the week of may 31 - june 6, 2024
escape room athletes, horsegirls, robot apocalypses
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 Morton | Editorial Support: Ryan Adelsheim
world premieres
Andrew Newton Schaftlein and Eric Sharp’s Won't you be my May-bor? starts performances May 31st at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Emily Tarquin directs the interactive comedy about the “determined drag queen and competitive escape room athlete” May O’Nays’ quest to conquer the elusive Mister Rogers Escape Room.
Kate Scelsa and Robert M. Johanson’s Hilma runs June 4 - 23 at The Wilma Theater in Philadelphia. The contemporary opera “wrestling with the hubris and humility that fueled early 20th century queer mystic and artist Hilma af Klint’s spiritual quest” is directed by Morgan Green.
Joseph Scott Ford’s Responders runs June 5 - 30 at TheatreSquared in Fayetteville, AR in a co-pro with Arkansas Repertory Theatre. The genre-bending dark comedy about two small-town paramedics is directed by Vickie Washington and part of the 2024 Arkansas New Play Festival.
John Jarboe’s Rose: You Are Who You Eat starts previews June 5th at Woolly Mammoth in a co-pro with FringeArts, Bearded Ladies Cabaret, and La MaMa ETC. A musical shrine to the twin sister Jarboe consumed in the womb, MK Tuomanen directs the “feast of gender told through performance, film, floral couture, and a full plate of wordplay.”
Natsu Onoda Power’s Postcards from Ihatov runs June 6-23 at 1st Stage in Tysons, VA. Power also directs her adaptation of Kenji Miyazawa’s works, including the 1934 fantasy novel Night on the Galactic Railroad, a “spellbinding tale of friendship, self-discovery, and the transcendent power of imagination.”
productions
Jeffrey Hatcher’s adaptation of Dial M for Murder starts performances May 31st at The Alley Theatre in Houston. Tatiana Pandiani directs the new spin on Frederick Knott’s suspense thriller.
Elizabeth Williamson’s adaptation of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre runs May 31 - October 11 at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The Gothic classic about a “young woman discovering herself, love, and her ‘finest fibre’ in her pursuit of independence” is directed by Dawn Monique Williams.
Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins starts performances May 31st at Warehouse Theater in Greenville, SC. Andrew Scoville directs the musical “exploring the lives of nine men and women who either killed (or tried to kill) one of the Presidents of the United States.”
Much Ado About Nothing runs June 1 - October 12 at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The “beloved comedy of tricks, romance, wit, and mistaken identities” is directed by Miriam A. Laube.
Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s starts performances June 1st at Portland Center Stage in a co-pro with Syracuse Stage. Chip Miller directs the “delicious comedy about a formerly incarcerated kitchen staff navigating their new lives on the outside and their tough-as-nails boss — all while on a quest to create the perfect sandwich.”
Lauren Yee’s The Hatmaker’s Wife runs June 5 - 25 at Theater J in DC. The “moving and whimsical cross between a ghost story and a Yiddish fable” is directed by Dan Rothenberg.
workshops & readings
Emil Weinstein and Emily Jonson-Erday’s Soldier Girls will have a workshop presentation with NYC’s Breaking the Binary Theatre on June 6th. The new two-person musical “using real letters and a collage of found and original text to look at love, liberation and lesbianism in the US Army’s Women’s Army Corps in World War II” is directed by Miranda Haymon and dramaturged by Ryan Adelsheim. (Since the start, Ryan has been Nothing for the Group’s trusted editorial eye — i.e., I email them poorly structured paragraphs and whine, “Is this Englishhhhh?” They’re brilliant, hire Ryan for all your dramaturgical needs!)
Diary of War will have a reading on June 2nd as part of Bedlam’s Do More: New Plays series in NYC. Zuzanna Szadkowski directs Daria Kolomiec’s “collection of first-hand accounts of the invasion in Ukraine from people across the country and from different walks of life, performed by the members of Bedlam’s Veterans Outreach program along with Bedlam company members.”
Mekala Sridhar and C.J. Linton’s Nothing You Desire will have a public workshop on June 2nd at Atlas Performing Arts Center in DC. The event will feature excerpts, conversation and artmaking around their “modern adaptation of As You Like It about gender, queer art, and being afraid to want things.”
We Happy Few’s upcoming production of Karel Čapek’s R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots) will have a public preview on June 1st at DC’s Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Matt Reckeweg directs the sneak peek of the Czech playwright’s 1920 sci-fi thriller about a robot apocalypse, which will be fully produced this fall.
Jacob Basri will present Little Eyolfs on June 3rd at 4pm at Rattlestick Theater in NYC. Basri commissioned four playwrights to adapt scenes from Henrik Ibsen's Little Eyolf and will be directing and presenting each scene as the culminating project of his directing fellowship at Rattlestick. (RSVP to boxoffice@rattlestick.org.)
Sandra Daley-Sharif’s Amma’s Wit will have a reading on June 6th as part of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s First Light Festival in NYC. The new work is an “homage to the ‘Granny’ midwives.”
festivals
The Seven Devils Playwrights Conference runs June 3-15 in McCall, ID. This year’s line-up includes Phaedra Michelle Scott’s Plantation Black, Daria Miyeko Marinelli’s Beautiful Blessed Child, DJ Hills’ Horsegirl & Cowdaddy, Derick Edgren Otero’s Anti-Hero: Revenge of the Swifties. D.D. Wigley, Cherene Snow, and Ron Fromstein will be playwrights-in-residence.
Bailey Williams’ Coach Coach runs June 3-13 as part of Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks. Sarah Blush directs the new work described as: “A group of coaches gather for a weekend retreat. They all have the same credentials, but different specialties. Some of them will leave as Platinum Practitioner Life Coaches with Dr. Meredith Martin’s Action Coach Academy for Thinking Coaches. Some of them will not.”
Amphibian Stage’s SparkFest runs June 6-18 in Fort Worth, TX. This year’s festival is centering Asian American and Pacific Islander artists. New play readings include Zoë Kim’s autobiographical solo show Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?), Alex Lin’s barren, and Keiko Green’s You Are Cordially Invited To The End of The World!.
digital
Jonathan Spector’s Best Available with livestream June 6th from Shotgun Players in Berkeley, CA. Jon Tracy directs the new comedy about a fictitious (and “problematic”) theater company launching a search for a new artistic director — and the former associate AD debating if she can return to “finally bring about real change in the organization.” (As a former long-time staff dramaturg, I need several personalized content advisories based on that description alone.)
2024-25 season updates
Portland Center Stage announced its 2024-25 season. The line-up includes Hugh Wheeler and Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd (directed & choreographed by Chip Miller), Jillian Snow & David Saffert’s Liberace & Liza: Holiday at the Mansion (A Tribute) (directed by Miller), Twelfth Night (directed by Marissa Wolf), Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja’s African Hair Braiding (directed by Tiffany Nichole Greene), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (directed by Wolf), Loy A. Webb’s The Light (directed by Miller), Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size (directed by Miller), Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson (directed by Eric Michaud, co-pro with Boom Arts), and the world premiere of Kamilah Bush’s adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest (directed by Josiah Davis).
the regional theatre game of thrones
Emily Comisar is the new executive artistic director of Oklahoma City Rep. Comisar currently serves as the company’s managing director; the new position combines her current role with that of the artistic director. (Kelly Kerwin recently announced she is stepping down as AD in June.)
Katie Bradley is the new interim artistic director of Theater Mu in Minneapolis. Bradley is a long-time actor, teaching artist, producer, and director with the company. She will serve alongside managing director Anh Thu T. Pham during the search for departing artistic director Lily Tung Crystal’s successor. (Crystal was recently named artistic director of East West Players in Los Angeles.)