the week of may 20 - 26, 2023

demons, humans, musketeers

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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim

productions

• The world premiere of Dave Harris’ Incendiary starts previews May 29th at Woolly Mammoth in DC. Monty Cole directs the satiric tragicomedy that “harnesses the storytelling techniques of comic books and video games to explore the complexities of generational trauma and daring heroism.”

• Keelay Gipson’s demons. is now playing through June 10th at the Bushwick Starr. Gipson also directs their Afro-Surrealist dark comedy about “the reality of getting older, of losing a parent, and that ever-elusive quest to exorcize the trauma a family passes down through the generations.”

• David J. Glass’ Love + Science is now running through July 6th at New York City Center Stage II. The sprawling drama centering on “two gay medical students who must navigate their love, careers, and loyalties at the height of the 1980s HIV/AIDS crisis” is directed by Allen MacLeod.

• Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me runs May 30-June 24 in a co-pro at Ithaca’s Kitchen Theatre Company and The Hangar Theatre. The award-winning ode to Schreck’s teenage years as a Constitutional debate champ is directed by Shirley Serotsky.

• Twelfth Night and The Three Musketeers start performances at Oregon Shakespeare Festival on May 31 & June 1. Dawn Monique Williams directs the blues and jazz-inspired retelling of Shakespeare’s romantic comedy of mistaken identities, while Kent Gash directs Kirsten Childs’ adaptation of Dumas’ swashbuckling adventure novel.

• Stephen Karam’s The Humans runs May 31 - June 25 at Theatrical Outfit in Atlanta. Matt Torney directs the dramedy about a family grappling with aging, reconciliation, and an evolving city during a Thanksgiving gathering.

• Margaret McAuliffe’s The Humours of Bandon starts performance May 31st at DC’s Solas Nua in collaboration with Ireland’s Fishamble. The coming-of-age story about a teenage Dubliner vying to win a national Irish Dancing competition is directed by Stefanie Preissner.

• Henry V starts previews May 31st at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Davis McCallum directs Emily Ota as the titular king in Shakespeare’s most famous ‘war play.’

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2023-24 season updates

• Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash (directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge), Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s (directed by Timothy Douglas), Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok’s The Chosen (directed by Posner), Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City (directed by Kareem Fahmy), Zora Howard’s Stew (directed by Stori Ayers), Qui Nguyen’s Vietgone (directed by Joanie Schultz), and the world premiere of Joanie Schultz and Vanessa Severo’s adaptation of Dracula.

• Trinity Rep announced its 2023-24 season. The Providence theatre’s line-up includes a repertory of Talene Monahon’s The Good John Proctor (directed by Kimberly Senior) and Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem (directed by Curt Columbus), August Wilson’s Fences (directed by Christopher Windom), the musical La Cage Aux Folles (directed by Taavon Gamble), and the world premiere of Orlando Hernández’s La Broa’ (Broad Street) (directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo).

• Two River Theater announced its 2023-24 season. The Red Bank, NJ company will present Hair (directed by James Vásquez), August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg), and two world premieres: Kate Hamill's adaptation of The Scarlet Letter (directed by Shelley Butler) and Tony Meneses' A Thousand Maids (directed by May Adrales).

• The Jungle Theater announced additional 2023 programming. The Minneapolis company will produce WeAreMarried’s Rich Dogs, Molière’s The Misanthrope (co-pro with The Moving Company), Christina Baldwin’s Dinner for One, and a Native Showcase curated and directed by Sequoia Hauck.

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award season

• The DC theatre community’s Helen Hayes Awards were announced on Monday. Productions honored with multiple awards included GALA Hispanic’s ON YOUR FEET! (9), Round House Theatre’s The Tempest (4), Signature Theatre’s The Color Purple (4), Synetic Theatre’s Host & Guest (3), Olney Theatre Center’s ASL & English reimagining of The Music Man (3), and this newsletter’s personal fave Kimberly Belflower’s John Proctor is the Villain, which took home Outstanding Ensemble and Outstanding Production.

Thanks to everyone who came up to me during the ceremony to say hi and compliment this newsletter (and Jennifer Who Is Leaving!), including the person who said that I was much taller in real life than they expected. (I radiate medium height energy online but it’s no match for my half-Scandinavian genes.)

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class education

• Anticapitalism for Artists is currently accepting sign-ups for its 10-week cohort Intro to Anticapitalism. The course is “intended for folks who feel their politics are anticapitalist, but have yet to dig into the who, what, how, and why of it all, and would like to do so in a group setting. The mixed-media offering is designed to create a space for artists to engage with a radical class education in the service of enriching their lives as both artists and revolutionaries.”

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things I read this week: strike edition

• American Theatre’s Amelia Merrill on how the WGA strike affects playwrights who rely on screenwriting income

• NYT’s Michael Paulson on the high-profile playwrights who lobbied WGA leaders to strike a compromise with Tony Award organizers, allowing the ceremony to be broadcast next month in an unscripted format (gift link!)