the week of september 8-14, 2023
just when i thought i was out they pull me back in
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:
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Graphic Design: Elizabeth Haley Morton | Editorial Support: Rebecca Adelsheim
dc theatre week (ft. me)
I'm coming out of talkback retirement to moderate two conversations for Theatre Washington’s 2023 DC Theatre Week:
Panel Discussion: Women In Charge
Saturday, September 23rd from 3:15 PM - 4 PM
Location: Arena Stage
Cost: Free! (Register on TodayTix)
I'll be talking to DC's three newest artistic directors — Hana S. Sharif (Arena Stage), Hayley Finn (Theater J), and Elizabeth Dinkova (Spooky Action) — about their new roles, balancing their artistic work with institutional responsibilities, and why they’re excited to join this theatre community. This is part of the free DC Theatre Week Kick-Off Fest, which also features additional panel conversations, performances, interactive exhibits, etc.#DCTheatre Season Preview
Monday, October 2nd from 6:45 PM - 8:15 PM
Location: The Smithsonian Ripley Center
Cost: $20 Smithsonian Associates Member / $25 Non-Member (Buy Here)
I'll be discussing the depth and range of the 2023-24 DC theatre season with critics Nicole Hertvik (DC Theater Arts), Sarah Marloff (Washington City Paper), and André Hereford (Metro Weekly).
icymi: bills, bills, bills
This month’s money diary — from a freelance lighting designer in an out-of-town tech — dropped on Wednesday:
Many thanks to our columnist for the explanatory commas on technical terms (and giving me a chance to contextualize the title of this newsletter!), as well as disclosing the brutality of a double layoff in a two-person household. As more theatres drastically reduce their staffs, it’s important to see the long-term financial effects of these decisions on individual workers.
productions
The world premiere of Psalmayene 24’s Out of the Vineyard runs September 8-24 at Joe’s Movement Emporium in Mt. Rainier, MD. The “vivid, deeply researched narrative, constructed from interviews with descendants of enslaved families and individuals closely associated with the history of freedom suits in Prince George’s County” is directed and choreographed by Tony Thomas.
Inua Ellams’ The Half-God of Rainfall runs September 8-24 at A.R.T. in Cambridge, MA. The “new epic fusing Greek mythology and Yoruba spirituality” is directed by Taibi Magar.
Twelfth Night starts previews September 8th at Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC. Jayce T. Tromsness directs the Shakespearean comedy of love, deceptions, and shipwrecks.
Robert Schenkkan and Neil Berg’s The 12 starts performances September 8th at The Goodspeed in East Haddam, CT. The rock musical dramatizing the three days between Jesus’ crucifixion and what Christians believe was his resurrection is directed by John Doyle.
The rolling world premiere of Inda Craig-Galván’s Welcome to Matteson! is now playing at the Congo Square Theatre in Chicago. Ericka Ratcliff directs the dark comedy about “a suburban Black couple hosting a welcome-to-the-neighborhood dinner party for their new neighbors — another Black couple recently (forcibly) relocated from Chicago's roughest housing project.”
The Importance of Being Earnest runs September 9 - October 15 at the Guthrie in Minneapolis. Oscar Wilde’s master comedy following “two dapper Edwardian gents who shamelessly invent people in order to shirk their responsibilities and follow their whims” is directed by David Ivers.
The world premiere of Emma Horwitz’s Mary Gets Hers starts performances September 11th at Playwrights Realm. Josiah Davis directs the tragicomedy set in a plague-ridden, slapstick version of 10th century Germany about “two overzealous hermits scheming to protecting the purity of an abandoned orphan at all costs — but she has other plans for herself.”
The world premiere of Sasha Denisova’s My Mama and the Full-Scale Invasion runs September 11 - October 8 at Woolly Mammoth in DC. The Wilma Theater co-production “inspired by online chats with [the playwright’s mother] about a family’s connection and legacy amidst the present-day war in Ukraine” is directed by Yury Urnov.
The world premiere of Jocelyn Bioh’s Jaja's African Hair Braiding starts previews September 12th on Broadway. Whitney White directs the Manhattan Theatre Club production about “a lively and eclectic group of West African immigrant hair braiders in Harlem confronting what it means to be an outsider on the edge of the place they call home.”
The world premiere of Phaedra Michelle Scott’s DIASPORA! starts previews September 12th at New Rep Theatre in Watertown, MA. Pascale Florestal directs the time-hopping new work about an idealistic Black millennial writer researching her lineage to find a long-lost grandparent.
Lauren Yee’s King of the Yees starts performances September 12th at Signature Theatre in Virginia. The “vibrant, semi-autobiographical comedy about community, culture and the connection between fathers and daughters” is directed by Jennifer Chang.
Eisa Davis’ Bulrusher runs September 13 - October 7 at McCarter Theatre Center in a co-pro with Berkeley Rep. Nicole A. Watson directs the Pulitzer finalist about a clairvoyant multiracial orphan whose small-town life in 1955 California is upended by the arrival of “a mysterious Black girl from Alabama harboring a secret, awakening new discoveries and uncovering old truths.”
The world premiere of Eric Simonson and Gordon Gano’s Run Bambi Run starts previews September 13th at Milwaukee Rep. The new rock musical about “Lawrencia ‘Bambi’ Bembenek's fall from Milwaukee cop to Playboy Bunny to suspected murderer of her husband’s ex-wife” is directed by Mark Clements.
Heidi Schreck’s What the Constitution Means to Me runs September 13th - October 1 at Syracuse Stage. Melissa Crespo directs the Tony-nominated play that “traces the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document that shaped their lives.”
Christine Quintana’s Espejos: Clean runs starts performances September 13th at Studio Theatre in DC. Set at a destination wedding at a Cancún resort, Elena Araoz directs the bilingual play about “isolation, the power of being seen, and the ways people can grow around their own damaged places.”
festivals
The Philadelphia Fringe Festival is now running through September 24th. The annual fest features over 290 independently produced shows and several curated performances: Mimi Lien and Susan Marshall’s immersive dance installation Rhythm Bath, Meg Saligman’s Make Bank, Emily Bate’s hybrid musical theater piece Wig Wag, and John Jarboe’s cabaret fantasia Rose: You Are Who You Eat.
The Goodman Theatre’s city-wide Pearl Cleage Festival runs September 14-October 15 in Chicago. The monthlong celebration includes two productions — The Goodman’s The Nacirema Society (directed by Lili-Anne Brown) and Remy Bumppo Theatre Company’s Blues for an Alabama Sky (directed by Mikael Burke) — and additional readings, workshops, and events produced in partnership with Black Ensemble Theater, Congo Square Theatre, Definition Theatre, Creative Arts Foundation, and MPAACT.
readings
Alexa Derman’s Zionista Rising will have a reading September 11th at the Meyerson JCC as part of the Jewish Plays Project. Will Steinberger directs the new play about what happens when “JewToo, a small Jewish marketing nonprofit, hires two interns to compete to be the online voice of ‘Ava the Zionista’, an A.I.-generated, #girlboss progressive Zionist.”
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre kicks off its new season with two readings on September 9th & 12th. The NYC company will present readings of Jason Tseng’s Ghost Money and Damon Chua’s Warrior Sisters of Wu, both directed by Jeff Liu.
digital
The Philly Fringe’s digital line-up is available on demand throughout September. Events include Emma Knights’ songset Myths, Legends & Fantasy; Laura Knaggs’ one-women show Silly Little Things; Australian choreographer Lewis Major’s Unfolding; Nicole Gluckstern/Estrella Suerte Productions’ audio play The Forever Wave; The Highland Lakes Players’ Chicago The City That Wakes; Norm Reynolds’ Making It Up (One Playwright to Another); Hugh Malyon & Steve Sowden’s Humetheus and The Quest for The Bronze Cloak; and Jennifer Blaine’s musical dramedy Mannequin (streaming one night only on 9/21).
Florence Espeut-Nickless’ Destiny is available to stream until October 5th from UK rural arts companies Pentabus and Rural Media. The digital monologue “explores the teenage experience of growing up in rural Wiltshire in the 2000s.”
the regional theatre game of thrones
Stevie Walker-Webb is the new artistic director of Baltimore Center Stage. The Tony-nominated director (Ain’t No Mo’) succeeds Stephanie Ybarra, who left earlier this year for a role at the Mellon Foundation. He starts October 1st; the company has been led by interim AD Ken-Matt Martin since the spring.
