Thinking Theater NYC

Paul Shearman / The Last Audition Banjo & Bongo Productions, an independent theatre and screen production company dedicated to developing original, character-driven work, will present The Last Audition , written and performed by Paul Shearman and directed by David St John. The production will be presented as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at Chain Theatre Mainstage (312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018) with performances on Wed April 1 at 7:40 pm, Sun April 5 at 12:20 pm, Thu April 9 at 6 pm, Wed April 15 at 6 pm & The Fri April 17 at 7:40 pm.  Under the glow of a single ghost light, a once-renowned Shakespearean actor rehearses for a final audition for King Lear . As memory falters and reality intrudes, the stage becomes both refuge and reckoning. The Last Audition is a darkly funny, deeply human solo play about identity, legacy, and the quiet, complicated love between those who perform and those who care for them. The creative...

Footnotes Created, designed, and directed by Theodora Skipitares Music and lyrics by Sxip Shirey Presented by La MaMa and Skysaver Productions at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club 66 E 4th St., Manhattan, NYC February 27-March 15, 2026 A trio of philosophers. Photo by Victoria Forbes. Anyone who goes to see veteran artist and theatermaker Theodora Skipitares's world-premiere play Footnotes at La MaMa will have had to walk (which, as the play reminds us, might be defined in different ways) at least a little bit to reach a seat inside the theater. What emerges from the punningly titled Footnotes is a sort of wide-ranging collage that highlights the foot and walking as fundamentally binding humans–and non-human animals–together across time, place, and experience. This sweeping scope of this visually remarkable production stretches as far back as 3.6-3.7 million year-old footprints, through Classical Era myths, and all the way to contemporary academic disability studies and the curr...

Extraterrestrial Conscience will present Lunatic , written and directed by Elina Kaplun and performed by Elina and Uliana Kaplun, as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at Chain Theatre Mainstage (312 West 36 Street, 4 th Floor, New York 10018) with performances on Sun April 5 at 5:20pm, Mon April 6 at 7:40pm, Sat April 11 at 5:20pm, Sat April 18 at 2pm &; Sun April 19 at 5:20pm. Lunatic is a delightful mix of poetry, music and physical theatre (clowning). Absurdity and surreality, visions and images, despair and hope, sadness and happiness all come together in this performance as in our life. Lunatic is based on Russian poetry of the early 20th century: Daniil Harms, Alexander Vvedensky, Osip Mandelshtam, Anna Akhmatova, Marina Tsvetaeva, Sasha Chorny, and Alexander Vertinsky. The hundred years' gap, the half planet of distance, the different languages do not matter, as we all go through the same things n...

A Baby For Me? No Thank You, Please! , written and performed by Bailey Swilley and directed by Desmond Thorne, will be presented as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at The Rat NYC (68-117 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201) with performances on Fri April 3 at 8:10pm, Mon April 6 at 6:30pm, Tue April 14 at 9:50pm & Thu April 16 at 9:50pm.  When everyone in her life pressured Bailey to have a baby, she spent a lot of time questioning, researching, and agonizing over what was wrong with her—until she found the answer, inside her guts—at the gyno’s office. This solo comedy explores what it means to sift through the gunk and finally trust your inner voice! Swilley is a writer and comedian based in Brooklyn, whose stories have been featured on RISK! , Story Collider , Love Hurts ,   and more. She is a Moth StorySLAM winner and her solo shows, Gimme a Sign! and Don’t Tell Our Bosses , were both critically acclaimed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Swil...

Revenge of the Soy Boy , written and performed by Justin Avery Smith and directed by Jacob Musgrove, will be presented as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009) with performances on Sat April 4 at 2pm, Mon April 6 at 6:30pm, Sun April 12 at 7pm, Mon April 13 at 9:50pm & Sun April 19 at 5:20pm. After being heavily mocked online by Star Wars fans in 2025, Justin now uses Star Wars as an intersection for personal comedic stories that also provide personal and social commentary about the galaxy far, far away, our own world, and discovering what his place is in all that. Nerds, LGBTQ+, neurodiverse, film buffs/cinephiles (especially Star Wars fans), anyone who can appreciate pop culture, and anyone who has struggled in the past ten years with their place in the world amid both political and digital unrest will enjoy this show. Justin Avery Smith (he/him) is a writer, comedian and performer based in Ce...

The Antigone Project will present Thoughts & Prayers , written by Ibsen Santos, Aaron Michael Zook, Maddy Kelly, Prather Rehnquist, Ioanna Katsarou, Jon-Mykul Bowen, Cato Crumbley, Paige Hapeman, Ruth Łchav'aya K'isen Miller, Barbara Moreno, and Dustin Bussman, and directed by Ibsen Santos, as part of the 2026 New York City Fringe Festival with FRIGID New York at the Chain Theatre Mainstage (312 W 36th St, FL 3 & 4, New York, NY 10018) with performances on Thu April 2 at 6pm, Mon April 6 at 6pm, Mon April 13 at 6pm & Sat April 18 at 7pm.  In a society benumbed by senseless tragedy, survivors of an act of mass violence struggle with the ritualized return to normalcy. Thoughts & Prayers , developed and written collaboratively by The Antigone Project, is a theatrical experience that confronts teen isolation, sexual abuse, and gun violence wrapped in a red, white, and blue veneer. The cast will feature Clarita De Gennaro, Maddy Kelly, Aaron Michael Zook, Ioanna Kats...