the week of march 4 - 10, 2023
no one's going to moscow
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
in-person theatre
The world premiere of Luis Alfaro’s The Travelers is now playing through March 12th at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco. Directed by Catherine Castellanos and set inside a nearly abandoned Catholic monastery, “The Travelers explores a disconnected community and a search of corazon with intimate honesty and inspired humor.”
Kira Rockwell’s Oh, To Be Pure Again is now playing through March 26th at Actor’s Express in Atlanta. Kate Bergstrom directs the world premiere about young women at fundamentalist church summer camp in Texas “crashing into the uneasy tension between obedience and rebellion in a culture that is obsessed with their sexual purity.”
JuCoby Johnson’s 5 runs March 11 - April 16 at the Jungle Theater in Minneapolis. H. Adam Harris directs the “intimate play that races towards apocalyptic ends” following two best friends at odds over a local real estate developer’s offer to buy their jointly owned convenience store in a rapidly changing neighborhood.
Karen Zacarías’ Native Gardens starts previews March 11th at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre Company. The DC-set comedy exposing “well-intentioned neighbors’ notions on race, class, morality, and privilege” is directed by Marc Masterson.
Christine Quintana’s As Above will have a one-day reading on March 13th as part of MTC’s Ted Snowdon Reading Series. Gaye Taylor Upchurch directs the drama about a once-prominent botanical researcher rebuilding her life and relationships.
The world premiere of Michael R. Jackson’s new musical White Girl in Danger starts performances March 15th at Second Stage. Lileana Blain-Cruz directs the “fever dream mashup of classic daytime and primetime soap operas, Lifetime movies, and red-hot melodrama.”
Sarah Einspanier's Lunch Bunch runs March 15 - April with PlayCo and Clubbed Thumb. Tara Ahmadinejad directs the comedy about a group of beleaguered public defenders “seeking meaning, belonging, and some semblance of order via their frenzied quest for the perfect lunch – while battling ACS, inequality, burnout, and a big ole serving of existential dread.”
Jacqueline E. Lawton’s The Inferior Sex runs March 16 - April 16 at Trinity Rep in Providence. The 1972-set “behind-the-scenes look at a woman's magazine that gets political, faces hard truths, and breaks new ground in an ever-changing world” is directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo.
The Goodspeed Festival of New Musicals runs March 17-19. The weekend features events, seminars, cabarets, and three staged readings of brand-new works: Madeline Myers’ Double Helix (directed by Scott Schwartz), Cal Silberstein
and Paul Hodge’s The Great Emu War (directed by Michael Fling), and Joriah Kwamé’s Little Miss Perfect.
2023 season updates
New York Theatre Workshop has indefinitely postponed Clare Barron’s adaptation of Three Sisters. The Sam Gold-directed production was originally announced for the 2019-20 season, with a cast that included Greta Gerwig, Oscar Isaac, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Lola Kirke, Emily Davis, Steve Buscemi, Chris Messina, Matthew Maher, and Aaron Clifton Moten. (It will not surprise you after reading that list that “new scheduling conflicts” is the reason behind the postponement.)
The world premiere of Sufjan Stevens, Justin Peck, and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s musical Illinois will run June 23 - July 2 at Bard SummerScape. Peck directs and choreographs the adaptation of Stevens’ 2005 concept album.
2023-24 season announcements
Arena Stage announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes the tour of Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band (directed by Chay Yew), Selina Fillinger’s POTUS… (directed by Margot Bordelon), John Logan and The Avett Brothers’ musical Swept Away (directed by Michael Mayer), the world premiere of Kia Corthron’s Tempestuous Elements (directed by Psalmayene 24), Michael Friedman and Daniel Goldstein’s musical Unknown Soldier (directed by Trip Cullman), and Step Afrika!’s The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence
This is the last season selected by outgoing artistic director Molly Smith, who is stepping down after 25 years. (The theatre hopes to name her replacement in late March/early April.)The Guthrie announced its 2023-24 season. The Minneapolis theatre will present the world premiere of Ty Defoe and Larissa FastHorse's For the People (directed by Michael John Garcés), Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (directed by David Ivers), Lavinia Jadhwani’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol (directed by Addie Gorlin-Han), Yasmina Reza's Art (directed by Lisa Portes), Frederick Knott and Jeffrey Hatcher's Dial M for Murder (directed by Tracy Brigden), Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew (directed by Austene Van), Sanaz Toossi's English, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken's Little Shop of Horrors, Bill Irwin’s solo show On Beckett, and the three-play event A Brittle Glory: Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V (directed by Joseph Haj).
Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain will be part of the Huntington Theatre’s 2023-24 season. (The play is also available for licensing from DPS, so strangers can stop emailing me asking how to get a copy of the script besides going through her agent.)
the regional theatre game of thrones
Elizabeth Dinkova is the new artistic director of Spooky Action Theater. Dinkova was most recently the associate artistic director of Atlanta’s 7 Stages Theatre. (She was also the artistic apprentice at Studio Theatre in 2013-14 and I am a big fan.) Her first project with the DC theatre will be a week-long developmental workshop of Syrena, a haunting mermaid tale set in a refugee detention center. Dinkova succeeds Gavin Witt, who has served as interim AD since founder Richard Henrich “retired” last fall. (More on that here and here.)
awards & commissions
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is the first recipient of Playwrights Horizons and South Coast Repertory’s Pinnacle Commission. The $60,000 award recognizes and supports established American playwrights.
playwright compensation survey
The Dramatists Guild is launching a compensation study for theatre writers to “increase pay transparency for dramatists across the United States.” The survey asks writers to report what they are paid for their work in the industry, the sources of that income, and the circumstances that have affected their compensation.
You don’t have to be a DG member to participate in the study, which you can sign up for here.
BIPOC critics lab
The 2023 BIPOC Critics Lab is now accepting applications. Founded by Jose Solís in 2020, the program is now hosted by the Public Theater. Early-career critics and arts journalists of color are encouraged to apply through April 30.
what i read this week when i wasn’t watching this absolute flop season of love island
Rachel Sherman’s conversations with five cast members from The Jungle on their connection to the immersive, migrant camp-set play and their personal definitions of home. (NYT gift link!) The production closes next week at St. Ann’s Warehouse, then transfers to Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited run co-produced with Woolly Mammoth.
