Drama League DirectorFest 2020 Tickets Go On Sale Today

Tickets are now on sale for the 36th annual Directorfest, the only festival in the United States dedicated to the art of stage directing. Known for its history as an identifier of the next generation of directing talent, the festival will include six fully-staged productions, a showcase concert of a new play-with-music, a town hall, and conversations with directors including 2017 Tony Award Winner Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), 2014 Tony Award Winner & 2010 Drama League Founders Award for Excellence in Directing Kenny Leon (A Soldier's Play), and Intimacy Director Claire Warden (HBO's "Mrs. Fletcher").

Taking place over five weeks in venues across Manhattan, highlights of the festival include all-new stagings of Michael John LaChiusa's Hello Again and Harold Pinter's The Lover, revivals of rarely-seen works by Tina Howe (Appearances) and Marcus Gardley (The Sporting Life of Icarus Jones), a concert of songs from the new docu-play with music, Riot Song, by Matthew Dean Marsh and Oscar Lopez, and the North American premiere of Pure, created by Belgian director Christian Bakalov.

Chosen last spring from over 400 applicants, the directors leading the festival's new productions this year -- NJ Agwuna, Chika Ike, Rebecca Marzalek-Kelly, Lindsey Hope Pearlman, Ben Randle, Hannah Ryan, and Mr. Bakalov -- recently completed their development programs as part of The Drama League Directors Project.

The Directorfest creative team includes production manager Kate Holland, designers Cate McCrea (Scenic), Amanda Gladu (Costumes), Lois Gordon (Lighting), and DJ Potts (Sound), with music direction Justin Ellington (The Sporting Life of Icarus Jones), and Jesse Kissel (Hello Again), casting by Harriet Bass, Stephen DeAngelis, and Erica A. Hart, and stage managers Melanie Aponte, Kelsy Durkin, Arielle Goldstein, Karen Schleifer, Evangeline Whitlock, and Emely Zepeda. Directorfest is produced by Drama League Artistic Director Gabriel Stelian-Shanks, Artistic Line Producer Ali Skye Bennet, and Associate Artistic Director Nilan.

Directorfest will take place January 10 - February 4, 2020 at various locations around NYC: The New Ohio Theatre (154 Christopher Street), The Drama League Theater Center (32 Avenue of the Americas), LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (31-10 Thomson Avenue), and Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). For festival details and tickets, visit directorfest.org or call (212) 244-9494 x102. Industry/Theatre Professionals may request tickets by emailing DirectorFest@DramaLeague.org.

During Directorfest, the featured directors will join the ranks of the illustrious 350+ alumni of The Drama League Directors Project, including Tony Award winners Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown), Christopher Ashley (Come From Away), Rebecca Taichman (Indecent), Diane Paulus (Jagged Little Pill), Michael Mayer (Little Shop of Horrors), Sam Gold (Fun Home), Pam MacKinnon (The Parisian Woman), John Rando (On The Town), Tony Award nominees Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!), Lila Neugebauer (The Waverly Gallery), Moritz von Steulpnagel (Bernhardt/Hamlet), and Mark Brokaw (Heisenberg), to name only a few. Many of the nation's prominent theaters are led by Drama League alumni directors including Ms. MacKinnon at San Francisco's A.C.T., Mr. Ashley at La Jolla Play House in San Diego, Ms. Paulus at Boston's American Repertory Theatre, James Bundy of Yale Repertory Theatre, Kevin Moriarty of Dallas Theater Center, Laura Kepley at Cleveland Play House, and many more.

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