Stew Pays a Debt to James Baldwin With ‘Notes of a Native Song’
The famed essayist and author has long loomed in the background of the songwriter’s work. Stew’s new concert musical pushes the influence to forefront—but don’t expect a hagiography.
Previews
Noor Theatre Responds to Breaking News with Breaking Theatre
At the 48 Hour Forum, playwrights will have 12 hours to write a play about last week’s news headlines, and then 36 hours to produce it.
Marisela Treviño Orta: From an Amber Alert to ‘Heart Shaped Nebula’
A news story provided the initial spark. Then the playwright stirred science and Greek myths into her new play about a star-crossed couple.
Kwame Kwei-Armah Imagines ‘Marley’ in Exile
A new bio-musical of the iconic Jamaican singer at Center Stage narrows the focus to a fertile period of tension and creativity in London.
Border Crossing
Playwright/actor Raúl Castillo and director Jaime Castañeda create a site-specific piece.
A. Rey Pamatmat Looks Behind ‘all the terrible things’ for Answers
A play about how bullies got that way gets a staging at Huntington Theatre Company, while another of his plays is staged at Company One.
Rajiv Joseph Didn’t Just Write ‘Guards at the Taj’—He Took Them There
The writer of ‘Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo’ took actors Arian Moayed and Omar Metwally on a pilgrimage to the site of his newest play.
Keith Hamilton Cobb Seeks the ‘American Moor’ in the Role of Othello
Whatever Shakespeare’s intentions, the actor/writer argues, the role now offers a chance to reflect on race as it’s lived now. But are we up for that?
‘Blues for an Alabama Sky’ Celebrates Its 20th Birthday at the Alliance Theatre
Playwright Pearl Cleage, for whom tales of the Harlem Renaissance were childhood bedtime stories, reflects on her 1995 period piece.
Afterimages of a Dear Departed Friend, in Triplicate
Richard Engling’s ‘Afterlife Trilogy,’ inspired by his late friend Fern Chertkow, includes two novels and a new play, ‘Anna in the Afterlife.’
