A roundup of some of this week’s theatrical news and notes from Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Everyman Theatre, Chesapeake Shakespeare, Interrobang Theatre, Strand Theatre, L’Enfant Rebelle, Brave Spirits and NextStop Theatre.
We’re more than half way through the Women’s Voices Festival (the last play opens October 31st), and it’s abundantly clear that congratulations are in order for playwrights and producers. The festival has been drawing first week crowds to theatres more used to building attendance over three weeks and it brought Charles Isherwood, drama critic for The New York Times, to town who “came away impressed and energized by the quality and diversity on display.” (He saw the shows at Studio, Woolly Mammoth, Signature, Theater J and Arena Stage, unfortunately missing the gems on our smaller stages.) He went on to declare “parity will be achieved only by producing more women’s work, and heaven knows the festival has done that.” Amen to that.
Free performances of Fences, Titus Andronicus and Kerrmoor
Everyman Theatre will offer a free performance of August Wilson’s Fences on Tuesday, October 20th at 7:30PM .
“We want all of Baltimore to be able to experience August Wilson’s dramatic masterpiece live on stage. We don’t want price to be an obstacle,” said Everyman’s Founding Artistic Director Vincent Lancisi. “We traditionally offer a Pay What You Can Performance on the Tuesday before Opening Night for every production, but for Fences we are proud to offer this as a free performance in conjunction with Free Fall Baltimore.”
A city wide, all arts free festival of music, museums and dance, other free theatre performances include Titus Andronicus at Chesapeake Shakespeare and Kerrmoor, part of the Women’s Voices Festival from the Interrobang and Strand Theatre Companies.
Tickets for the free performance are available through Free Fall Baltimore’s website. Visit www.freefallbaltimore.org to make reservations. Use the left hand Filters to find all theatre performances. Tickets are required and are only available through that website.
L’Enfant Rebelle, a new disability inclusive theatre, launches its fundraising campaign
The professional company, which has been in development since early 2012, plans to release season selections and locations as early as the January 1st 2016.
L’Enfant Rebelle has had discussions with Suzanne Richard of Open Circle Theatre, which has been on hiatus since 2013. Open Circle was the first disability integrated theatre in the metropolitan area, paving the way for artists, patrons, crew, and arts administrators at all points in life.
L.J. Whalen, founder and Artistic Director of L’Enfant Rebelle, stated “All too often, new theatre companies strive too hard to simply be ‘different.’ This company, although new, doesn’t aim for difference, but rather the beauty found among our differences. Our mission is not to further separate actors with disabilities from professional theatre, but rather to seamlessly include them alongside D.C.’s finest actors, developing a new spin on original and classic productions.”
Brave Spirits presents an (almost entirely) re-gendered Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2
Besides gender-flipping the characters and performing the two Shakespeare histories with a cast of ten women and two men, Brave Spirits has assembled a production and design team that is 80% comprised of female artists.
Performances will take place October 29th – November 22nd at the Lab at Convergence at 1819 N. Quaker Lane, Alexandria, VA 22302. Tickets are $20 each, or you can see both parts for $30. Tickets can be bought the door or at click here for advance tickets.
Casting News
NextStop Theatre Company opens the suspense thriller, Deathtrap on Halloween weekend. Holding the record as the longest-running thriller in Broadway history, Ira Levin’s ingeniously crafted play keeps the scares and surprises coming until the final curtain. NextStop’s production, directed by Producing Artistic Director Evan Hoffmann, opens October 29 and runs through November 22, 2015.
The cast will be led by Peter Holdway as Sidney Bruhl and James Finley as Clifford Anderson. They will be joined by Frank Britton as Porter Milgrim, Susan d. Garvey as Myra Bruhl, and Lorraine Magee as Helga ten Dorp. More information here.
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