the week of september 15-21, 2023
this is not a meditation on what it means to be human
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 just reply to this email.
Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
productions
Jim Cartwright’s The Rise and Fall of Little Voice starts performances September 14th at The Gift Theatre in Chicago. Devon de Mayo and Peter Andersen direct the revival of Cartwright’s “engaging fairy tale of despair, love and finally hope” about a young woman who can emulate every chanteuse from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf.
Rebecca Gilman’s Swing State is now playing at the Minetta Lane Theatre in an Audible Theatre production. The “contemporary portrait of America’s heartland in a time when it feels like everyone’s way of life is in danger of disappearing” is directed by Robert Falls.
Javier Antonio González’s Zoetrope runs September 14 - October 8 at Abrons Arts Center in NYC. The “polyphonic work tackling the painful effects of U.S. colonialism on the Puerto Rican diaspora through the stories of one family” is also directed by González, the artistic director of the bilingual theatre ensemble Caborca.
Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill starts previews September 14th at Baltimore Center Stage. Nikkole Salter directs the immersive cabaret of Billie Holiday’s famous 1959 performance at the titular South Philadelphia venue.
Pearl Cleage’s Blues for an Alabama Sky runs September 14 - October 15 at Remy Bumppo in Chicago. Mikael Burke directs the drama about “change, struggle, and joy set against the tumultuous backdrop of prohibition, the Jazz Age, and the dawning of The Great Depression.”
Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining starts performances September 15th in a co-pro between the Alliance Theatre and The Atlanta Opera. The English-language opera of King’s iconic, supernatural tale of possession and murder is directed by Brian Staufenbiel and conducted by Timothy Myers.
Annie Dorsen’s Prometheus Firebringer runs September 15 - October 1 at Theatre for a New Audience. The lecture-performance “uses the predictive text model GPT-3 (a precursor to ChatGPT) to generate speculative versions of Aeschylus’ Prometheia trilogy. Each night a chorus of AI-generated Greek masks performs a different iteration, while Dorsen engages the audience in reflections on power, knowledge, and doubt.”
Nathan Alan Davis’ The Refuge Plays starts previews September 16th in a co-pro from New York Theater Workshop and Roundabout. The “bold reimagining of the American ‘family’ play following one Black family over seventy years” is directed by NYTW artistic director Patricia McGregor.
Pearl Cleage’s The Nacirema Society runs September 16 - October 15 at The Goodman in Chicago. Lili-Anne Brown directs the 1964-set comedy about the centennial celebration of the titular organization’s African-American debutante ball in Montgomery, Alabama.
WeAreMarried’s Rich Dogs starts performances September 16th at The Jungle in Minneapolis. Shelby Richardson directs the “near-future, surveillance state comedy following a romance that unfolds during a chance encounter between two butlers who serve wealthy dogs.”
JuCoby Johnson’s How It’s Gon’ Be runs September 16 - October 23 at Echo Theatre Company in Los Angeles. The “lyrical and poetic exploration of missed connections and feelings too great to speak aloud” is directed by Ahmed Best.
Alaudin Ullah’s Dishwasher Dreams starts previews September 16th at the Old Globe in San Diego. Chay Yew directs the South Asian comedian’s decades-spanning autobiographical solo show recounting “the immigrant experience, how this country gets made, and the dreams of those who make it.”
Sarah Ruhl’s Becky Nurse of Salem runs September 21 - November 10 at Trinity Rep in Providence. Running in rep with Talene Monahon’s The Good John Proctor, the dark comedy about a modern-day descendent of accused witch Rebecca Nurse “looking for love and redemption through spells, pills, and a bartender named Bob” is directed by Curt Columbus.
Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice starts previews September 21st at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL. Braden Abraham directs Ruhl’s spin on the ancient myth, which contains one of my all-time favorite stage directions. (It takes time to build a room out of string.)
The world premiere of Elevator Repair Service’s Ulysses runs September 21 - October 1 at the Fisher Center at Bard. Co-directed by John Collins and Scott Shepherd, the piece centers on “seven performers sitting down for a sober reading but soon finding themselves guzzling pints, getting in brawls, and committing debaucheries as they careen on a fast-forward tour through Joyce’s funhouse of styles.”
same play, different productions
I’m often asked why I quote marketing blurbs directly in the newsletter instead of writing my own descriptions. The primary reason is that I often haven’t read the plays — I was a literary manager for thirteen years! I read books now! — and I wouldn’t want to mischaracterize a playwright’s work. I used to co-write Studio Theatre’s play blurbs with Adrien-Alice Hansel and we spent weeks of our wild and precious lives haggling over the nuance of adjectives. It’s an art! (Also, I get that every theatre is currently employing burnt-out skeleton crews doing six-jobs-in-one but I’d like to declare a moratorium on show blurbs that describe a play as an exploration-meditation-examination "on what it means to be human.")
The other reason why I love to directly quote blurbs is to clock the subtle (and overt) differences in how multiple theatres describe the same play:
Selina Fillinger’s POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive
SpeakEasy Stage in Boston (starts September 15th): The “9 to 5-meets-Veep riotously funny comedy that celebrates the women who keep things running behind the scenes both in — and out — of the Oval Office” is directed by Paula Plum.
Berkeley Rep (starts September 16th): Annie Tippe directs the “gleefully feminist satire” about what happens after when “the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis — and the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the commander-in-chief out of trouble.”
Martyna Majok’s Sanctuary City
Steppenwolf in Chicago (directed by Steph Paul, starts September 14): “Newark, NJ. Post-9/11. Two teenagers, brought to America as children, now face an unlikely foe: unexpected, unreciprocated love. Their friendship is no longer enough (for one of them) and their adopted country doesn’t love them back. Pulitzer Prize-winner Martyna Majok brings light to the sacrifices made by DREAMers, lovers and life-long friends in the heartbreaking and hopeful Sanctuary City—a story that fractures and transcends—crossing boundaries, borders and genres in search of a place to call home.”
Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (directed by Kareem Fahmy, starts September 16): “How far would you go to help a friend, and what would you be willing to risk? In this strikingly intimate play, two young people become one another’s sanctuaries as the children of U.S. immigrants in the wake of 9/11. Through years of late-night conversations, they see each other through adolescence and fight to find their place in the world. When G becomes a naturalized citizen, she finds a way to help B stay in the country legally. But what begins as a simple choice becomes far more complicated, and G and B’s relationship teeters on the brink of falling apart. This searing new play from Pulitzer Prize-winner Martyna Majok is an unconventional love story that’s as timely as it is unforgettable.”
readings & workshops
Nkenna Akunna & Nana Dakin’s Woo Woo Child will have a presentation on September 15 & 16 as part of Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab. Told in a “mosaic of time fragments”, the new work “follows a group of six New York City artists at the precipice of new beginnings [and] explores queer fate, messy power and narrative-by-accumulation.”
Brittany Fisher’s Your Regularly Scheduled Programming will have public readings on September 13 & 15 at The O’Neill in Waterford, CT. The “bizarre and darkly funny exploration of race, identity, and the deep-rooted trauma that continues to haunt the Black race in America” is directed by Melissa Mowry with dramaturgy by Ambree Feaster.
Cygnet Theatre in San Diego will present readings of its Finish Line Commissions on September 17-19. The featured works are Agyeiwaa Asante’s Church Play (directed by Kandace Crystal), Milo Cramer’s Business Ideas, and Christian St. Croix’s We Are the Forgotten Beasts (directed by Jaeonnie Davis-Crawford).
2023-24 season updates
Theater Alliance announced its 2023-24 season. The DC theatre will produce El Chelito and Raymond O. Caldwell’s adaptation of Jason Reynolds’ Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (directed by Caldwell, co-pro with Kennedy Center), Holly Bass’ The Trans-Atlantic Time Traveling Company, and one play TBA.
The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes in-person and digital readings of Steph Del Rosso’s Precarious; Mat Smart’s A Black-billed Cuckoo; Anna Ouyang Moench’s Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again; Daniel Aukin and Emily Feldman’s adaptation of Lore Segal's Other People's Houses; Steven Dietz’s Vial Man (The Apothecary’s Story); Janaki Ranpura’s Cyranoid, an adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac; AriDy Nox’s bayou; Benjamin Benne’s Fantasma; Mathilde Dratwa’s Esther Perel Ruined My Life; and Peter Gil-Sheridan’s Pirates Steal.
Theater Mu in Minneapolis announced its 2023-24 season. The line-up includes Aya Ogawa’s The Nosebleed (directed by Ogawa) and three world premieres: Keiko Green’s Hells Canyon (directed by Katie Bradley), Susan H. Pak’s adaptation of Yangsook Choi’s The Name Jar (directed by Jake Sung-Guk Sullivan), and Jessica Huang and Jacinth Greywoode’s musical Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters (directed by Lily Tung Crystal).
The Old Globe announced its 2024 season. The San Diego theatre will produce Sanaz Toossi’s English (directed by Arya Shahi), Rajiv Joseph’s King James (directed by Justin Emeka), Freya Catrin Smith and Jack Williams’ musical Ride (directed by Sarah Meadows), Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (directed by Peter Amster), Kate Hamill's Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt. 2B (directed by James Vásquez), The 7 Finger's Duel Reality (directed by Shana Carroll), James Ijames’ Fat Ham, and two world premieres: Karen Zacarías' adaptation of Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence and Melinda Lopez & Joel Perez's Stir.
the regional theatre game of thrones
Tarell Alvin McCraney is the new artistic director of the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. The playwright and Oscar-winning screenwriter was most recently the co-chair of the Yale School of Drama’s playwriting program. He succeeds Matt Shakman, who stepped down earlier this year to focus on his film and television commitments.
Raymond O. Caldwell is stepping down as producing artistic director of Theater Alliance at the end of this season. Caldwell has led the DC theatre since 2019; he plans to devote more time to directing locally and nationally.
Yes to that moratorium