the week of may 10-14, 2021
if you want Broadway reopening dates, go visit Playbill, we've got other stuff to cover
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 kind of thing:
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Identity design by Elizabeth Haley Morton.
online theatre
Denmo Ibrahim’s Brilliant Mind streams May 18 - June 13 at Marin Theatre Company. The live interactive digital experience is a project of Storykrapht, an international production company disrupting live theatre in digital landscapes, infusing interactivity and film to create shows that are impactful, experiential, and socially conscious.
Charlie Oh’s Coleman ’72 will stream May 10-16 as part of South Coast Rep’s digital Pacific Playwrights Festival. The play, directed by David Ivers and dramaturged by Andy Knight, is about “a Korean American family on an all-American road trip where parents and kids have differing ideas of the real purpose of the journey.”
Zora Neale Hurston’s 1935 play Spunk streams May 14-17 at Roundabout Theatre Company. The virtual reading, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, is part of the Roundabout Refocus Project, a multi-year initiative seeking to elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon.
Lisa Ramirez’s pas de deux (lost my shoe) streams May 15th at 5PM ET at TheaterWorks Silicon Valley. Directed by Jeffrey Lo, the reading is part of the theatre’s New Works Online Festival.
Dane Figueroa Edidi’s radio play Ghost/Writer is now available from Rep Stage. Directed by Danielle A. Drakes, the world premiere “examines the intersections of race and gender inviting us to explore the role of love, justice, and joy in a world where the ghosts of the past have yet to be laid to rest.”
Daniel Goldstein and Dawn Landes’ musical Row is now available on Audible from the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The audio production is directed by Tyne Rafaeli, who will also direct the outdoor, in-person production this July.
Anna Ziegler’s The Last Match is now streaming at Writers Theatre through May 30th. The production is directed by Keira Fromm and features choreography by Steph Paul. (Steph and I worked together on Studio Theatre’s production of The Wolves and I think she is a full-on genius — an unparalleled builder of ensembles and a gorgeous creator of movement who infuses every rehearsal room with the most generous and charismatic energy — and you definitely want her on your next creative team.)
the regional theatre game of thrones
Jack Reuler will step down as artistic director of Mixed Blood Theatre Company in July 2022. Reuler founded the Minneapolis company in 1976 and has led the organization for the last 46 years. The national search for a new AD starts this month and the theater expects to announce Reuler’s successor in early 2022.
2021-22 season updates
Second Stage announces upcoming Broadway and Off Broadway projects. The Broadway line-up includes Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside and Crazy (directed by Austin Pendleton), Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s (previously premiered at the Guthrie under the title Floyd’s, directed by Kate Whoriskey), and Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out (directed by Scott Ellis). Off Broadway projects include the world premieres of Rajiv Joseph’s Letters of Suresh (directed by May Adrales) and JC Lee’s To My Girls (directed by Stephen Brackett).
Kansas City Rep announced its 2021-22 season. The season includes Stephen Massicotte’s Mary’s Wedding (directed by Stuart Carden), Ghost Light: A Haunted Night of Songs and Stories from KC’s Cultural Crossroads (conceived and directed by Carden), Kate Hamill’s (The Extremely Thrilling & Occasionally Shocking Mis-Adventures of Mesdames) Homes & Watson, Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (directed and choreographed by Steph Paul), and PigPen Theatre Co.’s The Old Man and the Old Moon.
Fayetteville, AR’s TheatreSquared announced its 2021 season. In-person performances include Bryna Turner’s At the Wedding (directed by Keira Fromm), Robert Ford’s My Father’s War (directed by Damon Kiely), José Cruz González’s American Mariachi, the world premiere of Linda Bloodworth-Thomason’s adaptation of her television series Designing Women, and the musicals Violet and Matilda.
Roundabout Theatre Company announced new dates for its 2021-22 season. The previously announced slate features Broadway productions of Alice Childress’ Trouble in Mind (directed by Charles Randolph-Wright); Jeanine Tesori and Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change (directed by Michael Longhurst); Diane Paulus’ revival of 1776; and Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles (directed by Vivienne Benesch). The Off-Broadway season includes Mansa Ra’s (formerly Jiréh Breon Holder) …what the end will be (directed by Margot Bordelon), Dave Harris’ Exception to the Rule (directed by Miranda Haymon), and Anna Ziegler’s The Wanderers (directed by Barry Edelstein). The theatre also announced a new Broadway commission for Mansa Ra.
The Old Vic announced its 2021-22 season. The online line-up includes a monologue series curated by Noma Dumezweni, Queers (curated by Mark Gatiss), streaming and socially distant in-person offerings of Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter (directed by Jeremy Herrin) and Emma Rice’s stage adaptation of the film Bagdad Cafe. In-person performances commence with the world premiere of Bess Wohl’s Camp Siegfried, Caryl Churchill’s A Number (directed by Lyndsey Turner), and Into the Woods (co-directed by Terry Gilliam and Leah Hausman).
assorted news
TCG announced its sixth round of Rising Leaders of Color. The program seeks to develop and highlight early-career BIPOC leaders across the country who are committed to upholding equitable practices in the field. This year’s NYC-based cohort is Zi Alikhan, Sivan Battat, Adam Coy, Rebecca Martinez, Liz Morgan, Rudy Ramirez, Danica Rodriguez, and Gaven Trinidad.
Also, apologies for singling someone out but I guess this is the newsletter where I write short valentines to artists I admire: I’m very excited that 2021 is the year that the American theatre recognizes that Sivan Battat is the real deal. (Roundabout fellowship, Drama League fellowship, now this!) Sivan was Studio Theatre’s directing apprentice in 2015 when I was working there and they were so brilliant, articulate, and assured about the kind of multi-genre, community-conscious art they wanted to create and see in the world. Know them, know their work.
