Anita Stewart News

Despite its location far, far north, and its relatively sparse population compared to cultural capitals, Maine boasts a rich regional theatre climate. There are quite a few thriving, adventurous, permanent professional companies, as well as an excellent contingent of community theatres. This year offered a wealth of exciting choices. Here is my personal list for 2013, grouped by theatre company and show:

The Portland Stage production of Canadian playwright Morris Panych's black comedy, Vigil, is a provocative and challenging mounting of an often off-putting play. That the company once again has the courage to undertake a work that has had mixed success in the U.S. and clearly pushes the limits of dark, macabre humor is a testament to the Maine stage's commitment to innovation and integrity. That said, the afternoon in the theatre is not an easy one, even for an experienced reviewer like myself. But then, of course, Panych does not intend it to be. His play, which tells the story of Kemp, a young man who receives a summons to attend the bedside of his dying Aunt, only to find that she is not yet ready to make that journey. In the months that Kemp and Grace share her tiny, bleak apartment, they come to confront the terrifying and messy process of dying, the agony of loneliness, the scars of Kemp's childhood, and the ultimate meaning of caring and compassion.

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson runs now through October 20, 2013 at Portland Stage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

'Blues are a way of understanding,' Ma Rainey tells her band in the second act of August Wilson's 1984 play set in a 1920s recording studio in Jim Crow era Chicago. And, indeed, Wilson uses music as a means of making sense of the African-American experience in a world scarred by racism and violence. The Portland Stage's new production, which opens its 2013-2014 season, is a tautly directed, intensely acted interpretation of Wilson's meditation on what it is like to be black in a white man's world. The play, which uses the a quasi-musical blues structure of long, seemingly improvised solos interspersed with short rhythmic exchanges of dialogue, builds slowly and tensely to its chilling climax. Along the way, it penetrates the recesses of the musicians' hearts, their troubled pasts and their tenuous presents. And it examines the high cost of 'making it' in white America, where, for all their artistic talent and success, these determined entertainers remain faceless and invisible. Delivering Wilson's prose with an engaging blend of humor and pathos, the Portland Stage Company's cast scales the poetic heights of the playwright's genius.

Merrimack Repertory Theatre celebrates its rebirth with world premiere of Massachusetts playwright William Donnelly's HOMESTEAD CROSSING in co-production with Berkshire Theatre Group and Portland Stage Company.

Portland Stage Company concludes their 2011-12 season with a hilarious, heartwarming production about two pianists and their (mis)adventures en route to becoming musical masters of the 88 piano keys.

"If you want to make love to an artist, learn your colors," exclaims Elisa in Portland Stage Company's stage palette of many emotions; Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh, by Joel Gross.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, announces that digital-marketing pioneer and best-selling author Seth Godin will speak at the 22nd annual TCG National Conference in Boston from June 21 to 23, 2012. This multiday convening will bring 1,000 theater practitioners together from around the world to conclude TCG's year-long 50th anniversary celebration.

With Heroes, a Tom Stoppard translation of Gerald Sibleyras's play, Portland Stage Company has produced another 'must see' show. Heroes is very funny, very charming and very well done for anyone who wants to experience great theater.

Tennessee Williams is best known for his plays like The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, however, Portland Stage Company has masterfully brought together four of his lesser known works in a show that must be experienced.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce the second round of 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Play awards granted to TCG member theaters across the U.S. The awards, totaling $762,000, allow 22 theaters extra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, helping to extend the life of the play after its first run.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce the second round of 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Play awards granted to TCG member theaters across the U.S. The awards, totaling $762,000, allow 22 theaters extra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, helping to extend the life of the play after its first run.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, has just announced the second round of 2011 Edgerton Foundation New American Play awards granted to TCG member theaters across the U.S. The awards, totaling $762,000, allow 22 theaters extra time in the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, helping to extend the life of the play after its first run.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre, is pleased to announce the 38 Edgerton Foundation New American Play awards granted to theatres across the U.S. in 2010.

We've all heard that some actors really want to direct. But the multi-talented John Cariani--whose play cul-de-sac runs at the Transport Group through May 13th--belongs to a somewhat smaller group of thespians: those who have carved out successful second careers as playwrights.