the week of october 29 - november 4, 2022

watch the thrones

Lauren Halvorsen

Nov 04, 2022

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

icymi: bills, bills, bills UK edition

This month’s money diary from an American actor living in London features visa processing fees, a hefty NHS charge, lots of theatre tickets, and the death of a monarch:

Nothing for the Group

bills, bills, bills #6

Editor’s Note: For this installment of Bills, Bills, Bills, we are featuring our first actor and going international! The trials and tribulations of an acting career are well-known, but the new-ish world of remote work is providing flexible job opportunities for actors between gigs. And while this diary features a hefty charge from the NHS, it’s still a…

2 years ago · Jenna Clark Embrey

Here are the previous diaries in this series, which are also archived on the About page:

in person theatre

The world premiere of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Plays for the Plague Year runs November 4 - 27 at the Public Theater. Niegel Smith directs and choreographs the “breathtaking anthology of plays and songs that chronicle our collective experience and the hope and perseverance that occurred throughout [2020].”
The world premiere of Rogelio Martinez’s Elián is now playing at Miami New Drama. Michel Hausmann directs the drama revisiting the 1999 Elián González saga, which reveals “new information that paints a more complete and accurate picture of how we got to that moment.”
Theatre Works Silicon Valley’s New Works Festival runs November 6 -13. The annual showcase of new plays and musicals in development includes Danny Haengil Larsen and Michelle Elliott’s Hart Island (co-directed by Tim Bond and Marcela Lorca), Christopher Chen’s The Motion (directed by Giovanna Sardelli), and Rehana Lew Mirza’s Words We Believe (directed by Aidaa Peerzada).
Madison Fiedler’s The Incubators will have a public reading November 7th at Westport Country Playhouse. Joan Sergay directs the absurdist dark comedy set at a leadership camp for teenaged anti-abortion activists.
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods starts performances November 8th at Signature Theatre in Virginia. AD Matthew Gardiner directs and choreographs the revival, which is part of Signature’s year-long Sondheim celebration. (The company will produce Sweeney Todd and Pacific Overtures in 2023.)
Liba Vaynberg’s The Gett starts previews November 9th at Rattlestick. The “tale of the dirty and the divine, drawing on everything from the Torah to bad sex” is directed by outgoing AD Daniella Topol.
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast returns to Olney Theatre Center starting November 5th. The revival — which drew significant media coverage last winter before canceling its final week of performances due to COVID breakthrough cases — is directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge.
Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things starts previews November 9th at Studio Theatre in DC. The “theatrical tour-de-force that evokes the vivid and disorienting world of addiction” is directed by AD David Muse.
TyLie Shider’s The Gospel Woman runs November 9 - 13 at National Black Theatre. The workshop production about the chaos swirling around a soul singer’s live album recording is directed by Adrienne D. Williams.
Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap starts performances November 10th at Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre. Jessica Holt directs the witty drama about an American basketball team traveling to Beijing for a “friendship game” in the post-Cultural Revolution 1980s.

digital theatre

Emma Goldman-Sherman’s FUKT is available to livestream through November 13th from The Tank. Janice L. Goldberg directs the “meta immersive dark comedy about healing from trauma with a striptease, songs, and zombies.”
The UK-based Dada Festival streams through December 3rd. Liverpool’s disability, Deaf, and neurodivergent arts organization’s digital festival includes Rosa Faye Garland’s burlesque adventure Trash Salad, Rachel Parry’s work-in-progress chatbot MALPER, Alice Christina-Corrigan’s solo work Past Life, Kadisha Kayani’s Sunshine and Shadows; Chronic Insanity’s gig theatre show 24, 23, 22; and Hera, Amble Skuse and Toria Banks’ digital operatic experience We Ask These Questions of Everybody.
The Cockpit’s Voila! Europe runs online from November 3 - 13. The London-based multilingual theatre festival showcases new European works, including I-DO Lab’s A Visit to the Minotaur (performed live in Ukraine with English subtitles), Donald Craigie’s multimedia solo performance Enos, On the 20th of November from Portugal’s Teatro Gíria, and Open Heart Surgery Theatre’s physical theatre/clowning/live music hybrid This Is Why We Live (a joint Canadian-French-Polish collaboration).

the regional theatre game of thrones

Wendy C. Goldberg stepped down as artistic director of the O’Neill Playwrights Conference after 18 years. The O’Neill is searching for an interim Artistic Director — and my best to the literary office, which will oversee the selection process for the 2023 Conference. Goldberg’s sudden departure after nearly two decades sparked questions online, but she declined to publicly comment beyond the press release when reached by the New London Day.
Luis Alfaro, associate artistic director of Center Theatre Group, announced his departure from the Los Angeles theatre. The playwright/performer/activist joined the artistic staff last July, just after then-artistic director Michael Ritchie announced he would retire at the end of 2021. As the LA Times notes, “Alfaro expressed concerns about inclusivity when he took on the role, saying, ‘The architecture [of the company] itself has to be shifted in order to reflect the city.’” CTG has yet to announce Ritchie’s successor.

things I read this week when I wasn’t cry-laughing at TikToks of teen girls dressed up as Steve Harvey for Halloween

Nataki Garrett’s reflection on the death threats she’s received in response to prioritizing diversity and inclusivity at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (The Root, h/t Brian Herrera’s #TheatreClique)
NPR’s Morning Edition report on how Minneapolis’ Penumbra Theatre remade itself into a center for racial healing
Fergus Morgan’s round-up of five fringe shows to see this month in the UK (via his excellent newsletter The Crush Bar)