Mildred Marie Langford

With NOTES FROM THE FIELD, playwright Anna Deavere Smith once again proves she’s a master of her genre of theatrical storytelling. Known for her documentary (or verbatim) plays, Smith presents monologues from 19 different interviews in this exploration of the school-to-prison pipeline in America. By allowing her interview subjects to literally speak for themselves, Smith has mastered the art of showing and not telling. NOTES FROM THE FIELD has a clear agenda; it’s a searing condemnation of the systemic failings of the American judicial, police, educational, and penitentiary institutions — and most notably a condemnation of the ways in which those systems have failed Black and Brown Americans. But Smith conveys her points with a blistering humanity (even if, at two hours and 40 minutes, I think she could have arrived at those points with a shorter run-time).

Mildred Marie Langford, Adhana Reid and Shariba Rivers will give voice to 18 real-life people caught in America’s school-to-prison pipeline in TimeLine Theatre’s Chicago premiere of Notes from the Field by Anna Deavere Smith.

The Joseph Jefferson Award-nominated play, Boulevard of Bold Dreams, by LaDarrion Williams, will have a private industry reading in NYC. The play explores themes of race, class, gender, and Hollywood's changing landscape. Obie Award winner Kecia Lewis stars as Hattie McDaniel. Get all the details here!

Three young Black girls in 1940s Ohio strive to make sense of love, sisterhood, abuse and hate. A Noise Within opens its 2023-24 'Balancing Act' season with The Bluest Eye, adapted for the stage by Lydia R. Diamond from the novel by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison and directed by Andi Chapman.

TimeLine Theatre Company, acclaimed for presenting plays that explore today's social and political issues through the lens of the past, has announced its 27th season. The company's 2023-24 subscription season will launch in September with the previously announced Chicago premiere of the internationally acclaimed THE LEHMAN TRILOGY presented at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse.

TimeLine Theatre Company will present the Chicago premiere production of the internationally acclaimed and Tony Award-winning play THE LEHMAN TRILOGY by Stefano Massini, adapted by Ben Power, will open the company’s upcoming 2023-2024 season.

TimeLine’s 2022-23 subscription season returns February 1 – March 19, 2023 with the world premiere of Boulevard of Bold Dreams by LaDarrion Williams, a Los Angeles-based playwright new to Chicago audiences, with a story about dreamers overcoming obstacles and fighting for recognition amidst the racism and inequity of Hollywood.

TimeLine Theatre Company is extending its 2022-2023 season with a fourth production—the first Chicago-based production of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck, directed by Helen Young, running May 10 – June 24, 2023. P

TimeLine Theatre Company’s 2022-23 season will continue this fall with the landmark classic Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress, directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson, running November 2 – December 18, 2022.

Next up at East West Players, playwright Inda Craig-Galván’s The Great Jheri Curl Debate opening September 17 (with previews beginning September 15). Scarlett Kim directs the cast of Julanne Chidi Hill, Ryun Yu, Ray Baker, Mildred Marie Langford and Bruce A. Lemon Jr. I got the chance to pepper Julanne, a frequent player in the Los Angeles theatre scene, with a few queries on Jheri Curl and her productive career.

Recognizing a strong return to the spotlight over the 2021-2022 Equity theater season, the Joseph Jefferson Awards in Chicago announced its nominations for theater excellence. This year’s nominees include 201 theater artists across 38 categories of excellence in theater production among shows from 43 companies.

The Joseph Jefferson Awards have announced this year's Equity nominations, including 201 theater artists across 38 categories.  The 54th anniversary Equity Jeff Awards will take place October 17, 2022, at Drury Lane in Oakbrook, IL. 

East West Players will present the world premiere of The Great Jheri Curl Debate. Written by Inda Craig-Galván and directed by Scarlett Kim, The Great Jheri Curl Debate performs September 15 through October 9, press night is September 17. 

TimeLine Theatre Company will return to its longtime home at 615 W. Wellington Avenue in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood for its 26th season opener, the world premiere of Campaigns, Inc.

After celebrating its 25th Anniversary in residence at Theater Wit—a season that featured the world premiere, acclaimed hit Relentless, which went on to an extended run at Goodman Theatre—the company will return to its longtime home in Chicago’s Lakeview East neighborhood, located at 615 W. Wellington Avenue, for three productions.

 TimeLine Theatre Company announced today that it has named Mica Cole as the company’s new Executive Director, effective May 16.

As the TimeLine Theatre Company production of Relentless by Tyla Abercrumbie, directed by Ron OJ Parson opens tonight at the Goodman, strong demand for tickets have spurred a six-performance extension.

The Echo Theater Company has moved the previously announced Echo LABFest 2022, readings of seven new plays developed in the company's Playwright's Lab under the leadership of Brian Otaño and Hannah Wolf, online.

I was so impressed with the two new plays I saw, Boulevard of Bold Dreams and Pretender, I decided to speak with New Works Festival Co-Producer Jonathon Saia (who is also active with the Morgan-Wixson as a D.E.I. Committee Member and Play Reading Committee Member) to find out more about how and why the New Plays Festival came into existence.

Antaeus Theatre Company launches their second season of their popular podcasts THE ZIP CODE PLAYS: LOS ANGELES May 20, 2021. Each play, set in six different L.A. zip codes, features acclaimed Antaeus actors enacting scripts written by members of the Antaeus Playwright Lab. Two-time Audiofile Award-winner Ramón de Ocampo reprises his role of series host, with Jeff Gardner and Ellen Mandel returning in their respective roles as audio producer/sound designer/foley artist and music composer.