Theatre doesn’t really have an off-season, if you look at nationwide listings. But there’s no question that things slow down a bit in the hot months, and that’s particularly true of world premieres. In July, there are markedly fewer than in previous months (compare to the last listing, or to those gathered in the Goes to Show column since last fall), and absolutely none from the Midwest. As always, if you’ve got a world premiere coming up, let us know at at@tcg.org and rwkendt@tcg.org.
Northeast
For two nights (July 7-8), the immersive theatrical experience Building promises to transform Pioneer Works, an art-and-science nonprofit in Red Hook, Brooklyn, into “an exploratory portrait of 1970s New York” during the building of the World Trade Center towers. It’s credited to Colin Quinn (yes, that Colin Quinn) and Vincent Piazza.
In Gloria Majule’s Mala Aria, a Tanzanian woman travels to the West to pursue a PhD in hopes of eradicating malaria. Directed by Jamil A.C. Mangan, it runs at Premiere Stages at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, July 16-Aug. 2.
A New Era by Miranda Austen ADEkoje tells the story of Black suffragette and community leader Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin, whose heyday was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and does so at King’s Chapel Parish House in Beacon Hill, Boston, near Ruffin’s former home. The Company One Theatre production, directed by Summer L. Williams, runs July 18-Aug. 8.
In Drew Larimore’s The Cannibals of McGower County, at Connecticut’s TheaterWorks Hartford July 30-Aug. 30, two veteran salvagers poke around a West Texas ghost town, with darkly comic results. Jen Wineman directs.
South
Safety is a new musical with book & lyrics by Irene Ziegler and music by John Winn, about a woman persevering through trauma with humor, romance, and bit of magic realism. Directed by Nathaniel Shaw, it runs at Richmond, Virginia’s Firehouse Theatre July 10-26.
Despite its title, we’ve been assured that there will be no actual smoking onstage during Lisa D’Amour’s new play The Smoker, which kicks off this year’s Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, July 10-Aug. 2, with a look at the community that forms among inveterate cigarette users on a New York street corner. Direction is by Shelley Butler.
Also at CATF, July 11-Aug. 2, is Beth Kander’s Best Line Wins, whose subtitle bills it as “A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols.” Jessica Kubzansky directs.
Refugee Rhapsody’s rolling world premiere kicks off at CATF, July 11-Aug. 2, with direction by Zi Alikhan. In this play by Yussef El Guindi, a chance meeting of two young Arab Americans and a patroness sets in motion a chain of events that leads to a violent crime. The other productions include Pittsburgh International Classic Theatre in the fall, and yet-to-be-announced runs at Oregon’s Artists Repertory Theatre and the Keegan Theatre in Washington, D.C.
Rounding out CATF’s offerings is Christina Pumariega’s ¡Vos!, about a woman reckoning with motherhood via IVF, as well as the legacy of the Argentine Dirty War. Directed by Kimberly Senior, it runs July 11-Aug. 2.
Marissa Castañón-Hernandez’s Summer Underground, an offering of VORTEX Theatre’s Summer Youth Theatre program, is set in a future where oppressive heat and lack of water exacerbate class and racial divides. Directed by Blaise Ricin, it runs at the Austin venue July 24-Aug. 1.
The centerpiece of this year’s South Carolina New Play Festival is a commissioned musical about a local hero, singer-activist Josh White. Titled The House I Live In: Josh White’s America, it features White’s songs and a script by Donnetta Lavinia Grays. Directed by Tamilla Woodard, it runs at the Cristal Palace, an historic Belgian Spiegeltent in Greenville, South Carolina, July 29-Aug. 9.
West
In The Employee Dharma Handbook, playwright Geetha Reddy explores intra-caste discrimination among Indian American workers at a SpaceX-type tech company. Snehal Desai is the director, and it runs at Theatreworks Silicon Valley in Redwood City, California, July 8-Aug. 2.
MILCK & AG’s viral 2017 hit “Quiet” inspired them to write a whole musical about a young singer-songwriter torn between her musical aspirations and the expectations of Asian immigrant family. With a book by Sam Chanse and direction by Jess McLeod, The Family Album plays at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse, July 17-Aug. 16.
F**king Strangers is Erik Patterson’s new dark comedy about love and loneliness both online and IRL. Directed by Chris Fields, it runs at Los Angeles’s Echo Theatre Company July 18-Aug. 24.
