the week of september 1 - 7, 2023
the 2023-24 season starts now
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
productions
Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive starts performances September 1st at Stages Houston. Ashley Love directs the West Wing farce about a hapless president’s septet of “brilliant and beleaguered women he most relies upon risking life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.”
Theresa Rebeck’s Dig runs September 2 - October 22 at Primary Stages/59E59. Rebeck directs her new play about “courage, redemption, and photosynthesis, set in a dying plant shop in a dying neighborhood.”
The world premiere of Alex Bechtel, Grace Mclean and Eva Steinmetz’s Penelope starts previews September 2nd at Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. The musical reimagining of The Odyssey is directed by Steinmetz.
Joanie Schultz’s new adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House runs September 3 - 28 at Everyman Theatre in Baltimore. Schultz directs her new 90-minute adaptation “with updated themes of gender, power, and identity while holding true to the playwright’s original intentions.”
Martin Crimp’s adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac starts performance September 5th at Kansas City Rep. The radical adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s masterwork in which “Cyrano seduces in raps and rhymes, using his linguistic brilliance to help another man win the heart of his one true love” is directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III.
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s Evita starts previews September 5th at Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC. Sammi Cannold directs the musical revival chronicling Eva Perón’s meteoric rise to First Lady of Argentina.
Ben Power’s adaptation of Stefano Massini’s The Lehman Trilogy runs September 5-24 at Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Carey Perloff directs the “epic tale of one family’s passionate pursuit of the American Dream and the piercing cost of greed, excess and unbridled power.”
Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe’s Every Brilliant Thing starts September 6th at Geffen Playhouse at Los Angeles. Colm Summers directs the participatory solo performance starring Daniel K. Isaac that “takes audiences on a transcendent and tender coming-of-age journey reminding us to pay attention to life’s smallest joys—and to each other.”
Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s runs September 6-24 at PlayMakers Rep in Chapel Hill, NC. The comedy about the “formerly incarcerated kitchen staff [of a truck stop eatery finding] purpose and inspiration in their shared quest to create the perfect sandwich” is directed by Melissa Maxwell.
Max Wolf Friedlich’s JOB starts performances September 6th at Soho Playhouse. The psychological thriller “zooming in on two careerists of different generations, genders and political paradigms to examine what it means to be a citizen of the internet and our obligation to help the people who need it most” is directed by Michael Herwitz.
The Broadway revival of Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starts previews September 7th. Kenny Leon directs the Jim Crow-era comedy about “a charismatic preacher returning to his small Georgia town hoping to save the community’s church to emancipate the cotton pickers from a diabolical overseer.”
The world premiere of Psalmayene 24’s Monumental Travesties runs September 7-October 1 at Mosaic Theater Company in DC. The “searing new comedy” about a Black performance artist removing Abraham Lincoln’s head from a Capitol Hill statue in act of protest is directed by Reginald L. Douglas.
Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic starts performances September 7th at The Huntington in Boston. Loretta Greco directs the Paris-set new work about a Jewish family “forced to question their safety and sense of belonging in the city they love.”
Talene Monahon’s The Good John Proctor runs September 7-15 (and in rep with Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem September 28-November 12) at Trinity Rep in Providence. The “reexamination of the Salem Witch Trials through the eyes of the four young girls at its center” is directed by Kimberly Senior.
festivals
The Local Theatre Festival will take place September 2nd at the Kennedy Center. The inaugural event featuring workshops and free readings from DC-area artists and organizations will include works-in-progress from Amy Claussen, Veronique LaShell MacRae, Kevin Thorne II, Zak Sandler, Sarah Byrons, and Sisi Reid & The Soul Shine Garden — as well as companies Theatre Prometheus, Taffety Punk, Teatro la Bolsa, and Angel Rose Artist Collective.
digital
Sammy Miller & The Congregation streams live (and in-person) September 6-8 on Ars Nova Supra. The concert from Sammy Miller, Kevin Armento & Caitlin Sullivan features music from their Ars Nova commission The Last Medicine Show and is “chock full of foot-stomping music, gut-busting comedy routines and special tonics that will cure what ails you.”
2023-24 season updates
Keen Company announced its upcoming season. The line-up includes the world premiere of Kia Corthron's Fish (co-pro with Working Theater, directed by Adrienne D. Williams), a Connecticut tour of their site-specific production of Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking (in partnership with Long Wharf Theatre and directed by Jonathan Silverstein), a one-night-only benefit performance of Nick Blaemire and James Gardiner's musical Glory Days, and DirectorFest, a new partnership with the Drama League featuring the work Nadia Guevara and Ibi Owolabi. (Use code TRKEARLY to access 2-for-1 tickets for a limited time.)
Rorschach Theatre announced its 23-24 season. The DC company will present Christopher Bond, Dale Boyer, and Trevor Martin’s adaptation of Night of the Living Dead (directed by Lilli Hokama); Miyoko Conley’s Human Museum (directed by Randy Baker); Steve Yockey’s Sleeping Giant (directed by Jenny McConnell Frederick); and the immersive storytelling project Psychogeographies (created by Steve Yockey, Kylos Brannon, Jenny McConnell Frederick, and Jonelle Walker)
this week in labor crises
Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago is laying off 12% of its staff. The cuts impact thirteen current employees; the company is also eliminating seven open positions. The executive director cited “a protracted post-pandemic economic recovery for our sector and the rising cost of inflation” as the reason for the workforce reduction.
eulogies
Stephen Adly Guirgis’ beautiful remembrance of his long-time collaborator actor Ron Cephas Jones, who died on August 19th at age 66. Jones, a member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, appeared in the original productions of five of Guirgis’ plays and was nominated for a Tony Award last year for his performance in Lynn Nottage’s Clyde’s.
Playwright Nathan Louis Jackson passed away on August 22nd at age 44. The Kansas City native’s work included Broke-ology, When I Come to Die, Sticky Traps, The Mancherios, The Last Black Play, and Brother Toad.
Playwright Tina Howe died this week at age 85. Howe is the author of fourteen full-length plays — including Pulitzer finalists Painting Churches and Pride's Crossing — and most recently led the MFA playwriting program at Hunter College.
what i read this week when i wasn’t pre-ordering jen silverman’s there’s going to be trouble
Genevieve Swanson’s “What Is GenZ Theatre?” at Rescripted, an identification of Gen Z’s distinct values, aesthetic, and possible future contributions to the remaking of the field — while also calling for cross-generational collaboration.
