the week of may 10 - 16, 2024
camp winona, the welkin & virginia woolf
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icymi
On Tuesday, paid subscribers received a little treat: I wrote about emerging patterns and trends in a few recent season announcements.
season planning futures: 2024-25 (#2)
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world premieres
Thornton Wilder's The Emporium starts previews May 10th at The Alley Theatre in Houston. The unfinished work, completed by Kirk Lynn and directed by Rob Melrose, is about “an orphaned young man escaping to the city, only to discover a grand metaphor for life itself, with the audience woven into the very fabric of the play by Wilder himself.”
José Rivera’s The Hours are Feminine runs May 11 - June 9 at NYC’s INTAR Theatre. Rivera also directs the “autobiographical, ensemble play exploring female friendship and the price of assimilation in rural Long Island in 1960.”
Alexis Scheer’s Breaking the Story starts previews May 16th Off Broadway at Second Stage. The “darkly funny and fiery drama about the cost of war and the audacity of those frontliners armed with only a press badge” is directed by Jo Bonney.
Joshua Allen’s The Prodigal Daughter runs May 16 - June 22 at Raven Theatre in Chicago. Jerrell L. Henderson directs the third installment of Allen’s Grand Boulevard Trilogy, set during the Red Summer of 1919, as a traveling saleswoman returns to Chicago, encountering “a welcome not nearly as warm as the weather outside, especially from her estranged father.”
Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson’s Mexodus starts previews May 16th at DC’s Mosaic Theater Company in a co-production with Baltimore Center Stage. David Mendizábal directs the “live-looped musical, composed in real time, exploring the often-untold stories of enslaved people in the United States who sought freedom in Mexico.”
Brynne Frauenhoffer’s Pro-Am runs May 16 - June 15at First Floor Theater in Chicago. The “biting look at the world of Miami’s amateur-professional porn scene” is directed by Rebecca Willingham.
Azie Dungey and Tituss Burgess’ The Preacher’s Wife starts previews May 14th at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Michael Arden and Tinashe Kajese-Bolden co-direct the Harlem-set new musical based on the 1996 film starring Whitney Houston.
Dolores Díaz’s Black Sunday is now running at Chicago’s TimeLine Theatre Company. Helen Young directs the “haunting story of climate change, migration, and family in the days leading up to a calamitous dust storm in 1930s Texas.”
The Theatre Prometheus production of Robin Berl's Dua: The Monster's Story runs May 10 - June 1 at the Montgomery County Cultural Arts Center in Silver Spring, MD. Berl also directs the “fresh retelling of the Medusa myth that centers the titular ‘monster’ as the hero of her own story.”
productions
Maia Novi’s Invasive Species is now playing Off Broadway at The Vineyard until June 30th. The “outrageous dark comedy about how immigrating to the US may be the role of a lifetime” is directed by Michael Breslin.
Sanaz Toossi’s English runs May 10 - June 9 at The Goodman in Chicago. Hamid Dehghani directs the Pulitzer-winning drama about four Iranian adults “studying for the Test of English as a Foreign Language—the key to their green card, medical school admission or family reunification.”
Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starts performances May 15th at Atlanta’s Theatrical Outfit. The “timeless masterpiece of miscommunication” is directed by Matt Torney.
travis tate’s queen of the night runs May 16 - June 9 at Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. Lucas Pinner directs the father-son camping drama “exploring masculinity and queerness through the lens of multi-generational Blackness.”
Robin Goodrin Nordli’s Virgins to Villains: My Journey with Shakespeare’s Women starts performances May 16th at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The one-woman show “drawing from Nordli’s experiences of performing in 61 productions of 30 plays by William Shakespeare” is directed by Penny Metropulos.
Lucy Kirkwood’s The Welkin runs May 16 - June 30 at The Atlantic in NYC. Sarah Benson directs the “dark, fierce, funny play about a young woman sentenced to death in 1759 rural England — and the twelve ordinary women gathered to decide whether she is telling the truth after she claims to be pregnant.”
festivals
The Pacific Playwrights Festival ran May 3-5 at South Coast Rep in Costa Mesa, CA. The line-up included two world premiere full productions — Sean Hartley, Craig Lucas, and Daniel Messé’s musical Prelude to a Kiss (directed by David Ivers) and Eleanor Burgess’ Galilee, 34 (directed by Davis McCallum & dramaturged by Charles Haugland) — and five staged readings: Ana Nogueira’s Meeting for Worship (directed by Mike Donahue & dramaturged by Andy Knight), Arya Shahi’s The Brothers Play (directed by Knud Adams & dramaturged by Sonia Desai), Reggie D. White’s Fremont Ave. (directed by Taylor Reynolds & dramaturged by Lindsay A. Jenkins), Else Went’s An Oxford Man (directed by Emma Rosa Went & dramaturged by Eric Shethar), and Keiko Green’s You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (directed by Zi Alikhan & dramaturged by Gavin Reub).
Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks runs May 16 - June 29 at The Wild Project in NYC. The annual new play festival’s line-up includes T. Adamson’s Usus (directed by Emma Miller), Bailey Williams’ Coach Coach (directed by Sarah Blush), and Crystal Finn’s Find Me Here (directed by Crystal Finn).
workshops & readings
Emily Breeze’s Whore and Wife will have a reading on May 12th at 4pm as part of Bedlam’s Do More New Plays Series. Zachary Elkind directs the “high-camp farce about a brothel on the brink in 1802 in Dendermonde, Flanders. Hijinks, bodily horrors, and hilarity ensue.”
Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s The Haunting at Camp Winona will have a reading on May 13th as part of the Vineyard’s Works in Progress series. The “dark comedy that asks what it means to come of age in a messed up world where nobody gets out alive” is directed by Sam Pinkleton.
Jacquelyn Reingold’s Orva and Nadine will have a reading May 16th at 3pm as part of the EST First Light Festival. The new work tackles “fear, fearlessness, friendship, and the crazy struggle to survive.”
2024-25 season updates
The Public Theater announced its 2024-25 season. The Off-Broadway company will produce James Ijames’ Good Bones (directed by Saheem Ali), S. Shakthidharan's Counting and Cracking (directed by Eamon Flack, Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji co-production, in partnership with NYU Skirball), Lisa Sanaye Dring’s Sumo (directed by Ralph B. Peña, co-pro of Ma-Yi Theater Company and La Jolla Playhouse), David Finnigan's solo play Deep History, Caryl Churchill’s Glass. Kill. What If If Only. Imp. (directed by James Macdonald), the world premiere of John Purugganan’s Let's Keep Dancing: A Death Row Story (directed by Oskar Eustis), and a final encore run of Elevator Repair Service’s Gatz (directed by John Collins). The Delacore Theatre will reopen next summer with Twelfth Night (directed by Saheem Ali).
The Public also announced the first play in its 2025-26 season: the world premiere of Else Went's Initiative (directed by Emma Rose Went).Yale Repertory Theatre announced its 2024-25 season. The New Haven company will produce the world premiere of Hilary Bettis’ falcon girls (directed by May Adrales), Whitney White’s Macbeth in Stride (directed by Taibi Mager and Tyler Dobrowsky), Steve Carter’s Eden (directed by Brandon J. Dirden), Yura Kordonsky’s new adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's The Inspector, and Mara Vélez Meléndez’s Notes on Killing Seven Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Board Members (directed by Javier Antonio González).
South Coast Repertory announced its 2024-25 season. The Costa Mesa, CA theatre’s line-up includes the musical Little Shop of Horrors (directed by Jenn Thompson); Sanaz Toossi’s Wish You Were Here (directed by Mina Morita); Hershey Felder’s Rachmaninoff and the Tsar (directed by Trevor Hay); Madhuri Shekar, Christian Magby, and Christian Albright’s musical adaptation of The Incredible Book Eating Boy (directed by H. Adam Harris), and three world premieres: Daniel Goldstein’s Joan (directed by David Ivers), Noa Gardner’s The Staircase (directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch), and one TBA.
Marin Theatre announced its 2024-25 season. The Bay Area theater — which has dropped “Company” from its name to avoid confusion with the other MTC — will produce Harley Granville-Baker’s Waste, Indian Ink Theatre Company’s Mrs. Krishnan’s Party, Mara Nelson-Greenberg’s Do You Feel Anger?, and two US premieres: Kat Sandler’s Yaga and Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens’ It's True, It's True, It's True. (Like a good women’s college graduate with an art history minor, I tried to see the latter at Edinburgh in 2018 but it was hopelessly sold out, so a Bay Area trip may be in order next year.)
NYU Skirball Center announced its Fall 2024 season. The line-up includes S. Shakthidharan's Counting and Cracking (directed by Eamon Flack, Belvoir St Theatre & Kurinji co-production, in partnership with The Public), Milo Rau’s Antigone in the Amazon, Miet Warlop’s One Song, Nature Theatre of Oklahoma’s No President, and two world premieres: The Builders Association’s ATLAS DRUGGED (Tools for Tomorrow) and The Civilians’ Sex Variants of 1941.
New York Stage & Film announced its 2024 summer season. The line-up includes Jim Dale: Living with Laughter; Margaret Cho’s Mommy, A One Woman Cho (co-directed by Leigh Silverman & Seonjae Kim with additional material by Leah Nanako Winkler); Brant Russell’s Well Well Well (directed by Jaki Bradley); Delta Rae’s The Ninth Woman (directed by Logan Vaughn); Amber Ruffin, David Schmoll & Kevin Sciretta’s Bigfoot (directed by Ruffin); Kate Walbert’s Genius (directed by Sheryl Kaller); Shanessa Sweeney, Bongi Duma, and Ray Mercer’s Game Night (directed by Rufus Bonds Jr.); Ngozi Anyanwu’s the monsters; Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s Basement, IL; Kate Douglas’ Tulipa (directed by Kate Whoriskey); Kait Kerrigan, Anne Eisendrath & Ian Eisendrath’s The Heart (directed by Christopher Ashley); Adam Chanler-Berat & Grace McLean’s After Peter (directed by Tyler Thomas); and Zack Fine, Bryce Pinkham, Kirya Traber & Rona Siddiqui’s Dignity, Always, Dignity.
Jen Silverman’s The Roommate is coming to Broadway this summer. Jack O’Brien will direct Patti LuPone and Mia Farrow in the “witty and profound portrait of a blossoming intimacy between two women from vastly different backgrounds, as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality, and the promise of reinvention.”
Ayad Akhtar’s McNeal will premiere on Broadway at Lincoln Center in September. The new drama about “a gifted novelist with a difficult family life and a potentially problematic interest in artificial intelligence” will be directed by Bartlett Sher and star Robert Downey Jr.
the regional theatre game of thrones
Kelly Kerwin is stepping down as artistic director of Oklahoma City Rep. Kerwin has led the theatre for three years; she is returning to NYC to be closer to family. I’m a big fan of Kelly’s work at OKC Rep, a real case study in how hiring a dramaturg/producer as your artistic leader yields thoughtful programming and community partnerships.
award season
Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust is the winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The finalists were Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich’s Here There Are Blueberries and Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Public Obscenities. This year’s jury members were Janice Simpson (chair), Lisa Fung, Lily Janiak, Chay Yew, and Tracy Letts.
The Lucille Lortel Awards were announced on Sunday, May 5th. nicHi douglas’ (pray) won three awards, including Outstanding Musical, while Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ The Comeuppance was named Outstanding Play.
Lloyd Suh’s The Heart Sellers is the winner of the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. The $25,0000 prize recognizes a play that premiered professionally outside of New York City. (The Heart Sellers debuted at Milwaukee Repertory Theater.) Two additional $5,000 citations were awarded to Jennifer Blackmer’s I Carry Your Heart With Me (Third Ave Playworks) and Lenelle Moïse’s K-I-S-S-I-N-G (Huntington Theatre).