the week of march 15-21, 2024
dial m for mid-march
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
a heartening follow-up for once
You may recall last year’s chaos at Artists Repertory Theatre, but if not here’s a recap: In August, the Portland theatre suspended its 2023-24 season, citing funding shortfalls, including losing $250,000 in proposed state recovery grants. Two months later, the theatre laid off nearly half of its staff — including artistic director Jeanette Harrison, who had joined the organization less than a year prior. Among the many bummers here was the loss of Jeanette’s first season line-up, which featured multiple new works by Native playwrights.
But here’s the good news: last week, Harrison was awarded $200,000 from the Novo Foundation to develop the Native Theatre Project with Bag&Baggage Productions in Hillsboro, OR. The initiative “seeks to improve outcomes for Native people by actively supporting storytelling sovereignty, improving representation, developing Native leaders, and enhancing the American theater ecosystem’s cultural competency in producing Native stories by Native artists.”
Harrison’s first project for NTP will be producing Navajo playwright Blossom Johnson’s Diné Nishłį (i am a sacred being) Or A Boarding School Play, which was part of her lost Artists Rep line-up. (Given my own work history, there’s nothing I love more than an unceremoniously laid off artist rebounding with a superior career glow-up.)
world premieres
James Harrison Monaco’s Travels starts performances March 20th at Ars Nova in NYC. Andrew Scoville directs the “vivid travelogue weaving global movement, desire and heartbreak into an electro thrill ride, reimagining oral traditions for the 21st century and unpacking how far you can go when you really listen.”
The rolling world premiere of Aurora Real de Asua’s Wipeout is now playing through April 6th at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble in Chicago. The “poignant comedy, set on surfboards, about friendship, grief, and the unpredictable tides of life” is directed by Tara Mallen.
Kia Corthron's FISH runs March 19 - April 20 in a co-production between NYC’s Keen Company and Working Theater. Adrienne D. Williams directs the “frank, funny, and fearless new play about the everyday people who make up America’s education system.”
productions
James Ijames’ The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington is now playing through March 31st at Mixed Blood in Minneapolis. Pirronne Yousefzadeh directs the biting satire chronicling a dying Martha Washington’s “fever dreams haunted by a range of characters, from Queen Charlotte and George Washington, to a present-day trial lawyer, building up to a reckoning with family, legacy, and broken promises.”
Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living starts previews March 16th at Curious Theatre Company in Denver. The Pulitzer-winning drama “delving into the stark realities of navigating the world with physical disabilities while exploring the profound interdependence that binds us together” is directed by Ben Raanan.
A Midsummer Night's Dream starts performances March 16th at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. William Thomas Hodgson directs the “bold reimagining” of the Shakespearean comedy.
Karen Zacarías’ The Book Club Play runs March 17 - April 14 at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. The “playful testament to the power of literature” is directed by Laura Kepley.
Macbeth starts performances March 19th at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Evren Odcikin directs “Shakespeare’s revered tragedy that reveals the underbelly of ambition in a world steeped in power mongering, war, and magic.”
Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County runs March 19 - April 7 at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. The Pulitzer-winning ensemble drama and “explosive unraveling of familial bonds” is directed by Amelia Acosta Powell.
Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Dial M for Murder starts previews March 20th at Asolo Rep in Sarasota, FL. Céline Rosenthal directs “Frederick Knott’s classic thriller of blackmail and revenge.”
The Kitchen Theatre Company’s production of Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City runs March 20 - April 7 at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY. The post-9/11 set drama about “two teenagers who were brought to America as children becoming one another’s sanctuaries from harsh circumstances” is directed by Sara Lampert Hoover.
Clubbed Thumb’s production of Liza Birkenmeier’s GRIEF HOTEL runs March 20 - April 20 at The Public Theater. Tara Ahmadinejad directs the remount of the Obie Award winner about “Aunt Bobbi trying to make everyone feel better, even though her parties are cursed.”
The Alley Theatre production of Liz Duffy Adams’ Born with Teeth starts performances March 20th at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The “high-stakes dramatization of history set against the backdrop of an aging ruler, an oppressive police state, and constant threat of spies” is directed by Rob Melrose.
Inda Craig-Galván’s A Jumping-Off Point starts performances April 20th at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. Shá Cage directs the “sharp and electric new play about a promising Black screenwriter who has just landed her first deal with HBO when her White former classmate shows up and accuses her of plagiarizing his script.”
John Kolvenbach’s Love Song runs March 21 - April 21 at Remy Bumppo in Chicago. Marti Lyons directs the “off-kilter romantic comedy exploring the countless complexities of love and the endless capacity of the heart.”
Sam Mayer’s poolboy: don’t pick up runs March 21-23 at The Museum of Human Achievement in Austin, TX. The “immersive party and performance about submissiveness, friendship, and failure” features an installation by Anderson Funk and additional material by Julia Mounsey.
festivals
The H Street Oral History Project Festival runs March 16 & 17 at Mosaic Theater Company. Using DC’s H Street corridor as a source of inspiration and preservation, local playwrights Dane Figueroa Edidi, Gethsemane Herron-Coward, and James J. Johnson wrote new plays inspired by interviews with residents past and present. Staged readings of these new works will be the focal point of the festival, which will also include music and food, H Street neighborhood walking tours led by Justice Walks, and panel discussions curated in collaboration with the DC History Center.
March 16 at 1pm: Reading of James J. Johnson’s Central Time
March 16 at 7pm: Reading of Dane Figueroa Edidi’s Smoke
March 17 at 3pm: Reading of Gethsemane Herron-Coward’s George on H
workshops & readings
Justin Weaks’ A Fine Madness will have a workshop run March 17-24 at Woolly Mammoth in DC. Raymond O. Caldwell directs the solo performance chronicling Weaks’ “personal experience as a Black gay man receiving a positive HIV diagnosis, displaying his beautiful virtuosity as a performer through a variety of characters, exploration of movement, and a non-linear fragmented story with a kaleidoscope of poetry, affirmations, scientific findings, and narration.”
Lauren Bone Noble’s Madame Zarechnaya will have a reading March 16th as part of Nashville Rep’s Ingram New Works Project. Inspired by The Seagull’s Nina, the Bolshevik Revolution-set “love story to the theatre explores the communal power of story, longing, memory, and regret.”
Dipika Guha’s Asilomar will have a reading on March 18th as part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s Ted Snowdon Reading Series. Jess McLeod directs the “thrilling new play about the culture of competition in science, the ethics that accompany scientific discovery, and the implications of gene editing technology in our quest for advancement.”
digital/streaming
Justin Elizabeth Sayre's solo show My Beatnik Youth: A Solo Riff will offer a livestream performance on March 17th through Howlround. The “coming-of-age story set against jazz, mental illness, and the road wherever it leads” is directed by Fempath and runs in person at NYC’s La MaMa through March 24th.
Actors Theatre of Louisville’s world premiere of Jonathan Norton’s I Am Delivered’t will be available to livestream March 22-24. The comedy about “the world of Church Usher Board culture and celebrating same-gender-loving church folks” is directed by Robert Barry Fleming.
George Street Playhouse’s production of Chris Bohjalian’s The Club will be available to livestream March 15-17. Set in 1968 New Jersey, David Saint directs the collision of three married suburban couples “seeking refuge from the rock ‘n roll turbulence outside their neighborhood—only to discover there’s no escape from the era’s cultural upheaval.”
Jennifer Maisel’s Yellow Wallpaper 2.0 2020 is available to stream starting March 18th from The Lucille Lortel Theatre’s Alcove Digital Reading Series. Jackson Gay directs the “riff on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic domestic horror story, [this time with] a female adjunct professor trying to thrive in COVID quarantine despite her toddler and demanding husband outside her bedroom and the personal demons she faces within.”
the regional theatre game of thrones
Paige Evans is stepping down as artistic director of NYC’s Signature Theatre this June. She has led the Off Broadway company since 2016. The news follows similar leadership announcements at other NYC theatres, with Roundabout in the midst of a long search for a permanent artistic director after Todd Haimes’ death last year (Scott Ellis is the interim AD through the 2025-26 season), Carole Rothman departing Second Stage after 45 years, and Lincoln Center’s André Bishop scheduled to retire in 2025 after a 33-year run.
Emily Jackson is the new producing artistic director of Kitchen Theatre Company in Ithaca, NY. Jackson, the company’s current associate producing artistic director, succeeds interim artistic director Rachel Lampert.
Kasey Foster is the new artistic director of Lookingglass. A multi-hyphenate artist, Foster is an Ensemble member at the Chicago theatre, which paused operations last June and plans to return to live programming this fall.
awards
Ava Pickett’s 1536 is the winner of the 2024 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The U.K. playwright’s Tudor-era drama was nominated by London’s Almeida Theater; she received a $25,000 cash prize. American writer Justice Hehir’s The Dowagers was awarded a $10,000 special commendation award.
