the week of april 25 - may 1, 2025
utopian hotlines, dutch widows, teenage vampire hunters
You’re reading Nothing for the Group, a newsletter where one dramaturg rounds up one week in theatre news, reviews, and takes. If you like this sort of thing:
The Friday weekly round-up is always free, but if you’d like to sustain this project (and get access to occasional bonus content), you can upgrade to a paid tier. (You can also support via Venmo @halvorsen or Paypal.)
To learn more about this newsletter, read the About & FAQ.
To submit a press release or production information, read the submission guidelines.
To say hi, you can email me or follow Nothing for the Group on Instagram.
Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
world premieres
Noa Gardner’s The Staircase starts performances April 27th as part of South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwrights Festival in Costa Mesa, CA. The “mysterious tale about holding on, letting go and the curious force that pulls us back home” is directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch.
Melanie Coffey’s Time is a Color and the Color is Blue runs May 1 - 24 at Avalanche Theatre in Chicago. Zoe Sjogerman directs the “survival drama about climate change, forgiveness, and letting go.”
Nazareth Hassan’s Bowl EP starts performances May 1st Off-Broadway at The New Group in a co-pro with National Black Theatre. Hassan also directs the intimate and epic experience “with live skating and original music [set in] a skateboard park, in the middle of a wasteland, at the edge of the galaxy.”
Theater Mitu’s Utopian Hotline runs May 1-18 at Arts Emerson in Boston. Co-presented by the Museum of Science, the “part live theater, part telephone hotline, and part vinyl record asking the urgent question — how would you envision a more perfect future? — uses real voicemails, original music, and spectacular visuals projected onto the museum’s planetarium.”
Jorge B. Merced’s Parrots at the Pagoda starts performances May 1st at Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in NYC. Merced also directs the “drag origins story inspired by the life and times of Johnny Rodríguez, the standout vocalist and prolific trios musician, pioneering female impersonator and impresario, and owner of legendary El Cotorrito club in Puerto Rico.”
productions
Andrew Hinderaker’s Obliteration is now running through May 4th at The Revival in Chicago. Jonathan Berry directs the “fusion of stand-up and theater that tells the story of two comedians (Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell) trying to make sense of a world that's falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread.”
Mara Vélez Meléndez’s Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members is now running through May 17th at Yale Rep in New Haven, CT. Javier Antonio González directs the “revenge saga giving existential drag extravaganza.”
Saheem Ali, Michael Thurber, and James Ijames’ musical Goddess starts performances April 29th Off-Broadway at the Public Theater. The “rousing tale of romance, the supernatural, and the quest towards one’s truest self inspired by the myth of Marimba” is directed by Ali and choreographed by Darrell Grand Moultrie.
Ian Shaw and Joseph Nixon’s The Shark Is Broken starts performances April 29th at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ. Peter Flynn directs the “behind-the-scenes comedy about the making of Jaws, revealing the absurdities and frustrations of filmmaking through Hollywood’s most legendary (and most dysfunctional) set.”
Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor’s Lights Out: Nat "King" Cole runs April 30 - June 15 Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop. The “electrifying exploration of the soul of an American icon who fought to break through America’s color barrier in the early days of television” is directed by McGregor and choreographed by Edgar Godineaux and Jared Grimes.
Jeff Whitty, James Magruder, and The Go-Go’s Head Over Heels starts performances May 1st at Constellation Theatre Company in Washington, DC. Allison Arkell Stockman directs the jukebox musical inspired by the story of Arcadia that “weaves together Renaissance romance and Greek comedy with fantasy and gender-bending.”
Roger Guenveur Smith’s Frederick Douglass NOW runs May 1-4 at Oklahoma City Rep. The solo performance “edits Douglass' 19th century texts into a jazz-infused narrative, bookended by original writing.”
Yasmina Reza’s Art runs May 1 – June 1 at Remy Bumppo in Chicago. Marti Lyons directs the “hilarious and thought-provoking comedy examining the quirky dynamics of friendship and the enigmatic world of art.”
Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue starts performances May 1st at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. The “music-filled drama about resilience, self-preservation, and community” is directed by Raymond O. Caldwell.
workshops & readings
The Hothouse New Play Block Party runs April 25-26 at Theater Alliance in Washington, DC. The festival includes Maame-Yaa Aforo’s solo performance Useless Woman and the AI Therapist, two full-length workshop readings (Sehat Yon’shea Walker’s Familial Comforts and Elliott Kashner’s Dispatched), six works-in-progress readings from local writers (David Higgins, Gursimrat Kaur, Doug Robinson, Alexander Rolle, Hope Villenueva, and Ayesha Zackria), and excerpts from new works by current season playwrights Kareem Fahmy, Lindsay Joelle, and York Walker.
Diane Exavier’s Escape from the City and Mahayla Laurence’s floriography: a plant dance ritual will have readings on April 27 & 28 as part of the annual Starr Reading Series at The Bushwick Starr. Exavier directs her “experiment in how we might rehearse relation, desire, and retreat”; Laurence’s “participatory solo performance explores the wisdom of plants and how they can help us re-align ourselves with the natural rhythm of our planet’s ecosystems.”
Kate Douglas’s Tulipa will have readings on April 28 & 29 as part of The Jungle Theater’s Greenhouse Reading Series in Minneapolis. Alison Ruth directs the “sensual and surprising monologue telling the riches to rags story about a widow in Holland who loses everything in the name of tulips.”
Al Sierra’s The Tragedy of Keyshawn, Last Prince of East Flatbush; Or, The Deleterious Effects of Whiteness on a Young Black Male and Nina Ki’s Ravage will have staged readings on April 28 & 29 as part of the The Public Theater Emerging Writers Group’s Spotlight Series. Sierra’s play is about “a college-bound, first generation, Haitian-American honor student from Brooklyn filled with a world of ambition and promise [who] soon realizes that his dream school might actually be a nightmare”; Ravage follows “a self-described teenage vampire hunter on a quest for revenge—only to instead come face-to-face with the fractured remnants of her past.”
2025-26 season updates
The Huntington announced its 2025-26 season. The Boston theatre will produce Jez Butterworth’s The Hills of California (directed by Loretta Greco, in association with Berkeley Rep), Chris Grace’s Sardines (a comedy about death) (directed by Eric Michaud), Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s musical Fun Home (directed by Logan Ellis), Joshua Harmon’s We Had A World, Luis Alfaro’s Oedipus El Rey (directed by Loretta Greco), and Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day (directed by Margot Bordelon).
Alliance Theatre announced its 2025-26 season. The Atlanta company’s line-up includes Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein's Fiddler on the Roof (directed by Tomer Zvulun); York Walker's Covenant (directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden); The 7 Fingers’ Duel Reality (directed by Shana Cooper); and two world premieres: Gloria Estefan, Emily Estefan, and Karen Zacarías’s musical Basura (directed by Michael Greif, choreographed by Patricia Delgado, and dramaturged by Ken Cerniglia) and Kendeda winner Beth Hyland’s Fires, Ohio.
Trinity Rep announced its upcoming season. The Providence, RI theatre will produce the world premiere of Ro Reddick’s Cold War Choir Practice (directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy, co-pro with Clubbed Thumb and Page 73), Jen Silverman’s The Roommate (directed by Curt Columbus), The Winter’s Tale (directed by Ben Steinfeld), Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust (directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo), and Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s musical Next to Normal (directed by Amanda Dehnert).
1st Stage in Tysons, VA announced its 2025-26 season. The line-up includes Ella Road’s Fair Play (directed by Deidra LaWan Starnes), Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles (directed by Alex Levy), Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside and Crazy (directed by José Carrasquillo), Josefina López’s Real Women Have Curves (directed by Nadia Guevara), Paula Vogel’s Indecent (directed by Alex Levy), and the annual Logan Festival of Solo Performance.
award season
Autumn Angelettie is the 2025 Barbara Whitman Award recipient. The SDC Foundation’s $10,000 prize is annually awarded to “a woman, trans, or non-binary director who has developed a clear and distinctive artistic voice and demonstrated unique vision in their theatrical work.” I heartily agree with that assessment: Autumn is a tremendous artist (and the associate director of John Proctor is the Villain AND a current Helen Hayes nominee for her direction of Covenant at Theater Alliance here in DC) and so very deserving of this recognition.
what i read this week
Helen Shaw on how funding shifts at three major foundations “have brought turbulence and uncertainty to the intricate New York support system for the performing arts.” (The New Yorker)