the week of may 13 - 19, 2023
ibsen's number one boy
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 sort of thing:
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
productions
MJ Kaufman, Joey Soloway, and Faith Soloway’s A Transparent Musical starts performances May 20th at Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. Tina Landau directs the world premiere based on the Amazon Prime series that “explores the intersection of Jewish and queer history while celebrating the imperfectly human aspects of a universally relatable family.”
Melinda Lopez’s adaptation and translation of Federico García Lorca’s Yerma starts previews May 20th at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. The 1930s California-set “lyrical exploration of infertility, feminism, and obsession” is directed by Katja Rivera.
The world premiere of Nathan Alan Davis’ Origin Story runs May 20 - June 25 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Joanie Schultz directs the comedy about a young woman juggling two jobs with a mounting quarter-life crisis.
The world premiere of Jillian Walker’s The Whitney Album runs May 24 - July 2 at Soho Rep. Jenny Koons directs the ritual-performance examining the legacy of Whitney Houston and other Black women “who were beloved and consumed for their art.”
Matthew C. Yee’s Lucy and Charlie's Honeymoon starts performances May 24th at Lookingglass in Chicago. The world premiere country western/folk musical about “a young couple as they rev it down quintessentially American highways and across stereotypic borders, fleeing expectation and trawling up trouble along the way” is directed by Amanda Dehnert.
The world premiere of Lucas Hnath’s A Simulacrum runs May 25 - July 2 at the Atlantic. Hnath also directs his “unique collaboration starring sleight of hand artist and illusion designer Steve Cuiffo.”
workshops & readings
Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl’s Ola Nā Iwi (The Bones Live) will have a reading on May 22nd as part of Roundabout’s Refocus Project. Cara Hinh directs the 1994 work about a Hawai’ian woman’s mission to repatriate stolen bones from a German museum. The Refocus Project is an initiative to “elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon”; this year’s series is highlighting Asian American and Pacific Islander playwrights.
Nsangou Njikam's When We Left Pt. 1 will have a staged reading on May 23rd as a part of Out of the Box Theatrics' Building The Box series. Tiffany Nichole Greene directs the new work centered on a senator “struggling to juggle a failed reparations bill, a deteriorating relationship with her daughter, and a new pro slavery bill.”
Bedlam’s Do More: New Plays reading series runs May 23-25. This year’s featured readings are Rachel Vail and Zachary Elkind’s Anna Karenina, Adrienne Dawes’ Dupe (directed by Melissa Crespo), Emily Breeze’s Pre Omega Point (directed by Eric Tucker), Bailey Williams’ Coach Coach (directed by Emma Rosa Went), and Daniel K. Isaac’s Fullerton (directed by Ralph B. Peña).
digital & streaming
Taylor Mac’s Joy and Pandemic is available to stream through May 21st from Boston’s Huntington Theatre. Loretta Greco directs the early 20th century Philadelphia-set world premiere about a burgeoning public health crisis’ impact on two mothers that “explores the complex and ever-evolving relationships between science and faith, art and tradition, and parents and children.”
The We Will Dream: New Works Festival is available stream on Howlround. The biennial New Orleans-based festival showcases new plays by Black playwrights originating from or working in the American South.
2023-24 season updates
Amy Herzog’s new adaptation of An Enemy of the People is coming to Broadway next season. Sam Gold will direct Succession’s Jeremy Strong in the revival of Ibsen’s 1882 drama about a Norwegian spa town’s water contamination crisis and the ensuing political and moral battle between two brothers. (Rachel Shteir wrote a great NYT piece in 2018 about the play’s resurgent popularity in the wake of the Flint water crisis and Trump branding the mainstream press “an enemy of the people” in a tweet.)
New York Theatre Workshop announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Moisés Kaufman and Amanda Gronich's Here There Are Blueberries and three world premieres: Nathan Alan Davis’ three-part The Refuge Plays (directed by Patricia McGregor, co-presentation with Roundabout), Hansol Jung’s Merry Me (directed by Leigh Silverman), and Mona Pirnot's I love you so much I could die (directed by Lucas Hnath).
Studio Theatre announced its 2023-24 season. The DC theatre will produce James Ijames’ Fat Ham (directed by Taylor Reynolds); Christine Quintana’s bilingual play Espejos: Clean (directed by Elena Araoz); Mike Bartlett’s Love, Love, Love (directed by David Muse), Bryna Turner’s At the Wedding, George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum (directed by Psalmayene 24), and the world premiere of Julia May Jonas’ Problems Between Sisters.
Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Jason Robert Brown and Marsha Norman's The Bridges of Madison County (directed by Ethan Heard); Lauren Yee’s King of the Yees (directed by Jennifer Chang), revivals of Ragtime and Hair (both directed by Matthew Gardiner); Alex Bechtel, Grace McLean, and Eva Steinmetz’s musical Penelope; Jeff Augustin and The Bengsons’ Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (directed by Timothy Douglas); and the world premiere of Marshall Pailet’s musical Private Jones
Mosaic Theater Company announced its 2023-24 season. The DC theatre will produce Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates (directed by Stori Ayers), Rhiana Yazzie’s Nancy (directed by Ken-Matt Martin), and two world premieres: Psalmayene 24’s Monumental Travesties (directed by Reginald L. Douglas) and Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson’s musical Mexodus (directed by David Mendizábal)
Vassar College announced its Powerhouse Theater Season. This year’s musical workshops will be Truth Future Bachman's Skyward: An Endling Elegy (directed by Zhailon Levingston) and Ariella Serur and Sav Souza's We Start in Manhattan: A New Queer Musical (directed by Ellie Heyman). Play workshops include Mimi Quillin's Call Fosse at the Minskoff (directed by Michael Berresse), Bill Barclay's The Chevalier, and Peggy Stafford's puppet theatre adaptation of Sylvia Cassedy’s novel Behind the Attic Wall (conceived and directed by Meghan Finn). The featured new play readings are Judson Jones’s Canaan Unremembered (directed by Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy), Johnny G. Lloyd’s birthday birthday birthday, and Peter Gil-Sheridan’s Useful People.
A Red Orchid announced its 2023-24 season. The Chicago storefront company will produce Anna Ouyang Moench’s In Quietness (directed by dado) and two world premieres: Brett Neveu’s Revolution (directed by Travis A. Knight) and Levi Holloway’s Turret.
Remy Bumppo in Chicago announced its upcoming season. The theatre will produce Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (directed by Mikael Burke) and John Kolvenbach’s Love Song (directed by Marti Lyons).
award season
I probably don’t need to recap the on-off Tony Awards drama because the majority of this newsletter’s audience already knows the deal but here we go:
The Writers Guild of America is currently on strike because billionaire CEOs are hoarding streaming profits and demonetizing screenwriting as a profession.
The upcoming Tony Awards telecast was briefly in flux, after the WGA denied a waiver request from the show’s organizers. (The ceremony is written by WGA members and aired by CBS/Paramount, one of the studios refusing to negotiate a fair contract with the WGA.) According to the Hollywood Reporter, a script for the show was completed prior to the strike — but without a waiver, the union would likely picket the venue and real ones don’t cross picket lines.
The Tony organizers appealed to the WGA, citing the telecast’s importance for the still-rebounding Broadway economy and promising a series of alterations to the broadcast. (The proposed changes have not been made public.)
In response, the WGA agreed to not picket the ceremony, saying in a statement, “Responsibility for having to make changes to the format of the 2023 Tony Awards rests squarely on the shoulders of Paramount/CBS and their allies. They continue to refuse to negotiate a fair contract for the writers represented by the WGA. As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike.”
The Outer Critics Circle Awards were announced. Some Like It Hot and Leopoldstadt received multiple awards, James Ijames’ Fat Ham was honored as Best New American Play, and the Broadway-bound revival of Merrily We Roll Along picked up two acting prizes.
