Virtual readings of works by four female playwrights—including three by women of color—will lead Broadway’s Best Shows’ Spotlight on Plays series in spring 2021. The slate includes The Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy, The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse, Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl, and Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous by Pearl Cleage.
Further details about the spring 2021 lineup, including three additional titles, directors, dates, and casting, will be announced later.
The news comes shortly after several arts organizations and artists noted the lack of diversity in this fall’s line-up of playwrights, all of whom are men and mostly white. Among those who called for change was the series’ beneficiary The Actors Fund, which tweeted after speaking with Spotlight on Plays’ producer Jeffrey Richards.Up next for the series is Gore Vidal’s The Best Man October 14, starring Elizabeth Ashley, Reed Birney, Matthew Broderick, Katie Finneran, Morgan Freeman, Julie Halston, Stacy Keach, Robert Krulwich, John Malkovich, Zachary Quinto, Phylicia Rashad, Robert Sella, Lee Wilkof, Vanessa Williams, and Whitney Winfield, with Sean Close, Travoye Joyner, Jered McLenigan, and TJ Wagner. Michael Wilson directs.
