New Play’s Spotlight Will Shine on Pussy Riot and Protest Punk Rock
Because nothing says Russian protest punk rock like a Washington wine-and-cheese reception, the folks who run the Contemporary American Theater Festival held a small party last week to present excerpts from a new play called WE ARE PUSSY RIOT.
The docudrama, about the celebrity Russian dissidents/punk rockers, will get top billing this summer when CATF presents five new American plays during its annual four-week festival at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va. The CATF invited playwright Barbara Hammond (pictured above with Ed Herendeen, artistic director of the Contemporary American Theater Festival) to come down from her writing outpost on Cape Cod, Mass., to read excerpts from WE ARE PUSSY RIOT.
WE ARE PUSSY RIOT is the result of a $10,000 commission granted to Hammond by CATF, which then received a $15,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant to support the project.
Read the full article from the Washington Post HERE.
Anne Garcia-Romero’s PALOMA at the Los Angeles Theatre Center from May 28-June 21
Make sure to get your tickets now!
PALOMA, written by Anne Garcia-Romero will be staged at The Los Angeles Theatre Center (514 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013). The play follows NYU students Ibrahim and Paloma, who study an ancient Muslim treatise on the art and practice of love, and they debate the complexities of romantic relationships while falling into one. When tragedy strikes this interfaith romance, it tests the limits of love in a post-9/11 world and Ibrahim must seek the help of his friend Jared, a young Jewish attorney, to clear his name.
For more information on tickets and the production, click here.
THE WIZ to be NBC’s Next Live-Musical Event, Produced by Cirque-du-Soleil
NBC has revealed that The Wiz will be the network’s third annual live-musical event. The latest adaptation of the 1974 Broadway show, Book by William F. Brown with Musical and Lyrics by Charles Smalls, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz with an all-black cast and a Quincy Jones-produced soundtrack, will be co-produced by Cirque du Soleil’s theatrical division.
After the musical airs live on NBC on December 3rd, the new Wiz will then “Ease on Down the Road” to Broadway with a revival scheduled for the 2016/’17 season.
To read the whole article by Rolling Stone, click HERE.
WE ARE PUSSY RIOT Selected for The Contemporary American Theater Festival
WE ARE PUSSY RIOT, by playwright Barbara Hammond, has been selected as one of the five new plays for the 25th Season of The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF). WE ARE PUSSY RIOT, commissioned by CATF, makes its world debut at the Festival. The play tells the story of five young women that walked into Moscow’s Church of Christ the Savior and offered up a punk prayer to the Mother God: “Virgin Mary, Chase Putin Away!” Their act made them enemies of Church and State, and revolutionary artists in the eyes of Western media. This story speaks to their struggles and the power of the human spirit.
To read more about the CATF, please visit the full article HERE.