Welcome to Nothing for the Group, the newsletter where one dramaturg rounds up one week in theatre news, reviews, and takes.
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Identity design by Elizabeth Haley Morton.
virtual theatre
Sideshow Theatre Company announced its 2021 virtual reading series. The Sideshow House Party Series line-up includes Ellen Steves’ Thin Mints (directed by Justin J. Sacramone), Dawn Renee Jones’ A Heap See, Mallory Raven-Ellen Backstrom’s Once in a Bleu Moon (directed by Regina Victor), Makasha Copeland’s Fabuloso!, and Walt McGough’s The Whisperer’s Apprentice.
Ars Nova will stream A Very MENASA Valentine’s on February on February 12th on their digital platform Ars Nova Supra. Directed by Danny Sharron, the four flash plays on dating in the time of COVID are written by Ida Esmaeili, Ryan J. Haddad, Vishaal Reddy and Nandita Shenoy.
Allison Gregory’s The Loyals streams on February 17th with The Playwrights’ Center and the National New Play Network.
assorted news
NY PopUps Festival, a festival of over 1,000 live performances in all five NYC boroughs, will launch later this month. The free events will take place outdoors in neighborhoods, parks, museums, and transit stations, then eventually move inside to flex spaces. The curator is Zack Winokur and the artistic advisors include Jeremy O. Harris, Whitney White, Mimi Lien, and Claudia Rankine.
The Raven Theatre announced a $25,000 play development initiative. The program will support three commissions over the next three years and the inaugural recipient is Tyla Abercrumbie.
2021 season updates
Cal Shakes announced its shared 2021 season, which will open the theatre’s outdoor amphitheater to multiple Bay Area arts and community organizations. Cal Shakes will present one play — Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, directed by Eric Ting — and projects from Destiny Arts, Bandaloop, West Edge Opera, and other groups to be announced at a later date.
Ma-Yi announced its digital spring season, which will run on Ma-Yi Studios, their streaming and live capture platform. Projects include readings of Stefani Kuo’s Final Boarding Call and Daniel K. Isaac’s Once Upon A (korean) Time, composer and sound designer Frederick Kennedy’s audio project Rest, Ralph B. Peña and puppeteer Tom Lee’s Vancouver, and Ron Domingo’s Odets in Staten Island.
Hangar Theatre announced an outdoor summer season of five in-person productions. The season includes Idris Goodwin’s The REALNESS: another break beat play, Caleen Sinnette Jennings’s Queens Girl in the World, the community-created spectacular An Odyssey, and the musicals Once and Sweeney Todd.
Round House Theatre announced its spring digital season. The line-up includes Colman Domingo's A Boy and His Soul (directed by Craig Wallace), Lucy Alibar's Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up (directed by Ryan Rilette), and Young Jean Lee's We're Gonna Die (directed by Paige Hernandez). All three productions will be filmed live on the Round House stage and available for on-demand streaming.
Theatrical Outfit announced its spring digital season. The Atlanta company’s line-up includes Lauren Gunderson’s The Catastrophist, Tatty Hennessy’s A Hundred Words for Snow, and Anna Deavere Smith’s Fires in the Mirror.
things I read this week
If you read anything this week, it should be Jen Silverman on writing across different artistic mediums — theatre, film, television, and prose — and the “wild and liberating joy in not-knowing”. Her first novel We Play Ourselves came out on Tuesday. (Lit Hub)
Helen Shaw’s review of Jibz Cameron’s filmed variety hour Weirdo Night (The Movie) (Vulture)