinkins’ Jeffrey Manor will have a work-in-process presentation on April 12th at The Apollo in NYC. The new work is a “searing exploration of Black womanhood.”
Amanda Keating’s TEACH / TEACH will have a reading on April 17th, presented by RE/VENUE NYC at A.R.T. New York. Molly Clifford directs the “quiet journey through the strangeness of grief” between a piano teacher and his mourning student as they live “on the edge of loss, playing the same song again and again til they remember what comes next.”
awards & commissions
Baltimore Center Stage and Breaking the Binary Theatre announced the launch of The Trans History Project. Created by BCS Artist-in-Residence Bo Frazier, the national initiative aims to commission, develop, and publish 10 new plays about the real history of gender nonconformity which has existed across all cultures since the beginning of time. Ten transgender and gender non-conforming writers (TGNC) will be selected and commissioned by BCS, and subsequently placed into 2-year development residencies at regional theaters across the country. The first cohort of five playwrights will be selected in summer 2025 through an open submission process, which is now live.
Liza Birkenmeier is the winner of the 2025 Whiting Award for Drama. The $50,000 prize is “designed to recognize excellence and promise in a spectrum of emerging talent across fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama.”
2025-26 season updates
Mosaic Theater Company announced its 2025-26 season. The DC theatre’s line-up includes Kareem Fahmy’s Dodi & Diana (directed by Reginald L. Douglas), Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God (directed by Danilo Gambini), Psalmayene 24 and Eugene H. Russel IV’s musical Young John Lewis (directed by Reginald L. Douglas), a workshop of Emily Mann’s Code Red, and the world premiere of Steph Del Rosso’s Precarious (directed by Jaki Bradley).
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announced its 2025-26 season. The theatre will produce Ashley Robinson’s adaptation of Brokeback Mountain (directed by Jonathan Butterell), a reimagining of Ain't Misbehavin' (directed by Richard Maltby, Jr. and André De Shields), Circus Abyssinia's Ethiopian Dreams, Levi Holloway's Paranormal Activity: A New Story Live (directed by Felix Barrett, co-pro with CTG, A.C.T., and Shakespeare Theatre Company), Much Ado About Nothing (directed by Selina Cadell), Royal Shakespeare Company's tour of Hamnet (adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Erica Whyman), The Merry Wives of Windsor (directed by Phillip Breen), Indian Ink Theatre's Mrs. Krishnan's Party, and two world premieres: Lauren Gunderson’s Billie Jean (directed by Marc Bruni) and Q Brothers Collective’s Rome Sweet Rome (an “add-rap-tation” of Julius Caesar).
Two River Theater announced its 2025-26 season. The Red Bank, NJ theatre’s line-up includes Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (directed by Justin Emeka) and three world premieres: Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Links (adapted and directed by Darko Tresnjak), THE MONSTERS: A Sibling Love Story (written and directed by Ngozi Anyanwu, co-pro with Manhattan Theatre Club), and Ivan Menchell and Caroline Kay’s musical Elephant Shoes (directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, co-pro with Deaf West Theatre).
Olney Theatre Center announced its 2025-25 season. The Maryland theatre will produce Tyrell Williams’ Red Pitch (directed by Daniel Bailey), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Appropriate (directed by Jason Loewith), Michael Stewart and Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! (directed by Kevin S. McAllister), Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman’s A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (directed by Eleanor Holdridge), and three world premieres: Joriah Kwamé’s musical Little Miss Perfect (directed by Zhailon Levingston); Lauren Gunderson and Ari Afsar’s musical adaptation of Gunderson’s play I and You (directed by Sarah Rasmussen); and Carla Hall, Lori Kaye & Leslie Thomas’ Carla Hall: Please Underestimate Me.
Geva Theatre announced its 2025-26 season. The Rochester, NY theatre’s line-up includes Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer & Henry Shields’ The Play That Goes Wrong (directed by Benjamin Hanna, co-pro with Indiana Repertory Theatre); Christin Eve Cato’s Sancocho; Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black (directed by Robin Herferd); Neil Simon’s Barefoot in the Park (directed by Rachel Alderman); a.k. payne’s Furlough’s Paradise (directed by Jasmine B. Gunter); Baron Vaughn: Cycle Breaker; Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens’ Anastasia: The Musical (directed by Elizabeth Williamson); Harrison David Rivers’ adaptation of A Christmas Carol (remount directed by Jasmine B. Gunter); and Always…Patsy Cline (directed by Thalia Schramm).
The McCarter Theatre announced its 2025-26 season. The Princeton, NJ theatre will produce Sam Kissajukian’s 300 Paintings, Ins Choi’s Kim’s Convenience (directed by Weyni Mengesha), Lookingglass Theatre’s Circus Quixote (written and directed by Kerry and David Catlin), Heidi Armbruster’s Mrs. Christie (directed by Donya K. Washington), and the world premiere of Lauren Gunderson and Ari Afsar’s musical adaptation of Gunderson’s play I and You (directed by Sarah Rasmussen).
The Folger Theatre announced its 2025-26 season. The DC theatre’s line-up includes Al Letson’s Julius X: A Re-envisioning of The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare (directed by Nicole Brewer), Psalmayene 24 and Karen Ann Daniels’ adaptation of As You Like It (directed by Daniels), and Jacob Ming-Trent’s How Shakespeare Saved My Life (directed by Tony Taccone, co-pro with Berkeley Rep and Red Bull Theater).
Everyman Theatre announced its 2025-26 season. The Baltimore theatre will produce August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson (directed by Paige Hernandez), Yasmina Reza’s Art (directed by Noah Himmelstein), Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson’s Deceived (directed by Vincent M. Lancisi), Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (directed by Lancisi), Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Emma (directed by Laura Kepley), and the world premiere of Tuyết Thị Phạm’s Dawn.
City Theatre Company announced its 2025-26 season. The Pittsburgh company’s line-up includes the rolling world premieres of L M Feldman’s Another Kind of Silence (directed by Kim Weild) and Lauren Gunderson’s adaptation of Little Women (directed by Kaja Dunn), the co-world premiere of Jonathan Norton’s Malcolm X and Redd Foxx Washing Dishes at Jimmy’s Chicken Shack in Harlem (directed by Dexter J. Singleton, co-pro with TheatreSquared, Virginia Stage Company, and Dallas Theater Center), Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day (directed by Adil Mansoor), and John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch (directed by Robert Ramirez).
a kennedy center chaos & lies update
On Wednesday, Virginia-based musician Yasmin Williams posted her recent email exchange with the Kennedy Center’s new president Richard Grenell. Williams reached out to ask if “President Trump cared about artists canceling shows, and if there had been changes to the Kennedy Center’s hiring practices, performance bookings, or staffing.” I assumed Grenell’s responses would be unhinged, but this fragile clown shouldn’t be running a lemonade stand, let alone the Kennedy Center:
