the week of may 27 - june 2, 2023
RIP under the radar
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icymi: bills, bills, bills
This month’s money diary — our first non-anonymous one, released on the one-year anniversary of this feature’s debut — is from the one and only Jenna Clark Embrey:
productions
The world premiere of Anna Deavere Smith’s Love All starts performances June 3rd at La Jolla Playhouse. Marc Bruni directs the “triumphant story of the rise of sports icon and social justice pioneer Billie Jean King.”
Emma Sheanshang’s The Fears is now playing at Signature Theatre in NY. Produced by Steven Soderbergh, the world premiere comedy about the “heated confrontations and deep meditations on finding peace in the city that never sleeps” among the eclectic members of a Buddhist center self-help group is directed by Dan Algrant.
Tori Sampson’s This Land Was Made is now playing through June 25th at the Vineyard Theatre. The 1967-set drama examining a time when the city of Oakland “was a powder keg of social activism ready to boil over into radical action” is directed by Taylor Reynolds.
Maia Novi’s Invasive Species runs June 3-11 at The Tank. Michael Breslin directs the world premiere about a “young Latina acting student’s psyche as she navigates the challenges of fitting into the American entertainment industry as an immigrant artist.”
Robert Icke’s The Doctor starts performances June 3rd at Park Avenue Armory. The reimagining of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1912 play Professor Bernhardi “utilizes the lens of medical ethics to examine urgent questions of faith, identity, race, gender, privilege, and scientific rationality.”
The world premiere of Karen Zacarías’ Shane runs June 3-25 at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. The adaptation of Jack Schaefer’s Wyoming-set western novel is directed by Blake Robison.
Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop starts performances June 6th at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Patricia McGregor directs the award-winning fictional depiction of the night before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Twelfth Night runs June 6-25 at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. The slapstick beach party reimagination of Shakespeare’s classic romantic comedy is directed by Yury Urnov.
August Wilson’s Radio Golf starts performances June 7th at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, MD. Reginald L. Douglas directs the final work in Wilson’s 10-play Pittsburgh Cycle about 20th-century Black American life.
The world premiere of Rick Elice and PigPen Theatre Co.’s Water for Elephants starts previews June 7th at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. The musical adaptation of Sara Gruen’s novel about romance and deception in a traveling circus is directed by Jessica Stone.
workshops & readings
Anuvab Pal’s Chaos Theory will have a reading on June 5th as part of Roundabout’s Refocus Project. Arpita Mukherjee directs the decades-spanning drama about two Indian scholars navigating immigration, academia, and the complications of identity. 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.
Nayna Agrawal’s Dharma will have a reading on June 5th at Signature Theatre in Virginia. Ethan Heard directs the new work exploring “familial responsibility and the cultural dissonance between immigrants and their first-generation children.”
The Seven Devils New Play Conference runs June 5-17 in McCall, Idaho. This year’s featured plays are Susan Kathryn Hefti’s Queen of the Bonackers, Gloria Oladipo’s The Care and Keeping of Schizophrenia (And Other Demons), Wolfgang Jones’ How to Say Goodbye, Savannah Reich’s A Series of Meetings, and Alec Silberblatt’s Ryan’s Pub Monday Trivia Night.
festivals
Abe Koogler’s Deep Blue Sound runs June 5-15 as part of Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks. Arin Arbus directs the new work about locals confronting change on a small island.
Inicios: Chicago Latine Playwright Festival runs June 2-4. The Chicago Latino Theater Alliance’s inaugural festival line-up features Nelson A. Rodriguez’s New Personalidad (directed by Xavier Custodio), Raul Dorantes and Emily Masó’s Dulcci (directed by Marcela Muñoz), and Claribel Gross’ Gasping: A Nicaraguan Fever Dream (directed by Karla Lopez-Galvan).
The Washington Women In Theatre New Play Festival runs June 9-12 & 15-17 at American University in DC. New works by Caleen Sinnette Jennings, Miyuki Williams, Dani Stoller, Anu Yadav, Tuyết Thị Phạm, Sidra Rausch, Barbara Papendorp, Amy Conley, Carolyn Gage, Linda Sherbert, Milbre Burch, Judy Klass, Lynn Sharp Spears, Susan Lynskey, and Mundy Spears will receive staged readings.
streaming
Fractals of Prometheus: Unity of Images is available to livestream June 1-3 from CultureHub & La MaMa. The interactive livestream experiment “creates fractals of the myth of Prometheus, exploring themes of regret, resistance, and ritual, to collectively form a unity of images.”
The Abbey Theatre production of Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of Ghosts is available to stream on demand. Ticket must be purchased by tomorrow (June 3rd), but Ibsen’s classic moral thriller can be viewed until June 17th.
2023-24 season updates
Woolly Mammoth announced its upcoming season. The DC theatre will produce the Soho Rep/NAATCO National Partnership Project production of Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Public Obscenities, Adil Mansoor’s Amm(i)gone (co-directed by Mansoor and Lyam B. Gabel), Madeline Sayet’s Where We Belong (directed by Mei Ann Teo, co-pro with Folger), a workshop presentation of Justin Weaks’ A Fine Madness, and three world premieres: John Jarboe’s Rose: You Are Who You Eat (directed by MK Tuomanen, co-pro with FringeArts), Vivian J.O. Barnes’ The Sensational Sea Mink-ettes (directed by Taylor Reynolds), and Sasha Denisova’s My Mama and The Full-Scale Invasion (directed by Yury Urnov, co-pro with The Wilma).
The Public Theater announced its 23-24 season. The line-up includes Benjamin Velez’s musical adaptation of The Tempest (directed by Laurie Woolery), Mary Kathryn Nagle's Manahatta (directed by Laurie Woolery), Suzan-Lori Parks' Sally & Tom (directed by Steve H. Broadnax), Druid Theatre's DruidO'Casey (directed by Garry Hynes) and three world premieres: Itamar Moses' The Ally (directed by Lila Neugebauer), Ife Olujobi’s Jordans (directed by Whitney White), and the Alicia Keys musical Hell’s Kitchen (book by Kristoffer Diaz and directed by Michael Greif).
It’s worth noting that the Public also announced the elimination of the Under the Radar Festival. The annual event showcasing international artists and experimental performance was cut for financial reasons, but the theatre told NYT: “This does not mean the Public is abandoning its relationship with downtown experimental artists, but we’re going to be looking for a new way of embodying that.”
award season
The Drama Desk Awards were announced. Some Like It Hot picked up eight awards, including Outstanding Musical; while Life of Pi won four and Tom Stoppard’s Leopoldstadt was named Best Play. For the first time, the performance awards were gender-inclusive, honoring two actors per category.
José Casas is the inaugural recipient of the Dominic Orlando Playwriting Award. The $10,000 prize for “writers who have made a continued commitment to smaller-budget theatre companies and ensembles” was established in the memory of playwright Dominic Orlando, who passed away in 2021.
