Last night at the Theatre Bay Area Awards Celebration, I was honored to receive the award for Outstanding Direction of a Play, for Ideation at the San Francisco Playhouse.

Big thank you to TBA and the adjudicators, to everyone at San Francisco Playhouse, to the cast and crew and designers, and to the brilliant playwright, Aaron Loeb.

I’ve been nominated for a Theatre Bay Area Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play, for IDEATION at San Francisco Playhouse. This is a big honor, not least because of the esteemed company in which I find myself — Loretta Greco at Cal Shakes, Kent Gash at Marin Theatre Company, Tina Landau at ACT, and Dominique Serrand at Berkeley Rep. Regardless of who ends up winning, I owe big thanks to Aaron Loeb for writing such a great play, to the amazing cast, to Bill English and everyone at San Francisco Playhouse, and to Amy Mueller at Playwrights Foundation for teaming me up with Aaron and this play more than three years ago.

Symmetry Theatre is producing a staged reading of my adaptation of The Rover by Aphra Behn. The fabulous Jennifer King is directing. Monday, August 3 at 7pm at Live Oak Theatre in Berkeley. Starring Luisa Frasconi, Lindsey Schmeltzer, Emily Brown, and Khalia Davis.

“Shakespeare’s tragedy trigger[s] copious waves of laughter in the almost exhaustingly funny [Wittenberg]”
-Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

“Director Josh Costello works hard to strike a balance between zany and brainy in this smart-alecky comedy…the cast attacks the anachronisms with an infectious glee.”
-Karen D’Souza, Bay Area News Group

“There’s no question that Davalos’ Wittenberg makes for good comedy – at times it’s split-your-tights funny”
-Chad Jones, theatredogs

“[Wittenberg] asks probing questions about the nature of free will and authority while incorporating quippy banter, puns and literary references that keep the audience riveted.”
-Cara Cerino, DailyCal

“There is so much to admire in the Aurora Theatre Company’s production of Wittenberg…from Josh Costello’s clever stage direction to the work of his finely-tuned four-actor ensemble…a delicious evening of quick-witted fun!”
-George Haymont, myculturallandscape

“[Wittenberg is] a feast for the eyes, the mind and especially the funny bone.”
-Leo Stutzin, Huffington Post

“The Aurora excels at smart theatre that takes you out of your world without wasting your time – and to this end, Wittenberg is no exception.”
-Cy Ashley Webb, Stark Insider

Robert Hurwitt gives IDEATION a great review in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Josh Costello’s snappy production… a very funny, sharply staged and brightly performed piece. True to its title, “Ideation” is bound to make you think.”

IDEATION plays through December 7.

 

I’m directing a reading of a new draft of IDEATION by Aaron Loeb at SF Playhouse this Monday, April 15, at 7pm. I directed two readings of earlier drafts with the Bay Area Playwright’s Festival last summer.

Here’s the information from the SFPH email invitation:

IDEATION
by Aaron Loeb
(First Person Shooter, Abraham Lincoln’s Big, Gay Dance Party) 

directed by Josh Costello

WHEN: Monday, April 15, 7pm

450 Post @ Mason

(2nd Floor of Kensington Park Hotel)

In this psychological suspense thriller, a group of corporate consultants work together on a mysterious and ethically ambiguous project. As the lines between right and wrong are blurred, these characters must navigate the cognitive dissonances and moral dilemmas to decide for themselves if everything is as it really seems.

Featuring: Aleph Ayin, Cassidy Brown*, Warren David Keith*, Delia MacDougall*, Daniel Petzold, and Mark Anderson Phillips*

This is a free event.

We invite you to bring a treat to share, a wine to pour, a friend.

Enjoy.

*member of Actors Equity.

We announced our 2013/14 Season at Aurora Theatre Company today. I am so proud to have helped Tom put together these six fantastic shows — and I am tremendously excited to direct WITTENBERG by David Davalos in April 2014. Here’s the link: https://auroratheatre.org/season-22

I’ll be directing a couple of readings of In From the Cold, a new play by Jonathan Spector, this February. The first is for the opening of Aurora Theatre Company’s 2013 Global Age Project (the play is one of four chosen from 150 submissions), and the second  is for the Playwrights Foundation’s Rough Reading Series (that’s actually two readings, one at Stanford and one in San Francisco).

The past might be catching up to an ex-Cold War spy, the hidden meaning of 80’s movies is revealed, and it’s ladies’ night at Chili’s. A funny and touching play about what it means when you used to mean a lot, and now you don’t mean much anymore. Partially inspired by a true story of a KGB Colonel who defected to the US in the 80’s and raised his family in an American suburb.

Monday, February 4: 7:30pm at Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley

Monday, February 11: 7:30pm at Roble Hall, Stanford University

Tuesday, February 12: 7pm at ACT Costume Shop, San Francisco

Starring Jim Charles Dean, Patrick Jones (Aurora), Craig Marker (PF), Anthony Nemirovsky, Howard Swain, and Elena Wright

This is a fantastic new play, and a terrific cast. I hope you can see it.