the week of december 1-7, 2023
it's giving
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
productions
The world premiere of Michele Lowe’s Moses runs December 1-24 at Theater J in DC. Johanna Gruenhut directs the solo performance “following one man’s epic journey as he searches for forgiveness, a long-lost dream, and himself.”
Heather Chrisler’s adaptation of Little Women starts performances December 1st at Dobama Theatre in Cleveland. Melissa Crum directs the new four-actor version of Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 coming-of-age novel, which premiered at Chicago’s First Folio Theatre last year.
The world premiere of Cammi Stilwell’s Odd runs December 1-17 at Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC. The Gen Z-inspired riff on The Odd Couple is directed by Caroline Jane Davis.
It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play starts performances December 1st at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Kate Bergstrom directs the reimagining of the classic holiday film that “transports audiences back to the 1940s, the Golden Age of Radio.”
Becca Schneider’s Trich runs December 1-10 at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. Jenn Haltman and Casey Pfeifer direct the “intimate, surprisingly funny story about mental health, isolation, and forging a path toward recovery.”
Daryl Cloran’s adaptation of As You Like It runs December 2-31 at DC’s Shakespeare Theatre Company. Co-conceived with the Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival in Vancouver, the 1960s-set rendering of the classic romantic comedy melds verse with the music of The Beatles.
Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Dial M for Murder starts previews December 3rd at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. The five-actor version of Frederick Knott’s 1952 mystery play layering “clever dialogue, intense suspense, and unexpected plot twists with a modern exploration of greed, power, and manipulation” is directed by Vincent M. Lancisi.
Anna Ziegler’s A Delicate Ship runs December 6-23 at 4615 Theatre Company in DC. The surprise final production for the sunsetting company is directed by Jenna Place.
Jacob Rajan and Justin Lewis’ Mrs Krishnan’s Party runs December 6-17 at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Presented by New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company, the semi-improvised interactive event where audience members are served dahl as “actors juggle cooking, music, and guests in an unfolding drama where no two nights are the same” is directed by Lewis.
Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer starts previews December 6th at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. Ryan Rilette directs the dark comedy about a stormy Christmas Eve poker game in coastal Ireland.
The Acme Corporation’s world premiere of Lola B. Pierson and Allison Clendaniel’s The Lights Went Out Because of a Problem is now playing through December 17th at The Voxel in Baltimore. The new opera about “learning to sing, goofing off, meditating, hanging out, healing from trauma, and the pandemic” is co-directed by Jarod Hanson and Pierson.
workshops & readings
Madeline Easley’s Representatives for Those at Peace will have a reading on December 2nd at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Tara Moses directs the new play, part of the inaugural Four Directions Playwright Residency for Native and Indigenous Playwrights, that “tells the story of Lyda Conley, the first Native American woman and second woman ever to argue a case in front of the Supreme Court.”
Nia Calloway’s Earth is Not One of Your Lil Friends will have a reading on December 6th as part of The Bushwick Starr’s Starr Reading Series. The new work is “a reclamation of body, space, and pleasure told from an eco-feminist point of view by way of poetry, music, soundscapes, and dance.”
Laura Lapidus’ Kate will have an invitation-only reading December 1st at Open Jar in NYC. Molly Clifford directs the sister-focused spin on Taming of the Shrew.
streaming
PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing is available to stream on demand until December 3. The Shakespearean comedy — this time set in 1940s Appalachia — is directed by Lavina Jadhwani.
2024 updates
Park Avenue Armory announced its 2024 season. The line-up includes Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s dance-theater work Illinoise; Meredith Monk’s performance installation Indra’s Net; Kathinka Pasveer’s Inside Light; Sharon Eyal’s R.O.S.E (directed by Gai Behar and Caius Pawson); the world premiere of choreographer Kyle Abraham’s Dear Lord, Make Me Beautiful; and Shall We Gather at the River (directed by Peter Sellars).
The Donmar Warehouse in London announced its 2024 season. The season includes the world premiere of Lucy Kirkwood's The Human Body (directed by Michael Longhurst and Ann Yee), Benedict Andrews' new version of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard; Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust (directed by Matthew Xia); and the West End transfer of Next to Normal (directed by Michael Longhurst).
awards & commissions
The Vineyard Theatre announced its annual artist awards. Mara Nelson-Greenberg will receive the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, Josiah Davis will receive the Susan Stroman Directing Award, and Rudi Goblen will receive the Colman Domingo Award. Recipients get a cash stipend, workshops and other developmental opportunities, access to writing and studio space, mentorship, and the ongoing support of the Vineyard.
Ensemble Studio Theatre announced its 2023-24 Sloan Project Commissions. The grants support work exploring science and technology; this year’s recipients are Brysen Boyd (POD:ORCA:POD), Will Dagger (Epitaph of Utopia), Avery Deutsch (The Age of Mary), Ryan Dowler (ROACH), Miz Hashimoto (The Bees Call Me Eva), Divya Mangwani (Indus), Laura Neill (C-WIID: A Comedy!), Juan Ramirez Jr. (Of Great Magnitude, or The Earthquake Play), Billy Recce and Elise Wien (GUANOMANIA!: A Musical Shit Show), Liqing Xu (Untitled Epigenetics Play), and Gracie Leavitt with Media Art Xploration, Inc. (When Light Bends).
Dustin H. Chinn is the winner of the 2023 Mark O’Donnell Prize. The Entertainment Community Fund and Playwrights Horizons’ annual award for emerging theater artists includes a cash prize of $20,000, developmental support, and counseling on affordable housing and insurance.
allow me to briefly masquerade as a media critic
As someone who has to write an engaging, witty subhed every week (apologies for today’s C+ one, it’s giving vacation brain), I am very sympathetic to the plight of editors. But this headline for the Public Obscenities review in The Washington Post drove me crazy:
Woolly Mammoth’s ‘Public Obscenities’ is long on insight. Also, long.
(Your regular reminder that critics do not write headlines for their reviews.)
The Post understands the power of headlines — back in 2014, the paper reported on Media Insight Project’s study that 59% of Americans did not consume any news beyond skimming headlines. (And that was before the 24-7 chaos of a Trump presidency rotted our collective attention spans.) The Post is also set to lose $100 million this year, so I understand the pressure to generate clicks. (Like most legacy media outlets, WaPo’s theater coverage has been dwindling for years: the paper didn’t appoint a second full-time critic after Nelson Pressley’s retirement in 2019 and Rebecca Ritzel’s Backstage column ended in 2016.) But headlines set the tone, and ones like this completely reframe the reading experience and takeaways. It’s written to focus (and snark) on the play’s run time, not its insights or performances, which are favorably cited within the piece — a review that will only be read in full by a fraction of the headline’s consumers.
That’s enough basic first-year-of-J-school media analysis from me. As a dystopian treat, I asked ChatGPT to “write a few headlines for Nothing for the Group, a weekly newsletter about the American theatre with a slightly irreverent tone” and those robots really dragged me to hell:
Nothing for the Group: Because Who Needs a Standing Ovation Every Week? Unpacking Theatre's Quirks and Quandaries with a Side of Sass!
Nothing for the Group: Where We Critique the Critics, Mock the Monologues, and Raise an Eyebrow at the Theatrical Shenanigans Across America!
Breaking Legs, Not Hearts: Nothing for the Group's No-Holds-Barred Dive into the Wild World of American Theatre!
Drama Mama: Nothing for the Group Spills the Theatrical Tea – Unfiltered, Unapologetic, and Unbelievably Irreverent!
