the week of may 17-21, 2021
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Identity design by Elizabeth Haley Morton.
online theatre
Fake Friends’ This American Wife is now streaming through May 29th. Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley’s multi-camera dark comedy is directed by Rory Pelsue, with dramaturgy from Cat Rodríguez and Ariel Sibert. Streaming live from a Long Island mansion, This American Wife “investigates the obsession, idolization, and all-consuming-hunger the women of The Real Housewives engender in many of us.”
Daniel K. Isaac’s ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME streams through May 23rd at Ma-Yi Studios. Directed by Ralph B. Peña, the reading mixes “traditional Korean fables with the horrors of the Korean War…a funny and deeply moving analog for the experiences of the Korean American diaspora.”
Alice Childress' 1969 play Wine in the Wilderness streams May 21-24 at Roundabout Theatre Company. The virtual reading, directed by Dominique Rider, is part of the Roundabout Refocus Project, a multi-year initiative seeking to elevate and restore marginalized plays to the American canon.
Will Power’s Flow at Studio Theatre is now available through June 13th. Directed by Psalmayene 24 and back by a live DJ, the play is “a call and response through history, from the griot tradition to the next artists who will make the tradition for their times.”
Idris Goodwin’s Blackademics streams May 22–26 at Cleveland Play House. The dark comedy is directed by Ansley Valentine.
Shayan Lotfi’s Park-e Laleh will stream May 24-30 part of South Coast Rep’s digital Pacific Playwrights Festival. The play, directed by Mike Donahue and dramaturged by Andy Knight, “follows Amir as he seeks asylum in the United Kingdom after fleeing persecution in his native Iran and tries to find a way to finally feel at home.”
An audio adaptation of Fela! is now available on Clubhouse. I have a vague understanding at best of how Clubhouse works — it sounds like a giant conference call, which is my personal nightmare.
2021-22 season updates
Portland Center Stage announced its 2021-22 season. The line-up includes Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap (directed by Zi Alikhan); John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean, and Jonathan Larson’s Rent (all directed by Chip Miller), Vanessa Severo’s Frida…A Self Portrait (directed by Joanie Schultz), Simon Stephens’ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (directed by Marissa Wolf), and Freestyle Love Supreme.
Page 73 announced its 2021-22 season. In-person productions include John J. Caswell Jr.’s Man Cave and Bleu Beckford-Burrell’s La Race, as well as Fernando D. Maldonado’s Launch: A Docuseries, an episodic YouTube series spotlighting “the playwrights and detailing the process of mounting the shows after the industry's 15-month absence from performances.”
Bay Area Playwrights Festival announced its line-up. The festival will be streamed online in July; projects include Jaisey Bates’s when we breathe, Miyoko Conley’s Human Museum, Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin’s Tiger Beat, Sam Hamashima’s Supposed Home, and Johnny G. Lloyd’s The Problem With Magic, Is.
Trinity Rep announced its upcoming five-show in-person season. The season includes A Christmas Carol, Nina Vardalos’ Tiny Beautiful Things (directed by Curt Columbus), August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and and Jackie Sibblies Drury’s Fairview (both directed by Jude Sandy), and José Rivera’s adaptation of Sueño (directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo).
the regional theatre game of thrones
Kelly Kerwin is the new artistic director of Oklahoma City Rep. Kerwin is currently the associate producer for the Public’s Under the Radar Festival and will succeed founding artistic director Donald Jordan. (Dramaturgs as ADs: you love to see it.)
things I read this week
Billy Porter’s moving personal account of his H.I.V. status, the destructive nature of shame, the difficulty of embracing joy after trauma, and why he decided to publicly disclose after 14 years (The Hollywood Reporter)
Noor Theatre’s statement of solidarity with Palestinians, with resources and ways to take action
