Christopher Chen News

Cutting Ball Theater continues its 16th season with the adventurous RISK IS THIS…THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL, one of the only play festivals in America solely dedicated to experimental works for the stage.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT), one of the Bay Area's most innovative and critically acclaimed producers of new plays, today announced the hiring of Mina Morita as the new Artistic Director. Morita replaces Marissa Wolf, who resigned from her post in December 2014 to become Director of New Works at Kansas City Rep. Morita's hire is the result of a national search that saw applications from over 40 talented candidates. As Artistic Associate at Berkeley Rep, Morita helped establish and run The Ground Floor: Berkeley Rep's Center for the Creation and Development of New Work. Mina also served as Board President of Shotgun Players for the past five years, during which she oversaw immense growth for the company. She will be leaving both positions to lead Crowded Fire in collaboration with longtime Managing Director and current Executive Producing Director Tiffany Cothran.

Playwright Marcus Gardley has won the prestigious Will Glickman Award for The House that will not Stand, which received its world premiere at Berkeley Repertory Theatre in February 2014. Gardley and Berkeley Repertory Theatre will receive awards at Theatre Bay Area's Annual Conference on April 13, 2015 at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Gardley will also receive the award's $4,000 purse.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) announces the four featured playwrights and plays for the 2014 Matchbox Readings Series, public staged readings of plays in development. New plays by playwrights Geetha Reddy, Andrew Saito, MJ Kaufman, and Eugenie Chan in readings from December 1-9, 2014 at the Thick House Theater. Crowded Fire champions playwrights whose work offers a vital contribution to the American theater landscape with a commitment to diversifying the canon of contemporary plays. 'We believe art is always political,' says Crowded Fire Artistic Director Marissa Wolf, 'and that in order to move toward a more just society, theaters must offer a wider range of aesthetics and voices on our stages.' The Matchbox: Commissioning and Developing New Plays grew out of CFT's need to bolster playwrights' revision processes in order to strengthen the scripts before rehearsals for the professional productions began.

Central Works 25th Anniversary Season celebrates the company's ongoing commitment to new works. Since 1991, the company has developed and produced 45 world premieres (many through its eponymous Central Works Method) bringing to the stage new works by local writers such as William Bivins, Christopher Chen, Anne Galjour, Gary Graves, Aaron Loeb, Patricia Milton, Geetha Reddy, Michael Gene Sullivan, and Brian Thorstenson, among others. As noted in Theater Bay Area Magazine, 'Berkeley's Central Works is probably host to more world premieres by local writers than any other company in the Bay Area.' The 2015 Season concludes with the company's 49th world premiere, a new play by Lauren Gunderson. Overall, the season showcases Central Works favorite sources of inspiration: current political events, history and literature.

Following the success of the fifth FURY Factory festival of ensemble theater, foolsFURY is proud to announce the world premiere of Faulted, a play written by Angela Santillo and directed by Evren Odcikin. Faulted is an ode to California in all its mysterious, tectonic, plate-shifting contradictions. Epic and romance, vegan and carnivore, West side and Central Valley combine under the sign of the next 'Big One,' just looming under the horizon. Faulted opens in previews tonight, November 14 at the Thick House in San Francisco, and runs for three weeks through December 7.

Vineyard Theatre today announced that Clare Barron has been awarded the 2014 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, presented annually to an emerging playwright of exceptional promise.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) announces the four featured playwrights and plays for the 2014 Matchbox Readings Series, public staged readings of plays in development. New plays by playwrights Geetha Reddy, Andrew Saito, MJ Kaufman, and Eugenie Chan in readings from December 1-9, 2014 at the Thick House Theater. Crowded Fire champions playwrights whose work offers a vital contribution to the American theater landscape with a commitment to diversifying the canon of contemporary plays. 'We believe art is always political,' says Crowded Fire Artistic Director Marissa Wolf, 'and that in order to move toward a more just society, theaters must offer a wider range of aesthetics and voices on our stages.' The Matchbox: Commissioning and Developing New Plays grew out of CFT's need to bolster playwrights' revision processes in order to strengthen the scripts before rehearsals for the professional productions began.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Eric Rosen today announced additions to KC Rep's artistic staff. Jason Chanos has been hired as the new Associate Artistic Director and Marissa Wolf in the newly created position as Director of New Work/Artistic Associate. Chanos will begin January 5, 2015 and Wolf will begin December 10, 2014.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT), one of the Bay Area's most innovative and critically acclaimed producers of new plays, today announced an upcoming change in leadership. After six seasons at its helm, Marissa Wolf will be leaving the position of Artistic Director at the end of Crowded Fire's 2014 Season. Wolf took over artistic leadership of the company in 2008 after founding Artistic Director Rebecca Novick's departure a year prior. She heads the company along with CFT Managing Director Tiffany Cothran. Executive Producing Director

Following the success of the fifth FURY Factory festival of ensemble theater, foolsFURY is proud to announce the world premiere of Faulted, a play written by Angela Santillo and directed by Evren Odcikin. Faulted is an ode to California in all its mysterious, tectonic, plate-shifting contradictions. Epic and romance, vegan and carnivore, West side and Central Valley combine under the sign of the next 'Big One,' just looming under the horizon. Faulted opens in previews Friday, November 14 at the Thick House in San Francisco, and runs for three weeks through December 7.

Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) announces the four featured playwrights and plays for the 2014 Matchbox Readings Series, public staged readings of plays in development. New plays by playwrights Geetha Reddy, Andrew Saito, MJ Kaufman, and Eugenie Chan in readings from December 1-9, 2014 at the Thick House Theater. Crowded Fire champions playwrights whose work offers a vital contribution to the American theater landscape with a commitment to diversifying the canon of contemporary plays.

The Playwrights Foundation's 37th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) will take place today, July 18-27, 2014 at the Thick House Theater in San Francisco.

The Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) concludes its 2014 season with the World Premiere of THE LATE WEDDING by Christopher Chen opening with a press night on September 22 (Previews Sept. 18, 19, 20) running through October 11 at the Thick House in San Francisco's Potrero Hill. THE LATE WEDDING is both inspired by and a homage to Italian fabulist novelist Italo Calvino whose stories 'Invisible Cities' and 'If on a Winter's Night a Traveler' have become Chen's launching pad into a shadowy exploration into themes of distance, dislocation, and transience in internet-age relationships. A Crowded Fire Theater commission, in THE LATE WEDDING 'Chen channels our society's collective unconscious with dizzying urgency...' remarks director Marissa Wolf. 'He is peeling back layer after layer of cultural practices and rituals, revealing a raw, pulsing interior of longing and hope.' Directed by Marissa Wolf THE LATE WEDDING features Michele Leavy*+, Lawrence Radecker+, Lauren Spencer, Michael Anthony Torres*, Kathryn Zdan*, Ogie Zulueta*. (*Actors Equity, +CFT company member)

Sundance Institute today announced the nine projects selected to participate in its 2014 Theatre Lab, July 7-27 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round work with the theatre community and is one of 10 residential labs the Institute will host for artists this summer, collectively representing the most promising new independent theatre and film projects.

The Playwrights Foundation's 37th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF) will take place July 18-27, 2014 at the Thick House Theater in San Francisco.

San Francisco's cutting-edge Cutting Ball Theater proudly announces the lineup for its 16th season. The main stage season opens in November with the World Premiere of SUPERHEROES, written and directed by Sean San Jose (Campo Santo), followed by Sophocles' ANTIGONE in February, directed by Cutting Ball Associate Artistic Director Paige Rogers, in a new translation by Daniel Sullivan. Cutting Ball presents the World Premiere of resident playwright Andrew Saito's MT. MISERY in May. RISK IS THIS...THE CUTTING BALL NEW EXPERIMENTAL PLAYS FESTIVAL returns in May to round out the season with five new works, including two new plays from resident playwright Andrew Saito, in staged readings that push the boundaries of what theater can be. In addition to the main stage season, Cutting Ball Theater continues its Hidden Classics Reading Series with five new installments. The entire 2014-15 season will be staged in San Francisco at the Cutting Ball Theater in residence at EXIT on Taylor (277 Taylor Street at Ellis). Single tickets on sale August 1. For information about season memberships, the public may contact boxoffice@cuttingball.com. For tickets and information, the public may visit cuttingball.com or call 415-525-1205.

Sundance Institute today announced the nine projects selected to participate in its 2014 Theatre Lab, July 7-27 at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute's year-round work with the theatre community and is one of 10 residential labs the Institute will host for artists this summer, collectively representing the most promising new independent theatre and film projects.

Continuing our tradition of producing new plays that speak to the social and contemporary issues of our time, InterAct will stretch its limits and audience's imaginations by producing four diverse plays starting in October 2014. Scroll down to learn more about the upcoming season.

InterAct Theatre Company proudly announces a season of world premieres for the upcoming 2014/15 season. Continuing its tradition of producing new plays that speak to the social and contemporary issues of our time, InterAct will stretch its limits and our imaginations by producing four diverse plays starting in October 24, 2014.