the week of may 24-30, 2024

fever dreams, food courts, messy white gays

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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim

world premieres

• Nambi E. Kelley’s Stokely: The Unfinished Revolution starts performances May 24th at The Court Theatre in Chicago. Tasia A. Jones directs the drama depicting civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael’s “rise to prominence and the many people who made it possible, posing the question: what does a movement mean to one man, and what does one man mean to a movement?”

• Lava Alapai’s Middletown Mall runs May 24 - June 9 at Third Rail Repertory Theatre in Portland, OR. The 1990s-set dramedy directed by Isaac Lamb follows “a group of twenty-somethings navigating the everyday fun and tension of friendships, food courts, annoying bosses, family drama, and karaoke, while also facing the realities of economic disparity and social pressure—until a much bigger challenge suddenly interrupts their lives.”  

• Miranda Rose Hall’s The Sandwich Ministry starts previews May 25th at Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles. Katie Lindsay directs the new work about “three women making sandwiches for neighbors who’ve been displaced from their homes by floods, as they contend with the storm’s damage” and the tenuous strength of their friendship.

• Robert Cary and Des McAnuff’s The Ballad of Johnny and June runs May 28 - July 7 at La Jolla Playhouse. The new Johnny Cash-June Carter Cash musical retelling their iconic love story and “the soaring highs and whiplash lows of fame, life on the road, addiction, arrests, controversies, marriage, family and devotion” is directed by McAnuff.

productions

• Samuel D. Hunter’s A Case for the Existence of God starts performances May 24 at Stages Houston. Mitchell Greco directs the “transcendent work of empathy and catharsis” following two fathers who “form an unlikely friendship, navigating fatherhood, loneliness, and the confounding terms of a mortgage loan.”

• James Ijames’ Fat Ham starts previews May 25th at The Old Globe in San Diego. The Pulitzer-winning “fresh and funny take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet” is directed by Sideeq Heard.

• Ben Power’s adaptation of The Lehman Trilogy runs May 25 - June 23 at A.C.T. in San Francisco. Sam Mendes directs the generations-spanning drama about three German immigrant brothers as they build a behemoth corporation whose eventual collapse triggers the largest financial crisis in history.

• Adil Mansoor’s Amm(i)gone runs May 28 - June 23 at Long Wharf Theater in New Haven. Co-directed with Lyam B. Gabel, “through Greek tragedy, teachings from the Quran, and audio conversations with his mother, Mansoor creates this theatrical personal story about locating love across faith.”

• David Kwong’s The Enigmatist starts performances May 29th at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The magician and NYT crossword constructor’s solo work is an “immersive experience of puzzles and cryptology.”

• Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog runs May 29 - June 23 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. Jamil Jude directs the Pulitzer-winning drama about two brothers “locked in a cycle of love and resentment [as their] tug-of-war for dominance builds to devastating, life-changing consequences.”

• David Cale’s Sandra starts performances May 30th at TheaterWorks Hartford. The “psychologically thrilling adventure” about a woman searching for her missing friend in Mexico is directed by Jared Mezzocchi.

digital

• Kacie Rogers’ I Sell Windows will livestream May 28 and June 3, 9 & 14 from 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.

readings & workshops

• a.k. payne's Tia Pray A Sound will have a reading at Rattlestick Theater on May 24th at 7pm. The new work about a Black mother and child trying to restore their lost memories “[as] clowning elephants try to help along the journey and patriarchal shadows try to steal their dreams.” RSVP to boxoffice@rattlestick.org

festivals

• Vassar’s Powerhouse Theater Season was announced. This year’s projects include Drew Droege’s Messy White Gays (directed by Mike Donahue); Dorie Clark and Marie Incontrera’s musical Absolute Zero (directed by Ellie Heyman); Sean Gao, Alan Goodson, and Joyce Hill Stoner’s Shanghai Sonatas (directed by Chongren Fan); Liz Dahmen’s Performing Art; and Jocelyn Kuritsky, Jonathan A. Goldberg, and Jenny Turner Hall’s A Simple Herstory (directed by Meghan Finn).

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2024-25 season updates

• New York Theatre Workshop announced its 2024-25 season. The Off Broadway company’s line-up includes Daniel & Patrick Lazour’s musical We Live in Cairo (directed by Taibi Magar), Khawla Ibraheem’s A Knock on the Roof (directed by Oliver Butler, co-pro with piece by piece productions), and Colman Domingo and Patricia McGregor’s Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole (directed by McGregor).

• Ford’s Theatre announced its 2024-25 season. The DC theatre will produce Herbert Mitgang’s Mister Lincoln (directed by José Carrasquillo), the musical Sister Act (directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun), Richard Hellesen’s One Destiny (directed by Mark Ramont), a staged reading of Matthew López’s The Inheritance (directed by José Carrasquillo), and the annual Legacy Commissions: A First Look reading series featuring new works by Nilo Cruz and Gloria Reuben.

• Pasadena Playhouse announced its 2024-25 season. The season includes Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, Harvey Fierstein and Jerry Herman's La Cage aux Folles, Suzan-Lori Parks' Topdog/Underdog, and two concert stagings: Anything Goes (with Jinkx Monsoon) and Follies.

• Artists Repertory Theatre announced its 2024-25 season. The Portland, OR theatre will produce three world premieres: Lava Alapai, Linda Alper, Anthony Hudson, Daniel Kitrosser, Susannah Mars, Josie Seid & Luan Schooler’s The Event!; Diana Burbano’s Sapience; and Sara Jean Accuardi’s The Storyteller.

• TheaterWorks Hartford announced its 2024-25 season. The line-up includes Jeffrey Lieber’s Fever Dreams (of Animals on the Verge of Extinction), Eboni Booth’s Primary Trust, Rajiv Joseph’s King James, and José Rivera’s Your Name Means Dream.

• Chautauqua Theater Company announced its upcoming summer line-up. The season includes Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles (directed by Arya Shahi); Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (directed by Candis C. Jones); and the world premiere of Kate Hamill’s The Light and The Dark (the life and times of Artemisia Gentileschi) (directed by Jade King Carroll).

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award season

• The Helen Hayes Awards were announced in DC on Monday. The big winners of the night were Round House and Olney’s co-pro of Fela! (5), Keegan Theatre’s Seussical (6), The Honey Trap at Solas Nua (3), Swept Away at Arena Stage (3), and Something Rotten at Toby’s Dinner Theatre (3). (There was also an unwarranted diss about dramaturgs made by a presenter and I am now carrying a grudge that I will bequeath to my descendants.)

• The Elliot Norton Awards were announced in Boston on Monday. The Huntington’s production of John Proctor is the Villain (deservedly, in my very biased opinion) won Best Production and Best Ensemble. Central Square and Bedlam’s Angels in America, Huntington and SpeakEasy’s The Band’s Visit, and Reagle Music Theatre’s Oklahoma! each took home three awards.

• MK Tuomanen’s Night Science is the winner of the 2024 Terrence McNally Award. The award for early career playwrights in Philadelphia provides a $10,000 cash prize, dramaturgical support, and a public reading of the play. The three finalists were Emma Gibson’s Lumin, Genne Murphy’s The Skinny Killer Inside, and Haygen-Brice Walker’s ass2mouth.

• The Wilma Theater is the recipient of the 2024 Regional Theatre Tony Award. The Philadelphia company dedicated to contemporary work and local artists is currently led by co-artistic directors Morgan Green, Lindsay Smiling, and Yury Ornov.