American Theatre magazine

09/12/2024

A chorus of wartime women and girls; a bloody fable about hollow LGBTQ allyship; a 4-hour epic about quantum physics. Critic Peter Marks files the first of a series of dispatches from Kraków's Divine Comedy Festival.

This correspondent returned eagerly to a place where theatre still matters in a troubled world, even if it can’t quite make sense of it.

06/12/2024

Today we pay tribute to the late, great dramaturg and activist Morgan Jenness, first with a beautiful, clear-eyed eulogy by Taylor Mac that urges us "take the note" from Jenness's ethos of questioning and care. We also asked a dozen of Morgan's close friends and associates—members of her chosen family—to recall the gifts of attention, clarity, fire, and joy Morgan gave to them, the theatre field, and the larger world. (links in comments)

05/12/2024

This month in theatre history saw the only Gilbert & Sullivan operetta to premiere in the U.S. (PIRATES OF PENZANCE), the founding of 2 theatres (Dunbar in Philly, St. Nicholas in Chicago), a Broadway Y2K shutdown, and more.

Gilbert & Sullivan’s only U.S. world premiere, two theatre foundings (Dunbar Theatre in Philly, St. Nicholas in Chicago), a Broadway Y2K shutdown, and more.

05/12/2024

Blackboard Plays and the Parent Artist Advocacy League - P**L for Performing Arts have teamed to showcase the stories of Black families for the third annual Black Motherhood and Parenting New Play Festival, now streaming through Jan. 7. Included are new works by E.J. Batiste, Lynne Childress, Gail Lou, and D.L. Patrick.

The festival includes new plays by E.J. Batiste, Lynne Streeter Childress, Gail Lou, and D.L. Patrick.

05/12/2024

Monteze Freeland, who has served as one of 3 co-artistic directors at Pittsburgh's City Theatre since 2021, will leave at the end of the current season to become artistic director of the city's Theater Company. Artistic director Clare Drobot and managing director James McNeel will continue as they reevaluate the theatre's leadership model.

After finishing out CTC’s 2024-25 season, he’ll start as artistic director of Pittsburgh’s Alumni Theater Company.

05/12/2024

Alisha Tonsic, who most recently helmed Network of Ensemble Theaters, has taken the third of 3 co-leadership positions at Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for theatre and publisher of American Theatre. As co-executive director of national operations and business development, she will work alongside Emilya Cachapero, co-executive director of national and global programming, and LaTeshia Ellerson, co-executive director of director of national engagement.

A nonprofit pro who recently led the Network of Ensemble Theaters, she will join co-executive directors Emilya Cachapero and LaTeshia Ellerson.

05/12/2024

From 2012 to 2017, the Donmar Warehouse staged a trilogy of all-female Shakespeare productions, set in women’s prisons and created in collaboration with inmates. As a new documentary traces the extensive work in prisons that both inspired and sprung from these shows, director Phyllida Lloyd and ot...

04/12/2024

"As a critic, I consider myself a teacher who is at the same time a perpetual student." Excellent column by Los Angeles Times theatre critic Charles McNulty, with a shout-out to our Critical Insight program with Pittsburgh Public Theater.

A theater critic reflects on his profession at a time when its very survival seems on the line and champions a return of critical thinking.

04/12/2024

Our newest theatre awards roundup includes the recipients of the Idea Awards (Luis Valdez, Daria Miyeko Marinelli, AG, MILCK, Sam Chanse, and Dan Fishback) and the sole recipient of the National Theatre Conference's Barrie and Bernice Stavis Playwright Award (Alex Lin).

Our regular roundup of prizes and other recognitions.

04/12/2024

Adam Siegel has been named the new executive director of NYC's Second Stage Theater. Currently executive director at Lincoln Center Theater, Siegel will join his former LCT colleague, Evan Cabnet, who is Second Stage's new artistic director, at the company's helm next April.

Currently managing director of Lincoln Center Theater, Siegel will join his former LCT colleague Evan Cabnet at the helm of Second Stage next April.

03/12/2024

After losing their venue when the Connelly Theatre suspended operations, The Hearth's RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR—an intimate, unsettling language play by Kallan Dana—begins performances this weekend at Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.

Kallan Dana’s intimate, unsettling play, a production of The Hearth redirected from the shuttered Connelly Theatre, reemerges at A.R.T./New York.

03/12/2024

This Detroit-focused edition of Role Call includes both theatremakers focused on cultivating the next generation and early-career artists showing the promise of that next wave.

This Detroit-focused edition includes both theatremakers focused on cultivating the next generation and early-career artists showing the promise of that next wave.

03/12/2024

On the new Theatrical Mustang podcast, Woodzick chats with multi-hyphenate filmmaker Vera Drew about cultivating joyful spaces for trans audiences through her DIY film THE PEOPLE'S JOKER, which she says has a "summer stock theatre" aesthetic.

This month, Woodzick chats with multi-hyphenate filmmaker Vera Drew about cultivating joyful spaces for trans audiences through her DIY film ‘The People’s Joker.’

02/12/2024

After a 7-year tenure that included a theatre name change and such acclaimed productions as an LGBTQ+ take on THE FANTASTICKS, THE FLINT MURAL PLAYS, and GODSPELL (IN A POOL), artistic director Michael Lluberes is stepping down from the helm of Michigan's Flint Repertory Theatre.

After six years of service, he transitions the role to managing director Nicole Samsel