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Best Plays for 2017

Sweat

by Lynn Nottage

SWEAT, the critically acclaimed new play from Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage, comes to Broadway following its sold-out run at The Public Theater. Charles Isherwood of The New York Times hails it as a "scorching, superb and vital contribution to contemporary drama." Kate Whoriskey's "assured and emotionally vibrant staging" (David Cote, Time Out New York) illuminates this "perfectly written" (Hilton Als, The New Yorker) play about the collision of race, class and friendship in a Rust Belt town at a pivotal moment in America.
Filled with warm humor and tremendous heart, SWEAT tells the story of a group of friends who have spent their lives sharing drinks, secrets and laughs while working together on the factory floor. But when layoffs and picket lines begin to chip away at their trust, the friends find themselves pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight to stay afloat.
Don't miss this groundbreaking new drama from Lynn Nottage ("as fine a playwright as America has" — Terry Teachout, The Wall Street Journal) that "goes where few playwrights have dared to go" (Marilyn Stasio, Variety).

Studio 54 Theatre NYC

Cast

Carlo Albán – Broadway debut Oscar
James Colby – Stan
Khris Davis – Broadway debut Chris
Johanna Day -Tracey
John Earl Jelks – Brucie
Will Pullen – Broadway debut Jason
Lance Coadie Williams – Broadway debut Evan
Michelle Wilson – Cynthia
Alison Wright – Broadway debut Jessie

Creative

Written by Lynn Nottage
Original Music by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Scenic Design by John Lee Beatty
Costume Design by Jennifer Moeller
Lighting Design by Peter Kaczorowski
Sound Design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen
Projection Design by Jeff Sugg
General Manager: Thompson Turner Productions
Production Stage Manager: Donald Fried

Reviews – New York Times – Entertainment Weekly – Newsday – Huffington Post – TimeOut NY

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A Dolls House Part Two

play written by Lucas Hnath

In the final scene of Ibsen's 1879 ground-breaking masterwork, Nora Helmer makes the shocking decision to leave her husband and children, and begin a life on her own. This climactic event – when Nora slams the door on everything in her life – instantly propelled world drama into the modern age. In A Doll's House, Part 2, many years have passed since Nora's exit. Now, there's a knock on that same door. Nora has returned. But why? And what will it mean for those she left behind?

John Golden Theatre NYC

Cast

Chris Cooper – Torvald
Jayne Houdyshell – Anne Marie
Laurie Metcalf – Nora
Condola Rashad – Emmy
Understudies: Glynis Bell (Anne Marie), Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut (Emmy), Michael Bryan French (Torvald) and Angela Reed (Nora)

Creative

Written by Lucas Hnath
Directed by Sam Gold
Associate Director: Osheen Jones
Scenic Design by Miriam Buether
Costume Design by David Zinn
Lighting Design by Jennifer Tipton
Sound Design by Leon Rothenberg
Projection Design by Peter Nigrini
Hair Design by Luc Verschueren and Campbell Young Associates
Makeup Design by Luc Verschueren and Campbell Young Associates
Associate Scenic Design: Jerome K. Martin
Associate Costume Design: Sarah Laux
Associate Lighting Design: Oliver Wason
Associate Sound Design: Christopher Cronin
Associate Projection Design: Andrew Bauer
Moving Light Programmer: Greg Purnell

Reviews

New York Times – TimeOut NY  – Entertainment Weekly – Variety – LA Times  – NY Daily News – Newsday

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Indecent

By playwright Paula Vogel

INDECENT, created by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel (Vineyard's How I Learned To Drive and The Long Christmas Ride Home) and award-winning director Rebecca Taichman (Familiar, Stage Kiss), is a deeply moving new play with music, inspired by the true events surrounding the controversial 1923 Broadway debut of Sholem Asch's God Of Vengeance — a play seen by some as a seminal work of Jewish culture, and by others as an act of traitorous libel. INDECENT charts the history of an incendiary drama and the path of the artists who risked their careers and lives to perform it.

Cort Theatre on Broadway

Cast

Ben Cherry
Andrea Goss
Katrina Lenk – Menke
Mimi Lieber – Esther
Max Gordon Moore – Asch
Tom Nelis – Older Asch
Steven Rattazzi – Broadway Debut – Nakhman
Eleanor Reissa
Richard Topol – Lemml
Adina Verson – Broadway Debut – Rifkele

Creative Team

Written by Paula Vogel
Created by Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman
Music by Aaron Halva and Lisa Gutkin
Musical Director: Aaron Halva and Lisa Gutkin
Directed by Indecent Tickets, Indecent on Broadway Tickets, Steven Rattazzi, Eleanor Reissa, Richard Topol, Adina Verson
Choreographed by David Dorfman
Scenic Design by Riccardo Hernandez
Costume Design by Emily Rebholz
Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind
Sound Design by Matt Hubbs
Projection Design by Tal Yarden
General Manager: DR Theatrical Management
Company Manager: Lisa M. Poyer

Reviews – New York Times – The Wrap – Variety – TimeOut NY – Entertainment Weekly

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Oslo

by J.T. Roger

Everyone remembers the stunning and iconic moment in 1993 when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat shook hands on the South Lawn of the White House. They were "two old warriors who personified the conflict between their peoples," wrote The New York Times, "sealing the first agreement between [them] to end their conflict and share the holy land they both call home." But among the many questions that laced the hope of the moment was that of Norway's role. How did such high-profile negotiations come to be held secretly in a castle in the middle of a forest outside Oslo?

Beaumont Theater – Lincoln Center

Cast

Michael Aronov – Uri Savir –
Director-General of the Foreign Ministry
Anthony Azizi – Broadway debut Ahmed Qurie ('Abu Ala')
Finance Minister for the Palestine Liberation Organization
Adam Dannheisser – Yossi Beilin
Deputy Foreign Minister
Jennifer Ehle – Mona Juul
Official in the Foreign Ministry; married to Terje
Daniel Jenkins – Jan Egeland
Deputy Foreign Minister
Ron Pundak
Junior professor of economics at the University of Haifa
Dariush Kashani – Broadway debut Hassan Asfour
PLO liaison with the Palestinian Delegation
Jeb Kreager – Broadway debut Trond Gundersen
Officer with the Police Intelligence Service
German Husband
Jefferson Mays – Terje Rød-Larsen
Director of Fafo Institute; married to Mona
Christopher McHale – Thor Bjornevog
Senior officer with Police Intelligence Service
American Diplomat
Daniel Oreskes  – Shimon Peres
Foreign Minister
Yair Hirschfeld
Senior professor of economics at the University of Haifa
Angela Pierce – German Wife
Henny Russell – Marianne Heiberg
Executive with the Fafo Institute; works for Terje
Toril Grandal
Housekeeper and cook at the Borregaard estate
Swedish Hostess
Joseph Siravo – Joel Singer
Senior law partner for a Washington, D.C. firm
T. Ryder Smith – Johan Jorgen Holst
Foreign Minister; married to Marianne Heiberg
Finn Grandal
Groundsman at the Borregaard estate; married to To
Jeff Still – Performed the role on opening night Joel Singer
Senior law partner for a Washington, D.C. firm
Understudies: Peter Ganim (Ahmed Qurie ('Abu Ala'), Hassan Asfour, Uri Savir, Yossi Beilin), Jack Koenig (American Diplomat, German Husband, Terje Rød-Larsen, Thor Bjornevog, Trond Gundersen), Jeb Kreager (Jan Egeland, Ron Pundak), Christopher McHale (Finn Grandal, Johan Jorgen Holst), Angela Pierce (Marianne Heiberg, Mona Juul, Swedish Hostess, Toril Grandal), Jeff Still (Joel Singer, Shimon Peres, Yair Hirschfeld) and Benjamin Thys (Uri Savir, Yossi Beilin)

Reviews – New York Times – amNY – Variety – TimeOut NY  –Entertainment Weekly – Vulture

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Tony Awards 2017 – June 11th 8/7c CBS

And the Winner IS ? Stay Tuned

Tony Awards 2017 Best Plays Sweat-Oslo-Indecent-A dolls House Part Two

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Source: https://www.theatregold.com/best-plays-for-2017/

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