I was more than happy to discuss the rewards and challenges of playing Lear during our rehearsal process. Listen and watch here.
Peter Foley was my dear friend and longest-standing collaborator. As a composer, he wrote music of intricacy, power, and extraordinary beauty. This is his memorial concert. A pretty stunning collection of talent, all Peter’s friends, are coming together to make this happen.
I’ll be playing Lear himself in a production directed by the accomplished Carolyn Horwatch. There has already been a bit of buzz about it.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Lisa Wexler about art that challenges its audiences and my play Kissing the Floor. We discussed why the Greeks ask us to think through some of the darkest thoughts imaginable and what’s on the other side: something luminous, vibrant.
The first episodes of Pericles are now available for Shakespeare enthusiasts and podcast listeners through Next Chapter Podcasts and Play On Podcasts. Written by Ellen McLaughlin and directed by Lisa Rothe, "Pericles presents this exciting story in a modern, accessible 'translation'."
Reserve your free ticket for this January 15, 2021 event. We planned to offer this reading as a paid ticketed event, but, in light of current events, it feels vital to us that we are all invited to participate in the civic discourse of our nation.
In light of the political upheaval and the upcoming inauguration, Cal Shakes revisits The Oresteia by Ellen McLaughlin—a story of family, war, power, sacrifice, and our collective responsibility to disrupt the tragedies amongst us with mercy, compassion, and grace.
Ellen McLaughlin returns with a new collection of adaptations and modern reimaginings of classic Greek tragedies in The Greek Plays 2: Ajax in Iraq, Kissing the Floor, Penelope, Mercury’s Footpath, and The Oresteia.
The 2019 production of Ellen McLaughlin’s The Oresteia, at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. has been nominated for Best Original Play by the Helen Hayes Awards.
The production also received a nomination for Best Performer in an Original Play (Kelley Curran, as Clytemnestra) and Best Ensemble.
The online ceremony will be on September 25th and all are welcome to attend.
Read more details on the Helen Hayes Awards, full list of nominees, and the ceremony here in DC Theatre Scene.
Photo of Kelley Curran by Scott Suchman
“★★★★★…breathtaking, deeply satisfying…this is Kahn in greatest communion with his art, his voice visceral and unwavering, and it is a profound note upon which to take his leave.” –Metro Weekly
“★★★★★…the language is stark and rich with the poetic alchemy of ancient Greek. The way McLaughlin’s words sound in your ears and are beautifully spoken by the actors is ambrosia.” –DC Theatre Scene
Broadway World
by Rachael Goldberg
May. 9, 2019
What is justice? Who decides, who metes it out, how do we know it is truly "just"?
“These are questions we ask ourselves regularly - in politics and current events, at work, in our personal lives. They're questions humanity has grappled with over the centuries, and people will continue to do so long after we're gone.
By Peter Marks
Theater critic
May 7
For his valedictory production as Shakespeare Theatre Company’s artistic director, Michael Kahn has chosen to take us back to the dawn of Western drama. It’s a harrowing excursion to be sure. But in his heart-stopping mounting of Aeschylus’s tragedy, “The Oresteia,” the final destination is not despair. It’s hope.
The Washington Post
by Peter Marks
Theater critic
May 7, 2019
“For his valedictory production as Shakespeare Theatre Company’s artistic director, Michael Kahn has chosen to take us back to the dawn of Western drama. It’s a harrowing excursion to be sure. But in his heart-stopping mounting of Aeschylus’s tragedy, “The Oresteia,” the final destination is not despair. It’s hope.