Eugene Ionesco News

BWW Reviewer Peter Nason chooses the greatest theatrical works (non-musical) from 1920-2020; see if your favorites made the list!

To kick off its landmark 10th Season, The Seeing Place announces its world premiere adaptation of George Orwell's dystopian novel, ANIMAL FARM. This play is being performed by an ensemble of just four actors, which results in a fast-paced, tightly drawn interpretation of this timely story. This adaptation marks the 75th Anniversary of the book's publishing.

Producers Scott Rudin, Barry Diller and Sonia Friedman Productions today announced that Rhys Ifans will play the iconic role of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, the new play by Aaron Sorkin based on Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, directed by Bartlett Sher, which will open in London's West End in 2020. Further casting will be announced.

Two seldom-performed plays: one by dazzling Irish storyteller Enda Walsh, one by Pulitzer-winning American playwright Tennessee Williams, plus a remounting of the IRC's 2017 Fringe success from the grandfather of Absurdism usher in the Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium's 2020 season, their 15th in the Philadelphia region.

My play Mites, which will be performed at the Tristan Bates Theatre from 7-26 October, tells the story of a vulnerable woman, Ruth, and the deterioration of her mental health as she is manipulated by two predatory companions.

The 23rd edition of the Istanbul Theatre Festival, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (İKSV) and sponsored by Koç Holding Energy Group Companies Aygaz, Opet and Tüpraş, will take place between 13 November and 1 December 2019.

Musiqa, two-time winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, is announcing its 2019-20 season. Its Eighteenth season features bold programming including the world premieres of two commissioned operas, new works for dance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and community and educational programming.

With performances between August 31st and September 4th, Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival will present the world premiere of 'This is Like That' by Michael Sean Cirelli, a solo performance piece in the form of an eccentric slide lecture with a temperamental carousel projector and an apple.

Below see brand-new production photos from Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, performing at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater now through Sunday, June 23, 2019.

Absurdities abound in Eugene Ionesco's comic drama, Exit the King, during its three-weekend run May 31 through June 16. Considered the father of "the theatre of the absurd," Ionesco conjured up the tale of King Berenger the First - a monarch so powerful he was once able to rule over the forces of nature and will all his subjects to obey his every command. But, after 400 years, those powers have begun to fail.

From June 19 to 23, New Yiddish Rep will present 'Crazy Meshuge Hurricane Earthquake' by Amy Coleman, directed by David Mandelbaum, at The Playroom Theater, 151 West 46th Street, 8 fl. This six-character play (portrayed by four actors) is the story of an unlikely connection that develops between a middle aged non-religious Jewish woman and a young Hasidic man struggling with schizophrenia. Hired to be his caretaker, the woman attempts to give him the support he needs, but discovers that her agenda may have more to do with her own needs than his. The play offers important lessons on love and trust.

The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University 2019 Repertory Season completed its season of exciting and challenging theater productions with The Bald Soprano by Eugene Ionesco, Roger and Vanessa by Brett C Leonard, and the word premieres of Game Sugar by Juliet Cameron-Wilson and Picket Fence People by Estelle Olivia. The season features the work of the graduating MFA Acting and Directing students who collaborate on professionally produced productions presented at the ASDS Repertory Theater in downtown Manhattan.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and San Francisco Zoo & Gardens announced today a partnership during the run of Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, performing at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater May 29-June 23, 2019. As part of this unique partnership, A.C.T. and San Francisco Zoo will host San Francisco Zoo Day at The Geary Theater following the 2 p.m. matinee performance of Rhinoceros on Sunday, June 9.

ROMEO and JULIET coming Off-Broadway in a World Premiere Jewish adaptation this June 2019 at the Center for Jewish History (15 west 16th Street New York NY 10011). Adapted and directed by David Serero, who is also starring as Romeo, this unique production. One family is Sephardic and the other one is Ashkenazi, featuring classic Ladinos and Yiddish songs as well as some others surprises...

National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment's second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $50,000 to San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) to support the upcoming production of Eugene Ionesco's "seminal absurdist satire" (Los Angeles Times), Rhinoceros, performing at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater May 29-June 23, 2019. Art Works is the Arts Endowment's principal grantmaking program. The agency received 1,592 Art Works applications for this round of grantmaking, and will award 977 grants in this category.

To close its celebratory 20th Season, Cutting Ball Theater is reprising its hit production of Eugene Ionesco's THE BALD SOPRANO, originally produced as part of Cutting Ball's 10th Season in 2009. The Bald Soprano is translated and directed by Founding Artistic Director Rob Melrose - recently appointed Artistic Director of the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas - and stars Cutting Ball co-founder and former Artistic Director Paige Rogers.

The Trap Door Theatre Presents The Killer, which will run from Thursday, May 30, 2019 at 8PM to Saturday, July 6, 2019 at 8PM.

Harvey Sabinson, one of Broadway's legendary press agents, and former long-time executive director of The Broadway League, died on April 18, 2019 of natural causes at his residence in Sarasota, Florida. He was 94 years old.

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced the full cast and creative team for Eugene Ionesco's Rhinoceros, closing out A.C.T.'s 2018-19 season.

Sometimes a particular genre of theater isn't necessarily popular with a general audience. Theater of the Absurd might be the biggest example of this. Playwrights like Eugene Ionesco and others have left audiences scratching their heads for years as to what they were trying to say within their plays.