The NY Times did a look at the upcoming theatre season across the country (but honestly, most are in NY.) Here are plays (and musicals) written by women, about women and directed by women. All the blurbs are from the NY Times:
PLAYS BY WOMEN
AFTERMATH Actors portray Iraqi civilians who were interviewed for this documentary play about their lives in wartime Iraq and in exile. Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, the team behind “The Exonerated,” which was based on the stories of death row inmates who were eventually freed, traveled to the Middle East last year and met with some 35 people who had fled Iraq for nearby Jordan. Ms. Blank directs. In previews. Opened Sept. 15. Closes Oct. 4. New York Theater Workshop, 79 East Fourth Street, East Village; Telecharge, nytw.org.
LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE To some of us, Melissa Gilbert will always be Laura, a k a Half Pint, the character she played as a child from 1974 to 1983 on the television show based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. But time is relentless, and Ms. Gilbert is now appearing as Ma in this musical version, with a book by Rachel Sheinkin, music by Rachel Portman, lyrics by Donna di Novelli and a cast that also includes Steve Blanchard as Pa and Kara Lindsay as the young Laura. The production, conceived and directed by Francesca Zambello, had a sold-out premiere run at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis last year. After this New Jersey stop, it will embark on a national tour. In previews. Opens Sept. 20. Closes Oct. 10. Paper Mill Playhouse, 22 Brookside Drive, Millburn, N.J. (973) 376-4343; papermill.org.
LET ME DOWN EASY Fans of Anna Deavere Smith (“Fires in the Mirror”), and her solo performance style of channeling interviewees, should be pleased to see her after a long absence from the New York stage. In her latest work, an obviously timely one, she portrays doctors, patients, athletes and others as she celebrates the resilience of the human body while also examining the American health care system on which much of that resilience depends. Leonard Foglia directs. Previews begin Tuesday. Opens Oct. 7. Closes Nov. 8. Second Stage Theater, 307 West 43rd Street, Clinton. (212) 246-4422; 2st.com.
LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE It will be tough to choose which of three casts you want to see in this collection of vignettes and monologues by the sisters Nora and Delia Ephron. Rosie O’Donnell, Rhea Perlman and her daughter Lucy DeVito, Kristin Chenoweth, Tyne Daly and others are lined up to perform — but not necessarily at the same time. The subject, the sartorial side of major moments in women’s lives, is based on the book of the same title by Ilene Beckerman. Karen Carpenter is the director. Previews begin Sept. 21. Opens Oct. 1. Closes Dec 13. Westside Theater, 407 West 43rd Street. Telecharge; lovelossonstage.com.
IMELDA This portrait of Imelda Marcos, the controversial former first lady of the Philippines who amassed great wealth and an enormous wardrobe — including thousands of pairs of shoes — while her husband, Ferdinand, was in office, has a book by Sachi Oyama, music by Nathan Wang and lyrics by Aaron Coleman. Tim Dang, the producing artistic director of the East West Players in Los Angeles, will direct the production for the Pan Asian Repertory Theater. Previews begin Sept. 22. Opens Sept. 30. Closes Oct. 18. Julia Miles Theater, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton. Telecharge; panasianrep.org.
WISHFUL DRINKING Carrie Fisher, the wry offspring of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, erstwhile wife of Paul Simon, Princess Leia of “Star Wars,” screenwriter and author of a number of books, including the novel “Postcards From the Edge” and a memoir with the same title as this solo show, tells stories involving all of the above, and recounts her experiences with alcoholism and depression besides. Tony Taccone, is the director of this Roundabout Theater Company production. Previews begin Sept. 22. Opens Oct. 4. Closes Jan. 3. Studio 54, 254 West 54th Street. (212) 719-1300; roundabouttheatre.org.
THE NIGHT WATCHER Charlayne Woodard doesn’t have children but she is a friend and maternal presence to many youngsters, as she recounts in a solo show that had its premiere last fall at the Seattle Repertory Theater. In it, she describes her own position vis-à-vis societal expectations that women should procreate. Daniel Sullivan directs. Previews begin Sept. 22. Opens Oct. 6. Closes Oct. 31. Primary Stages at 59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street. Ticket Central; primarystages.org.
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION A group of lost souls comes together in a small-town drama class in this wistful comedy by Annie Baker (“Body Awareness”). Sam Gold will direct a cast that includes Reed Birney and Deirdre O’Connell in this Playwrights Horizons production. Previews begin Sept. 24. Opens Oct. 13. Closes Nov. 1. Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 West 42nd Street. Ticket Central; playwrightshorizons.org.
THE UNDERSTUDY Julie White will star as a harried stage manager overseeing a tense rehearsal for a Kafka play in Theresa Rebeck’s comedy that had its premiere last summer at the Williamstown Theater Festival. Mark-Paul Gosselaar (“Raising the Bar,” on TNT) and Justin Kirk (“Weeds,” on Showtime) play actors — one of them an understudy, of course — at an important rehearsal that nearly gets derailed because of issues among the three people in attendance. The Roundabout Theater Company production is directed by Scott Ellis. Previews begin Oct. 9. Opens Nov. 5. Closes Jan. 3. Laura Pels Theater, Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theater, 111 West 46th Street, Manhattan. (212) 719-1300, roundabouttheatre.org.
NIGHTINGALE Inspired by her desire to understand the maternal grandmother she barely had a chance to know, Lynn Redgrave wrote this solo show in which she stars. Joseph Hardy is the director. Previews begin Oct. 15. Opens Nov. 3. Closes Dec. 13. Manhattan Theater Club at City Center, Stage I, 131 West 55th Street, Manhattan. (212) 581-1212; manhattantheatreclub.com.
IN THE NEXT ROOM OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY To help free his female patients from their struggles with “hysteria,” a doctor (Michael Cerveris) employs a novel cure (see title for hint). He is less adept at pleasing his wife (Laura Benanti) in this play by Sarah Ruhl (“The Clean House”). Les Waters, who directed the premiere at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, directs this Lincoln Center Theater production on Broadway. Previews begin Oct. 22. Opens Nov. 19. Lyceum Theater, 149 West 45th Street. Telecharge; lct.org.
CREATURE In this new comedy by Heidi Schreck, a medieval Englishwoman loses her mind and then regains it, crediting Jesus Christ for her recovery. She devotes herself to religion, attempts to become a saint and finds that the road to ecclesiastical greatness is tough for someone with voracious, earthly appetites. Leigh Silverman will direct the co-production of New Georges and Page 73 productions. Previews begin Oct. 27. Opens Nov. 2. Closes Nov. 21. Ohio Theater, 66 Wooster Street, SoHo. Theatermania; p73.org.
OR, The Restoration dramatist Aphra Behn was certainly unusual: she made her living as a playwright in a man’s world and was a spy for Charles II. Liz Duffy Adams has used this intriguing figure as her main character in a comedy about Behn trying to leave spying for show biz, while her crazy love life keeps getting in the way. Previews begin Oct. 29. Opens Nov. 3. Closes Nov. 22. Women’s Project, 424 West 55th Street, Clinton. Telecharge; womensproject.org.
THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES Annette Bening portrays an author with writer’s block who is kidnapped by a rabid fan in this comedy by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Randall Arney. Previews begin Feb. 2. Opens Feb. 10. Closes March 14. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles. (310) 208-5454; geffenplayhouse.com.
PLAYS ABOUT WOMEN
PHèDRE This modern interpretation of the Racine tragedy — itself drawn from the original Greek tale — comes to Washington from the National Theater in London in a production directed by Nicholas Hytner and starring Helen Mirren as the anguished queen obsessed with her stepson. It has been telecast to a number of American locations but this will be the only chance to see it live in the United States. Previews begin Thursday. Opens Friday. Closes Sept. 26. Shakespeare Theater Company, Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F. Street, NW. (202) 547-1122; shakespearetheatre.org.
MEDEA Annette Bening stars in the passionate revenge tragedy by Euripides. Lenka Udovicki directs the UCLA Live production. Previews begin Friday. Opens Sept. 23. Closes Oct. 18. Freud Playhouse, Macgowan Hall, University of California, Los Angeles, 245 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles. (310) 825-2101; uclalive.org.
INVENTING AVI (AND OTHER THEATRICAL MANEUVERS) This comedy by Robert Cary and Benjamin Feldman, about a pair of sisters — one a wealthy producer and the other an egotistic actress, who work together on a supposedly autobiographical play by a hot Israeli writer — is the season opener for the Abingdon Theater Company. Mark Waldrop is the director. Previews begin Oct. 2. Opens Oct. 14. Closes Nov. 1. June Havoc Theater, 312 West 36th Street, Clinton; www.abingdontheatre.org
THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS The Sioux City gal who became the celebrated Chicago Sun-Times syndicated advice columnist Ann Landers (a k a Esther Pauline Friedman Lederer) is the sole character in this play by David Rambo that finds our heroine writing, for a change, about a heartbreak of her own. B. J. Jones, the artistic director of the Northlight Theater in Skokie, Illinois, will direct Judith Ivey as Landers in this portrait drawn from her life and letters. Previews begin Oct. 7. Opens Oct. 14. Closes Nov. 29. Cherry Lane Theater, 38 Commerce Street, Greenwich Village. Telecharge; cherrylanetheatre.org.
A DISASTER BEGINS Veanne Cox stars in this solo show by Ain Gordon, presented by Mr. Gordon’s company, Pick Up Performance Co(s.), about a fictional character, Muriel Halston, preparing to give a lecture about the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, Tex., in 1900 and took more than 6,000 lives. Her connections to Galveston, and to catastrophe, are personal. Oct. 9-17. Here Arts Center, 145 Avenue of the Americas, SoHo. Theatermania; here.org.
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Cate Blanchett portrays Blanche DuBois in this Sydney Theater Company production of the 1947 Tennessee Williams classic. Directed by Liv Ullmann, it is scheduled for two American engagements after its Australian run: the Kennedy Center in Washington, Oct. 29-Nov. 21 (Eisenhower Theater, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, (202) 467-4600 or (800) 444-1324; kennedy-center.org.), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Previews begin Nov. 27. Opens Dec. 1. Closes Dec. 20. Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street, Fort Greene, Brooklyn; (718) 636-4100, bam.org.
DREAMGIRLS The new national tour of this 1981 musical, with book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger, starts off in New York. The story about a trio of backup singers (based to some extent on the Supremes) and the struggles they encounter in a world where beauty often beats talent will be directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom (see “Bye Bye Birdie,” above). The cast includes Moya Angela as Effie, Syesha Mercado (second runner up from season seven of “American Idol”) as Deena and Adrienne Warren as Lorrell. Previews begin Nov. 7. Opens Nov. 22. Closes Dec. 6. Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street, Harlem. Ticketmaster; dreamgirlsonstage.com.
SO HELP ME GOD! Kristen Johnson will play a diva whose understudy has her eye on the prize in this 1929 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins that sounds like “All About Eve” but predated it by 21 years. Martin Platt will direct the Mint Theater Company production. Previews begin Nov. 18. Opens Dec. 3. Closes Dec. 20. Mint Theater, 311 West 43rd Street, third floor, Clinton; (212) 315-0231, minttheater.org.
TIME STANDS STILL In Donald Margulies’s new play a photojournalist recovering from injuries sustained while covering the war in Iraq and her reporter-partner try to better understand their relationship to the war, to each other and to society. Commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, where it was first presented in February, the play is being produced in New York by the Manhattan Theater Club with Laura Linney as the photographer and Brian d’Arcy James as the foreign correspondent. Daniel Sullivan directs, as he did at the Geffen, and Alicia Silverstone reprises her role as the bouncy girlfriend of a friend of the couple. Previews begin Jan. 5. Opens Jan. 28. Closes March 14. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street. Telecharge; manhattantheatreclub.com.
COLLECTED STORIES In this revival of the 1997 play by Donald Margulies, Linda Lavin portrays a famous fiction writer who finds that it is all well and good to have an adoring fan for a student until you become the subject of that student’s novel. Lynne Meadow will direct for the Manhattan Theater Club. Previews begin April 6. Opens April 28. Closes June 13. Samuel J. Friedman Theater, 261 West 47th Street. Telecharge; manhattantheatreclub.com.
WOMEN DIRECTED
RETRIBUTIONISTS Several young Jewish men and women plot to kill Germans in retaliation for World War II atrocities. The play by Daniel Goldfarb (“Modern Orthodox”) is based on the true story of the Avengers, a rebel group that devised just such a plan in 1946. Leigh Silverman (“Well,” “Coraline”) is the director. In previews. Opens Monday[Sept. 14]. Closes Sept. 27. Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater, 416 West 42nd Street, Clinton. Ticket Central; playwrightshorizons.org.
COME FLY WITH ME Twyla Tharp has had highs (“Movin’ Out”) and lows (“The Times They Are A-Changin’ ”) when creating musicals inspired by singers (Billy Joel, Bob Dylan). Ms. Tharp’s newest work, which she conceived, directed and choreographed, seems to be a large-scale expansion of a subject she has visited before: Frank Sinatra. As in the 1972 “One More Frank” and her 1982 pieces “Nine Sinatra Songs” and “Sinatra Suite,” Ms. Tharp will use the recorded voice of Ol’ Blue Eyes. But this time her canvas is big enough to require a company of more than 30 dancers (daredevils included) and a 17-piece band for a story about the romantic ups and downs of four couples. The premiere is taking place at the Alliance, a regional theater in Atlanta, where, we imagine, the word Broadway will have occurred to some. Previews begin Tuesday. Opens Sept. 23. Closes Oct. 11. 1280 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta. (404) 733-5000; alliancetheatre.org.
AMERICAN BUFFALO Steppenwolf Theater Company is presenting Mr. Mamet’s 1975 play about small-time hoods and a doomed coin heist. The cast includes Tracy Letts, who works as an actor in addition to his not too shabby job writing plays (a Pulitzer for “August: Osage County,” remember?). Amy Morton, nominated for a Tony for her performance in “August,” directs. In Chicago: Previews begin Dec. 3. Opens Dec. 13. Closes Feb. 7. Steppenwolf Downstairs Theater, 1650 North Halsted Street. (312) 335-1650; steppenwolf.org.
RAGTIME It seems fitting that this revival of a musical about the bustling dawn of a new age in America is transferring to Broadway from the nation’s capital. The production, which ran in the spring at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge. Adapted from the 1975 novel by E. L. Doctorow, the sprawling tale of three families of different racial backgrounds opened on Broadway in 1998 and features a book by Terrence McNally, music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens. Previews begin Oct. 23. Opens Nov. 15. Neil Simon Theater, 250 West 52nd Street. Ticketmaster; ragtimebroadway.com.
hell yeah! I hope this is OK for me to plug in MY play.
My play “How the Rapist was Born” will be seen on a double-bill with another new fantastic play (also written by a female playwright), at Tristan Bates Theatre, from 28th Sept to 17th October, in LONDON, U.K
for more info, you may click here:
http://www.theatrewaah.com/currentproduction/
American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco does not have a single original play written by a woman being produced in it’s 2009-10 season. This in spite of the fact that the artistic director is a woman. I canceled my subscription. If it weren’t for you, Melissa, I might not have noticed this immediately.
Enda Walsh is a man! or at least he has been for 40 years.
I usually check for people I don’t know but this time didn’t and totally screwed up. It has been fixed. If this is you Enda (unless the email address is a fake) sorry. Hope you play does great.