• Monday, Bricolage ("making artful use of what is at hand") began its third Staged Reading Performance Series with "Midnight Radio," an entertaining potpourri of radio genres (comedy, noir, pillow talk, thriller, commercials, songs, etc.) they largely wrote themselves. It was lots of fun, complete with live sound effects and music. But it was just a throat-warmer for the five real plays ahead.

• For me, the Bricolage entertainment came at the end of a four-day sprint. Friday I flew to Actors Theatre of Louisville (Ky.) for its 32nd Humana Festival of New American Plays, run by artistic director Marc Masterson, former head of City Theatre. In 32 hours I saw six fully-staged new plays while meeting old friends and networking at the crossroads of the American not-for-profit theater. (My reviews should appear tomorrow.)

At the start of the Saturday night show, I had the pleasure of handing out, on behalf of the American Theatre Critics Association, $41,000 in checks to playwrights Moises Kaufman ("33 Variations"), Sarah Ruhl ("Dead Man's Cell Phone"), Deborah Zoe Laufer ("End Days") and Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder ("Gee's Bend") -- the first three, winners of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, generously funded by the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and the fourth, winner of ATCA's Osborn Award. (For a fuller story, go to www.post-gazette.com/theater.)

• Saturday evening ended in a big, happy party that by 2 a.m. had segued into another party, but by then I was grabbing a couple of hours sleep before connecting flights to Washington, D.C., for the first day of Kennedy Center's final dash through staged readings of the 10 plays of the August Wilson Pittsburgh Cycle. I saw "Gem of the Ocean" and "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," the latter directed by longtime Pittsburgher Todd Kreidler.

To review these, I'll wait until I've been back to Washington this weekend to see the final five plays, "Fences" through "Radio Golf." (We already published Rebecca Ritzel's review of the three plays I'll miss on our online theater page -- where you can also read actor Montae Russell's occasional blog on doing several plays in the cycle.)

• I believe this week's final August Wilson cycle performances are sold out. But I may have a couple of extra tickets that I originally bought for students to some weekend shows. Send me an e-mail if that interests you.

• This is the last weekend for Caryl Churchill's taut, intriguing, 65-minute play at the Public about a man and his sons, "a number" of whom have been created by cloning. Anna Rosenstein reviewed it for us, but I caught up with it last week. I was really impressed -- and that's having seen it in London six years ago with Michael Gambon and Daniel Craig and off-Broadway three years back with Sam Shepard and Dallas Roberts.

Jesse Berger's Public production, with Sam Tsoutsouvas and Craig Baldwin, is better than the latter and compares well with London (though no one can match Gambon). In general, it's less menacing and upsetting than in London, but it's still creepy and thought-provoking enough. Maybe too much for some -- I heard some audience members express confusion, perhaps because the Public doesn't often do such spare, intellectual work. More power to it.

• The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the "genius grant" people) is establishing a new $1 million International Connections Fund to help Chicago arts groups increase international visibility and global connections. Grants will "cover the cost of Chicago artists attending a conference abroad, or of bringing an international artist to work in Chicago, or the reverse." Sounds like just what Pittsburgh Irish & Classical, Quantum, Attack Theatre and others here have been doing. Doubtless they had foundation support. But a specific, dedicated fund like this would obviously pay off for Pittsburgh. Maybe we'd even get our international air flights back.

• Meanwhile, I've been waiting with bated breath for news of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's big 250th birthday present to the city, an international theater festival, rumored for October.

• Visitors: While Broadway Babe Bebe Neuwirth was in town for the Symphony Concerts, she led a master class at CMU. Tony-nominated singer-songwriter Craig Carnelia recently performed and led a musical theater workshop with high school students at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland. And Tony-winning composer and Pittsburgh native Stephen Flaherty does a master class this weekend at Point Park.

• "Spring Into Shakespeare" focuses on four Bardworks, starting this weekend with Point Park's "Romeo and Juliet" (through April 13), set in 1849 Alta California. Following it are Pitt's "Cymbeline" (April 9-19); PICT's "King Lear" (April 9-26) starring Dakin Matthews and Simon Bradbury; and Bricolage's staged reading of "Troilus and Cressida" (July 27-28). Bring a ticket stub from any "Spring Into Shakespeare" show and get $5 off.

• The PG's Broadway ShowPlane, April 30-May 4, is now enrolling; info at www.post-gazette.com/theater or 412-441-3131.

• Larry Cervi is directing "Golf, the Musical" at South Park Theater, opening in May. He needs several men, ages 30-50, and a woman in that age range who can belt. Give him a call at 412-418-0797.

• Saturday is the postmark deadline to enter the 2008 Pittsburgh New Works Festival. For the rules, go to www.pittsburghnewworks.org or call 412-881-6888.

• Paid admissions at city's pro theaters for the week ending March 30: