the week of october 20-26, 2023
afternoon edition (because I forgot to schedule-send)
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
me in american theatre
For American Theatre’s Fall Preview, I wrote a trend analysis about the 2023-24 regional theatre season and how amid the escapist fare and the requisite holiday season cascade of Christmas Carols there's also an abundance of artistic dexterity, calculated risk-taking, and glimmers of possibility:
(I didn’t write the headline but I do love how the editors captured my conversational cadence.) Paid subscribers will note that I initially clocked many of these trends back in April as season announcements rolled out, so thank you for supporting me thinking in draft!
productions
Lloyd Suh’s The Chinese Lady starts previews October 22nd at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. Nana Dakin directs the drama inspired by “the true story of Afong Moy, the first Chinese woman to step foot in America in 1834, where she is destined to become a living curiosity in a museum.”
The Civilians’ Artificial Flavors runs October 22-November 19 at 59E59. Created and directed by Steve Cosson, parts of the theatrical experience are “generated live by the latest AI programs and immediately performed, creating an entirely different show every night.”
The world premiere of Alicia Keys and Kristoffer Diaz’s Hell's Kitchen starts previews October 24th at The Public Theater. Michael Greif directs the coming-of-age musical loosely based on Keys’ childhood in 1990s New York.
Terrence McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens’ Ragtime starts performances October 24th at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. The musical about “three American families intertwined against the backdrop of a towering slate of historical figures” is directed by Matthew Gardiner.
Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me runs October 24 - November 12 at Kansas City Rep. Amy Anders Corcoran directs the Tony-nominated play that “traces the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.”
Twelfth Night starts previews October 25th at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Reimagining Ilyria in the Caribbean isles, the Shakespearean comedy of “mistaken identities and the intoxicating power of love” is directed by Tyrone Phillips.
Becca Blackwell and Amanda Duarte’s Snatch Adams & Tainty McCracken Present It's That Time of the Month starts previews October 25th at Soho Rep. Jess Barbagallo directs the original queer spectacle about the titular “6-foot tall vagina who lost her job as a clown at Planned Parenthood in 2016 and is finally hired to host a talk show with recently Me-Too’ed comic Tainty McCracken.”
James Ijames’ Fat Ham starts performances October 25th at DC’s Studio Theatre. The Pulitzer-winning riff on Hamlet that “swaps a Danish castle for a North Carolina BBQ pit” is directed by Taylor Reynolds.
Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik’s Spring Awakening runs October 26-November 19 at East West Players in Los Angeles. Tim Dang directs “generation-defining musical poignantly exploring the dark, passionate, and twisting journey from adolescence to adulthood.”
The US premiere of Newton Moreno’s Agreste (Drylands) starts performances October 26th at Spooky Action Theater in DC. The Brazilian playwright’s “tale of love and loss, desire and death, ignorance and illumination” is translated and directed by Danilo Gambini.
Dominique Morisseau’s Confederates runs October 26 - November 19 at DC’s Mosaic Theater Company. Stori Ayers directs Nikkole Salter in the time-jumping examination of “history, race, and the women who stand on the frontlines of freedom, no matter the cost.”
Selina Fillinger’s POTUS starts previews October 26th at Steppenwolf in Chicago. The “bawdy and irreverent look at sex, politics and the women in charge of the man in charge of the free world” is directed by Audrey Francis.
The world premiere of John J. Caswell Jr.’s Scene Partners runs October 26 - December 3 at Vineyard Theatre. Rachel Chavkin directs the “wildly theatrical, hilarious, and genre-twisting gallop through the experience of a woman reborn.”
festivals
The inaugural Locally Grown Festival runs October 21-22 at Baltimore Center Stage. The two-day celebration of Baltimore’s arts ecology features 150 artists performing and presenting “dance, puppetry, drag, comedy, music, visual art, play readings, spoken word, burlesque, and more.”
The 2023 Breaking the Binary Festival runs October 23-29. The line-up of new works from transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ artists includes Noax & George Strus’ PARADISE: An Interdisciplinary Revue, Nina Ki’s Moon Bear (directed by cara hinh), Jesús I. Valles’ PLAY MAID (directed by Liliana Padilla), a.k. payne’s ‘Tia Pray a Sound (co-directed by abigail jean-baptiste and Jaz Hall), travis tate’s YOUR MAXIMUM POTENTIAL (directed by Dominique Rider), Sarah Mantell’s Fight Call (directed by Mei Ann Teo), and BLISS: A Collection of Commissioned Scenes and Monologues.
signs of the times
New Repertory Theatre is closing after 40 years. The Boston-area company cited the usual reasons: major donor fatigue, economic challenges, and insufficient government aid.
The Repertory Theater of St. Louis canceled two upcoming productions amid a $2.5 million budget shortfall. The company will no longer produce The Lion and The Greatest Love for Whitney: A Tribute to Whitney Houston — and announced a holiday season switch, opting for It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play instead of its usual annual production of A Christmas Carol. The theater also launched a emergency fundraising campaign to complete the rest of the season.
what i read this week when i wasn’t reading north woods
Todd London’s “On Field and Fire” at Howlround. Todd claims he’s speaking in draft in this piece but I’d strike a Faustian bargain to write an essay this eloquent and insightful. I’m grateful for his trademark clarity and generosity amid the many takes on the ongoing field-wide transformation:
As artistic director of New Dramatists from 1996-2014, I worked with playwrights over a period of seven years. At some point I realized that the job of dramaturgy isn’t to identify what’s wrong with plays and help fix them; rather the work was to encourage or inspire writers back to their desks, to embolden them to go the rest of the way—whatever they thought that was.
Might that be our job as colleagues, too: to embolden each other, to open channels for creative energy to spread and ignite more creativity. The way we work together is as crucial as what we make, and that means acknowledging how badly we need each other’s ideas and artistry and experience—especially when it’s different from our own. Then, having acknowledged our need, and being true to the collaborative spirit of this art, we must commit fully to each other’s flourishing, each according to their own lights.
Which brings me to my last point or question or, as I warned earlier, plea. Can we stop trying to win the argument? We’re all groping in the dark on this one. We all care so much. We’re all brave and all scared. We don’t know what we think we know, and we know more than we think. And we’re each looking through different eyes. We need the revolutionaries and the incrementalists, institutionalists and individualists. We need all the ideas: the wild leap, the careful tread, the impatience, and the slow steady labor. Some things can be changed from within, some need to be torn down, some need to be born anew. We’re all learning which is which.
Thank you