Tagged: actors theatre of louisville

Actors Theatre of Louisville will celebrate its 50th anniversary next season. The anniversary season is rich in familiar, crowd-pleasing fare, including Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," a kitschy production from Chicago of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance" and Michael Frayn's backstage comedy "Noises Off." Holiday favorites "Dracula" and "A Christmas Carol" return as well. 

“Cry Old Kingdom” is playwright Jeff Augustin’s professional debut, an examination of how artists function in times of oppression set in his family’s native Haiti. Directed by Tom Dugdale, “Cry Old Kingdom” is the ambitious story of three individuals searching for a clear pathway through a terrifying political climate. It’s a strong, if slightly uneven, debut from a young playwright with great potential.

Part of the Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville, “Cry Old Kingdom” runs through April 7 in the Bingham Theatre.

This week on The Big Break, our audio diarists talk about being on both sides of the showcase process. Actors Theatre of Louisville apprentice Samantha Beach is rehearsing for her short scene showcase, which will be seen by casting directors and other influential industry members during Humana Festival. That's one way the apprentice program helps young actors like Samantha set up their post-Actors career. Over at the Louisville Ballet School, where ballet trainee Claire Horrocks teaches, her young students are preparing for their annual recital.

Playwright Jeff Augustin won the Kennedy Center's prestigious Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award in 2011, but "Cry Old Kingdom," which opened Sunday at Actors Theatre of Louisville, is his first professional production. Augustin is a student in the Master of Fine Arts theater program at the University of California, San Diego.