1. Man-about-town Sean Graney is doing well adapting classic texts; Kris Vire says his style could be described as “an indifference to language and context but with a consummate reverence for theme.” But Graney’s Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses at the Hypocrties is reportedly equipped with a “phenomenal 12-person ensemble” and an evening that is almost four hours long. Ouch.
2. The Chicago Dramatists have announced their new Resident Playwrights. They include Reginald Edmund, Rohina Malik, Jayme McGhan, and Martín Zimmerman. Those are some names. They’ll keep 11 residents going in a three-year term, to work with the company on original plays. Some past writers-in-residence include Tina Fey and Sarah Ruhl, so you’re in good company.
3. Don’t know what to do? Be a Good Little Widow at Collaboraction this weekend. It’s a funny play about death by Bekah Brunstetter that did well in New York in May, when David Rooney wrote, “Written when Ms. Brunstetter was a 2009 playwright in residence at Ars Nova, this modest but delicately satisfying serio-comedy keeps threatening to get cute, yet always chooses a more unexpected direction.”
4. Oracle (or “public access theater”) has released the listings for their 2012 season. They’ll have Ironmistress by April De Angelis, The Maids by Jean Genet, and The Sandman by E.T.A. Hoffmann. And Radio Goggles is back, for a round two. It all starts in early January.
5. More fall performance previews, today courtesy of the Reader on their usual Thursday. They’ll tell you about directors, comedians and choreographers to watch (all of whom are male; take note).
Questions? Tips? Email kdries@wbez.org.
