the week of may 17 - 23, 2024
that green light, they want (to adapt) it
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:
The Friday weekly round-up is always free, but if you’d like to sustain this project (and get access to occasional bonus content), you can upgrade to a paid tier.
If you want to say hi (or send me a press release), you can email me or follow Nothing for the Group on Instagram.
Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
world premieres
Shayan Lofti’s What Became of Us starts previews May 17th at The Atlantic. Jennifer Chang directs the new work following two siblings, "one born there [and] one born here” and how they maintain their connection to the old country, to this country, and to each other.
Kacie Rogers’ I Sell Windows runs May 18 - June 17 at Outside In Theatre & Bottle Tree Theatre in Los Angeles, CA. The solo performance chronicling a young black woman’s existential journey through a sudden loss is a “poetic exploration of what is birthed at the collision of grief, ambition and sex.” Jaquita Ta’le directs.
Nia O. Witherspoon’s Priestess of Twerk: A Black Femme Star Temple + Wisdom School starts performances May 18 at The Space at Irondale in Brooklyn, NY. The “ritual re-telling of ancient Egyptian goddess Isis’ journey to the underworld, told through the lens of contemporary Black feminist text” is also directed and composed by Witherspoon.
Dahlak Brathwaite and Khiyon Hursey’s musical adaptation of Long Way Down starts performances May 22nd at Olney Theatre Center in Maryland. The “emotional hip-hop journey” based on Jason Reynolds’ Newberry-winning young adult novel is directed by Ken-Matt Martin.
Theater Grottesco’s Two Artists in Prison runs May 23 - June 9 at Teatro Paraguas in Santa Fe, NM. The physical theater company’s latest work set in an “imagined near future where teachers, journalists, artists and all who are ‘different’ are imprisoned and two artists must tell a story every day to appease the guards” is directed by John Flax and Apollo Garcia.
Florence Welch, Thomas Bartlett, and Martyna Majok’s Gatsby starts performances May 23rd at A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA. Rachel Chavkin directs the new musical based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel. (Not to be confused with The Great Gatsby, which is currently on Broadway. Unlike the last time there were two dueling musical adaptations of a Jazz Age tragedy with a recently expired copyright — Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party and Michael John LaChiusa’s The Wild Party — the two Gatsby musicals have opted for slightly different titles.)
productions
Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone starts previews May 17th at The Huntington in Boston. Diamond also directs the “beautiful, rich portrait of the first woman to play professional baseball on a man’s team in the Negro Leagues.”
Samm-Art Williams’ Home runs May 17 - July 21 on Broadway. The “muscular and melodic coming-of-age story that gives voice to the unbreakable spirit of all Americans who have been searching for a place to belong” is directed by Kenny Leon. (Samm-Art Williams passed away on Monday at the age of 78.)
Erika Dickerson-Despenza’s cullud wattah starts performances on May 18th at Curious Theatre Company in Denver. Jada Suzanne Dixon directs the “time-bending play that takes on the Flint Water Crisis and dives deep into the poisonous choices of the outside world, the contamination within, and how we make the best decisions for our families’ futures when there are no real, present options.”
Jonathan Spector’s Best Available runs May 18 - June 16 at Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. The satiric tale about “a theatre company launching a search for a new artistic director” is directed by Jon Tracy.
Mary Zimmerman’s The Matchbox Magic Flute starts performances May 21st at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. The adaptation of Mozart’s opera “features a cast of 10 and an orchestra of five—following the fantastic adventures of Prince Tamino and Princess Pamina with dragons, a man who is a bird, trials by fire and water, and a Day and Night battle.”
Jeff Augustin and The Bengsons’ Where the Mountain Meets the Sea runs May 21 - July 7 at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. Timothy Douglas directs the “poignant, beautiful musical of parallel journeys [with] lyrical storytelling and an evocative folk score driving a father and son to rediscover love, each other and their everlasting bond.”
festivals
T. Adamson’s Usus is now running through May 28th at The Wild Project as part of Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks. Emma Miller directs the new work set in “1318 [as] six Franciscan friars are caught between the purity of their beliefs and a Pope who likes stuff. The it-shay is about to hit the an-fay.”
workshops & readings
AriDy Nox's bayou: a freshwater play will have a reading at Rattlestick Theater on Saturday, May 18th at 4pm as part of the Van Lier New Voices Fellowship. The first of a seven-play series, bayou is a story about interdependence and self-discovery, about what we do and do not owe to each other. (RSVP to boxoffice@rattlestick.org.)
Rudi Goblen’s Rise and Beings will have a reading on May 20th as part of The Vineyard’s Works in Progress series. Lamar Perry directs the “modern day epic that spotlights how spatial [in]justice affects BIPOC communities.”
Ma-Yi Theater Company & Second Generation Productions will present three developmental readings at Theatre Row from May 22-24. The featured plays are David Zheng’s Kidnapping Jane Doe (directed by Raelle Myrick Hodges), Sung Rno’s Boxer Rebellion (directed by Andrew Pang), and Lisa Sanaye Dring’s SUMO (directed by Ralph B. Peña).
Melisa Tien’s Disrupted will have a reading on May 23rd at Ensemble Studio Theatre’s First Light Festival in NYC. The new play is set in “the male-dominated tech arena, [where] two women join forces to create a brand-new app—one that tracks the menstrual cycle—and form a partnership that is tested to its limits.”
2024-25 season updates
Arena Stage announced its 2024-25 line-up. Artistic Director Hana S. Sharif’s inaugural season includes Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (directed by Whitney White, co-pro with Chicago Shakes & Berkeley Rep), Karen Zacarías’ adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (directed by Sharif), and six world premieres: John Leguizamo’s The Other Americans (directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson), Matthew Libby’s Data (directed by Tyne Rafaeli), Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile (directed by Sharif), Larissa FastHorse’s Fake It Until You Make It (directed by Michael John Garcés), a new untitled Tarell Alvin McCraney play, and Lauren Yee and Heather Christian’s musical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time (directed by Lee Sunday Evans).
Playwrights Horizons announced its 2024-25 season. The Off Broadway theater will produce Gabriel Kahane’s Book of Travelers/Magnificent Bird (directed by Annie Tippe), Ryan J. Haddad’s Hold Me in the Water (directed by Danny Sharron), Sarah Mantell’s In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot (directed by Sivan Battat, in association with Breaking the Binary Theatre), Jordan Harrison’s The Antiquities (co-pro with The Vineyard & Goodman Theatre), and Francesca D'Uva’s This is My Favorite Song (directed by Sam Max).
Baltimore Center Stage announced its 2024-25 season. The line-up includes the world premiere of Jordan E. Cooper’s Oh Happy Day! (directed by Stevie Walker-Webb, in association with The Public), Kate Hamill's Pride and Prejudice (directed by Ken-Matt Martin, in association with Arkansas Rep), Sarah Mantell's
Everything That Never Happened (directed by Jessica Kubzansky), ArtsCentric's production of Langston Hughes' Black Nativity (directed by Kevin S. McAllister), Cheryl L. West’s adaptation of Akeelah and the Bee (directed by Jerrica D. White), and the world premiere of Matthew Weiner's John Wilkes Booth: One Night Only!.
The O’Neill Playwrights Conference announced its summer season. The line-up includes Keiko Green’s You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, The Blacks: Les Nègres de Jean Genet (translated by Chris Campbell), Rachel Mars’ Blood Play, Ladarrion Williams’ Hurt People, Jesse Jae Hoon’s 12 Chairs, DJ Hills’ Horsegirl & Cowdaddy, Marvin González De León’s Madre De Dios, and Emma Horwitz’s Bogdonoff.
Remy Bumppo announced its 2024-25 season. The Chicago theatre will produce Sarah Ruhl’s Dear Elizabeth (directed by Christina Casano) and Yasmina Reza’s ART (directed by Marti Lyons).
Speakeasy Stage Company announced its 2024-25 season. The Boston theatre’s line-up includes Alexis Scheer’s Laughs in Spanish (directed by Mariela López-Ponce); Steven Drukman’s Pru Payne (directed by Paul Daigneault); Jordan E. Cooper’s Ain’t No Mo’ (directed by Dawn M. Simmons, co-pro with Front Porch Arts Collective); Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens’ A Man of No Importance (directed by Paul Daigneault); and Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding.
MCC Theater announced the first two plays in its 2024-25 season. The Off Broadway company will present two world premieres: Douglas Lyons’ Table 17 (directed by Zhailon Levingston) and Robert O’Hara’s Shit. Meet. Fan.
George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Good Night, and Good Luck will open on Broadway next spring. The stage adaptation of the 2005 film will be directed by David Cromer and star Clooney.
New York City Center announced the 2025 Encores! Season. The line-up of concert stagings includes Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis’ Urinetown (directed by Teddy Bergman), Kurt Weill and Alan Jay Lerner’s Love Life (directed by Victoria Clark), and Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe’s The Wild Party (directed by Saheem Ali).
the regional theatre game of thrones
Lily Tung Crystal is the new artistic director of East West Players in Los Angeles. Lily is currently the artistic director of Theater Mu in Minneapolis, the largest Asian American theater company in the Midwest. She succeeds Snehal Desai, who left in 2023 to become artistic director of Center Theatre Group.
award season
The Outer Critics Circle Awards were announced on Monday. Stereophonic won four awards (New Broadway Play, Direction, Scenic Design, Sound Design), followed by Suffs, Dead Outlaw, and Primary Trust with three each. Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! won the John Gassner Award for New American Play.
The 2024 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards were also announced on Monday. Stereophonic was named Best Play and Best Musical went to Dead Outlaw. Special Citations were awarded to the revivals of Merrily We Roll Along and Purlie Victorious, actors Jay O. Sanders and Maryann Plunkett, and actor-composer Heather Christian.
what i read/saw this week when i wasn’t watching selling the OC
Washington City Paper’s Sarah Marloff and DC Theater Arts’ Nicole Hertvik’s joint reporting on the crumbled partnership between Theater Alliance and Anacostia Playhouse. It’s a meticulous deep dive into real estate, board accountability, local arts funding, and the myriad obstacles faced by small theater companies. (The good news is that Theater Alliance’s next show Poetry for the People: The June Jordan Experience will now be produced at four different locations in each of DC’s quadrants: Anacostia Arts Center in Southeast, Dance Place in Northeast, Culture House in Southwest, and Dupont Underground in Northwest.) Consider this your regular reminder to support local journalism!
Speaking of DC theater: I saw Adil Mansoor’s Amm(i)gone at Woolly Mammoth last week. Adil is such a radiant, effusive performer and it was so moving how this piece takes dramaturgy — a creative process that doesn’t always yield tangible results — and animates it as an act of love. (The production closed on Sunday but it will be running May 28 - June 23 at Long Wharf in New Haven.)