Independent Arts News Reporting "Twelve Hours with Tracy Letts"...
Reported on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
Pictured Above: Tracy Letts. Photo credit: Contributed.
NEWSROOM POST: NEW YORK, NEW YORK
A daylong marathon theater reading festival of five of the playwright’s works by an all-star cast...2/23 at Circle In The Square Theater
New York, NY – Twelve Hours with Tracy Letts, a marathon theater reading festival celebrating the works of Pulitzer Prize winner Letts, will take place on Monday, February 23 from 11:00AM to 11:00PM at Circle in the Square Theatre (235 West 50th Street) it was announced today. Presented by Animus Theatre Company in association with Circle in the Square Theatre School, all proceeds will benefit the school, which is the only conservatory located inside a Broadway theater. Letts’ production of BUG is currently playing on Broadway at the Samuel J. Friedman Theater.
The 12-Hour event is intended to give audiences an opportunity to view multiple play readings connected to one writer in a marathon setting, and this year’s festival follows on the heels of previous festivals featuring the works of Beth Henley, John Patrick Shanley, and Leslye Headland.
The plays included in this year’s festival will be: August: Osage County, Killer Joe, Linda Vista, The Minutes, and Man from Nebraska.
First performed in 2014, the 12-Hour Festival exists as a unique theatrical experience in NYC, allowing unprecedented access to a rarely seen element of the production process – the staged reading. Beginning in 2025, the festival has been re-named for Alan Langdon, Animus company member and profound teacher/director/mentor to many in the company at Circle in the Square Theatre School in NYC, and beyond.
Joining this year’s festival are Silvia Dionicio (Task), Gina Gershon (Bye, Bye Birdie), Jonathan Judge-Russo (The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Katrina Lenk (The Band’s Visit), Matthew Lillard (Scream), Hamish Linklater (Seminar), Jak Malone (Operation Mincemeat), Margo Martindale (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Lily Rabe (Ghosts), Andrew Rothenberg (True Blood), Thomas Sadoski (Other Desert Cities), Jeff Still (Job), with more performers being announced in the coming weeks. Casting is subject to change.
“We look forward to our continued collaboration with Circle in the Square Theatre School to feature the works of one of the world’s great artists, Tracy Letts, and honor a legend of NYC theatre and acting mentorship, Alan Langdon,” said Founding Artistic Director of the Animus Theatre Company, Jonathan Judge-Russo. “Our reading series is always exciting with a wide-ranging cast from stage and screen, and we are thrilled to benefit one of the truly essential conservatories in New York, or anywhere.”
Previous actors and directors who donated their time to the Festival include: Pamela Adlon, Nnamdi Asomugha, Alexis Bledel, Lynn Cohen, James Badge Dale, Trieste Dunn, Ben Foster, Jared Gilman, Grace Gummer, Jill Hennessey, Andre Holland, Carol Kane, Virginia Kull, Christine Lahti, Margarita Levieva, Natasha Lyonne, Keith Nobbs, Joe Pantoliano, Stephen Pasquale, Piper Perabo, Vincent Piazza, Bill Pullman, Michael Rispoli, Wrenn Schmidt, Paul Schneider, Margo Seibert, Alia Shawkat, Sarah Steele, and Aida Turturro.
For tickets and information, please visit: www.AnimusTheatre.org. Full day passes are $90 in advance and $100 at the door and half day passes are $70 in advance, $75 at the door. Student and senior discounts are available.
BIOS
TRACY LETTS
Bug, August: Osage County (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play), The Minutes (Pulitzer finalist, Tony nomination for Best Play), Man from Nebraska (Pulitzer finalist), Linda Vista, Mary Page Marlowe, and Killer Joe. A Steppenwolf Ensemble member since 2002, his stage work includes American Buffalo, Betrayal, The Pillowman, The Dresser, and Glengarry Glen Ross. He won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? On screen, his film and television credits include Little Women, Ford v Ferrari, The Post, Lady Bird, The Big Short, “Winning Time” (Emmy nomination), “The Sinner,” and “Homeland.” Recent projects include Kathryn Bigelow’s A House of Dynamite (Netflix) and “The Lowdown” (FX). Upcoming: Rosebush Pruning, I Play Rocky, Harmonia, the limited series “East of Eden,” and the book for James Taylor’s Fire and Rain musical.
ANIMUS THEATRE COMPANY (Jonathan Judge-Russo, Founding Artistic Director)
Animus Theatre Company is an actors’ ensemble that develops new work and realizes the full potential of infrequently produced plays that explore the fragility and resilience of the human spirit. Founded by four Circle in the Square Theatre School graduates and populated by countless others, Animus has produced 50+ plays, musicals, festivals, and readings since its inception in 2011. It has mounted multiple Off-Broadway productions at the famed Cherry Lane Theatre including the critically acclaimed run of Frank McGuinness’ Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me (dir. Company Member Alan Langdon); Bob Glaudini’s Dutch Heart of Man; Collected Shorts by Theresa Rebeck (dir. Company Member Pamela Adlon); and John Patrick Shanley’s Where’s My Money? Other productions have included Collected Shorts by Tennessee Williams at Theatre Row (dir. Company Member Matthew Lillard); Shakespeare’s Pericles, Prince of Tyre at Walkerspace (dir. Edward Berkeley); and the New York Premiere of Leslye Headland’s Surfer Girl at the Foley Gallery; at Broadway’s Circle in the Square: Beth Henley’s 2018 Play Festival, John Patrick Shanley’s 12-Hour Reading Marathon, and Leslye Headland’s Sin Cycle Festival.
CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE THEATRE SCHOOL. Founded in 1961 by Theodore Mann, joined by Paul Libin in 1963, and led today by Artistic Director Jeanne Slater, Circle in the Square Theatre School is an accredited, intensive, two-year professional training program with the unique distinction of being the only acting conservatory to share a stage with a Broadway theater.
Perhaps the best-kept secret on Broadway, our small size and multi-technique approach offer aspiring actors rare access to truly individualized training while our faculty, made up of top-tier working artists, represent all areas of the current industry and bring that expertise into our studios each day. And, since 2020, students have had the option of earning a degree through our joint BFA program in partnership with Eckerd College.
The training at Circle in the Square aims to connect emotional truth with the power of imagination and to cultivate artists with strong technique who will be prepared to thrive in all storytelling platforms. We are committed to an inclusive, diverse curriculum and culture, and honor our students’ uniqueness while challenging them to expand their perspectives and advance their craft, encouraging them to embrace who they are while becoming the artists they wish to be.
Circle alumni stretch across the entertainment industry with such notable stars as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, Lady Gaga, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Bacon, Molly Shannon, Idina Menzel, Winnie Holzman, Justin Kirk, Gina Gershon, Maura Tierney, Eric William Morris, Matthew Lillard and many more.
