Mark Wilson News

Arts Centre Melbourne's Gallery 1 will be transformed into The Kiln, a space for artists and arts workers to gather this winter from June to August for a program of discussions, masterclasses, networking events, residencies, readings, forums and training. 

Following its critically acclaimed debut season at HotHouse Theatre, new Australian play, This is Eden written and performed by Emily Goddard and directed by Susie Dee makes its Melbourne premiere at fortyfivedownstairs from 27 April to 7 May 2017 for a strictly limited season.

Mark Wilson Stockman confesses that he used to feel like God had given up on him. Then an awakening led him to see how God has been there for him all along and that God has done far more things than the author gave him credit for. As Stockman shares his story of seeing God's love in action in his life, and through studying the Scriptures, he urges readers and points them to the one and only God who will enable his children to run 'The Second Mile' (published by WestBow Press).

Playwright Alfred Uhry's Pulizter Prize winning work, DRIVING MISS DAISY, is the latest offering by The New Jewish Theatre, and it's an excellent production. Over the years this play has provided a lot of famous actors and actresses with the opportunity to bring these wonderful characters to life, and of course, there's a very well known film version as well. But forget all that and just enjoy the intimacy and immediacy of live theatre. This is a delightful 90 minute show, and I highly recommend it.

Residents from all neighborhoods will be asked to reflect on 'what it means to be a St. Louisan today' as part of the sixth annual 2017 Shakespeare in the Streets: ONE CITY, underwritten by PNC Arts Alive, Sept. 15-17, in downtown St. Louis. The specific location will be announced at a later date. 

Local beer, donuts, bowling and the Bard will all come together as Shakespeare in the Streets heads to Maplewood this week (Sept. 16-18). This year's production, "Remember Me," will feature a mash-up of "Hamlet," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and "Macbeth," with a little "Romeo & Juliet" thrown in. All performances will begin at 8 p.m. on Sutton Boulevard, between Hazel and Marietta streets. 

In View From Up Here, the new exhibition at the Anchorage Museum in Alaska, conceptual artist John Grade explores sculptural forms based on Japanese fishing floats. For the past century, floats made of thick, hand-blown glass have traveled to the Arctic coast from Asian waters, buoyed by harsh, ocean currents. They can get trapped in sea ice for decades, ultimately washing up on the Alaskan shoreline -- often in pristine condition. Grade created his own versions of blown glass forms, many of which are encased in a wood exoskeleton inspired by other organic, ocean bound elements.  

Although activism is still alive and well, one wonders if future generations will be moved to make change due to their increased isolationism. We live in a world where people feel more and more entitled, and have been raised to expect instant gratification. People who make a stand are becoming rarer and rarer to find. Maybe that's why a play like Tammy Ryan's MOLLY'S HAMMER (based on the book Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman) is so important. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has, again, put together an outstanding production that will make you ponder weighty issues that still exist, but that have been replaced by a fear of terrorism that can arrive so suddenly and unexpectedly that we feel helpless against it. Maybe that's why you should take a young adult with you to experience this story. Nuclear weapons are still a threat to our continued existence on this planet, and we must never forget that we have a duty as citizens of the world to speak out and act out against tyranny. This excellent show takes us back to 1980, when a Pittsburgh housewife took just such a stand.

Once again, the art of magic is alive and thriving at the Harris Center for the Arts.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis concludes its 2015-2016 Studio Theatre series with Molly's Hammer by Tammy Ryan, based on the book Hammer of Justice by Liane Ellison Norman and directed by Seth Gordon.

An artful adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, will be featured in the fourth annual, wildly popular, Shakespeare in the Streets, it was announced today by Rick Dildine, Artistic and Executive Director for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis. The event is scheduled today through Saturday, Sept. 17-19, on N. 14th Street in the Old North neighborhood.

Local Old North St. Louis residents, including a police officer, will be learning staging tips from professional actors when rehearsals begin this week for The World Begun, a play artfully adapted from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.  The show, part of the wildly successful Shakespeare in the Streets event, will be performed Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 17-19, on N. 14th Street, between Montgomery and St. Louis Avenue. 

An artful adaptation of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, will be featured in the fourth annual, wildly popular, Shakespeare in the Streets, it was announced today by Rick Dildine, Artistic and Executive Director for Shakespeare Festival St. Louis.  The event is scheduled Thursday through Saturday, Sept. 17-19, on N. 14th Street in the Old North neighborhood. 

Mustard Seed Theatre has provided St. Louis theater-goers with a wonderful season full of premiers that have captivated and entertained audiences. They close with an astoundingly engaging and timely work by playwright Shualee Cook titled An Invitation Out. This fresh pieces utilizes the tropes established by writers like Shaw and Wilde, but instead of an English drawing room, we find ourselves transported to the virtual reality of a chat room in the near future. To me, this is a cautionary tale that beckons us to take a hard look at how intoxicating an imagined world can seem, especially when it allows individual participants to present themselves as they would like to be perceived , rather than as who they actually are. It's challenging and engaging, and though people who have a natural aversion to all things computer related may not get the point, they should make the effort to stick with this tale, because it's a type of reality that is fast becoming concrete in nature.

Harris Center for the Arts audiences have fallen in love with It's Magic!, proven by consecutive years of sold-out performances and added performances. Now this show returns to Folsom with an exciting all-new lineup!

Luna Stage welcomes back Tony and Grammy nominee reg e gaines for a special performance and free workshop celebrating Black History Month.

New Line Theatre's production of BONNIE & CLYDE tied with Stages St. Louis' rendition of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING with nine nominations apiece for the St. Louis Theater Circle Awards to lead nominations for all shows produced by local professional theater companies in 2014.

America has a rich history, some of which, of course, we'd all prefer to forget. But, to ignore them can just lead to repeating them, and we all should know better than that by now. However, it's important that we continue to mine the events of the past in order to enlighten and provoke discussion. This is the very thing that Keith Josef Adkins' brilliant work SAFE HOUSE does with a considerable amount of power and conviction. It's a story set in Kentucky in 1843, when slavery was still very much a resident evil that ruled the land, even though there were African Americans who were freeborn. The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is currently presenting this new play, and as they always seem to have a knack for doing, it's done in a completely compelling and infinitely memorable fashion that makes for a truly moving and enriching experience.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis continues the 2014-2015 Studio Theatre series with Safe House by Keith Josef Adkins and directed by Melissa Maxwell. This compelling production will be performed in the Emerson Studio Theatre of the Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts, 130 Edgar Road (on the campus of Webster University), Webster Groves, today, January 21-February 8, 2015.