Thinking Theater NYC

 A Comedy of Errors Written by William Shakespeare Adapted and directed by David Fuller Presented by Theater 2020 at The Great Room at A.R.T./New York 138 South Oxford St., Brooklyn, NYC June 12-27, 2026 L to R: Amelia Corrada, Robert J. Dyckman, KoDee Martin, Linda Elizabeth, David Arthur Bachrach, Eileen Glenn, Justino Brokaw, Sabrina Kalman, Francoise Traxler, Jenna Hochkammer. Photo: John Hoffman. Sometimes theater sheds light on enduring issues in society and human existence; sometimes it’s pure entertainment. We need both—to see anew the most challenging aspects of life and to laugh. Theater 2020’s charming 75-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors presents the classic tale of mistaken identity anew. With a cleverly streamlined script and a versatile, talented cast, Theater 2020’s A Comedy of Errors is a laugh-out-loud good time from start to finish. Life is hard; laughter is a priceless antidote that the best theater can provide to take away ...

Syrian Soap Written and performed by E. Zaalan Directed by Tallie Medel Original direction and co-devising, dramaturgy by Natasha Mercado Presented by National Queer Theater and HERE Arts Center at HERE Arts Center 145 6th Ave, Manhattan, NYC June 24-27, 2026 Not a lot of shows tell the audience that they can stick around and hang out in the pool afterward, but then, the current production of E. Zaalan's Syrian Soap gets the interactivity started even before the performance begins, with spectators given bubble wands and offered tea during that pre-show period. The pool in question, inflatable and filled with clear bubble wrap and beach ball "water," represents part of the Intergalactic Bathhouse, the form taken by the afterlife in this marvelous solo show. In the fabulously funny Syrian Soap , Zaalan, a stand-up, clown, and conflict mediator, plays both a long-deceased ancestor and (a version of) themself in a masterful piece of clowning that is also an articulation of...

Billie Andersson, Juan Pablo Toro, Evan Olson, Scarlett Strasberg. Photo by Amy Goossens. Lower Manhattan’s Shakespeare Downtown  is celebrating its 10th season of free performances with Geoffrey Horne’s translation of Uncle Vanya - Anton Chekhov’s timeless tragicomedy of longing, frustration, and fading dreams, performed within the open-air stone walls of Castle Clinton National Monument June 11–21, 2026. Free tickets are available at the door beginning at 5:45 p.m. on the day of each performance.   In Uncle Vanya , love, regret, and the quiet ache of unrealized lives simmers beneath the surface of a crumbling 1800s Russian country estate. As a family and their restless visitors collide over long-held frustrations and unexpected passions, this timeless masterwork unfolds with dark humor and piercing heartbreak. Uncle Vanya is directed and translated by Geoffrey Horne, who studied acting and directing with Lee Strasberg, became a member of the Actors Studio, and is influenced ...

Catch of the Day Written by Megan Jenkins and Red Fox Theatre Company Directed by Megan Jenkins Presented by Red Fox Theatre Company at 59E59 Theaters 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, NYC June 10-28, 2026 Jonty Weston, Anna McCormick, Callum McGuire, and Ben Simon. Photo by Carol Rosegg. A subgenre of the tall tale, the "fish story" is exactly the kind of entertainingly improbable yarn that you might expect to hear over some pints in a convivial pub setting like that of Red Fox Theatre's Catch of the Day , except that its particular fish story is true. Inspired by a 2013 RTÉ radio documentary that Red Fox supplemented with its own interviews with locals who were involved and some of whose recorded voices appear in the show, Catch of the Day recounts an uproarious, live-music-infused version of the story of some fishermen who made an extraordinary catch off the small Irish port town of Dingle in 1966. Framed as a tale being dramatically reenacted by a quartet of enthusiast...

Clay Mommy Written by Aviva Pearl Ocean Creation Directed by Lili Rosen Presented by FRIGID New York  at UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Pl, Manhattan, NYC June 4-7, 2026 When Hana, the titular Clay Mommy appears, clad in brown bodysuit with אמת ( emet ) written across her forehead, she looks less like a miracle than a wish that has gone too far. The hardest thing about family, Clay Mommy suggests, is that the people we need most can never fully become what we need them to be. Written by Aviva Pearl Ocean Creation, directed by Lili Rosen, and presented by FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks, Clay Mommy is a funny, painful, and deeply Jewish meditation on care, dependency, and the risks of trying to shape another person into an answer for our loneliness. The production uses the stripped-down confines of UNDER St. Marks to fine effect. A backpack, a sparkling dress, and a sculpture in progress do much of the visual storytelling. The minimalism works because the play's real landscape is...

As part of The Tank’s PrideFest 2026, The Late Night Radio Fest invites you to two listening parties of highly acclaimed radio plays with decidedly queer subplots. Friday is a night of suspense: Drew Pisarra’s The Strange Case of Nick M. concerns a podcaster  who stumbles upon recordings of some questionable medical experiments conducted on a concert pianist with a memory disorder. Saturday night is pure comedy as Pisarra’s Price in Purgatory follows the late, great, camp horror icon Vincent Price as he goes on a Dantesque journey with a lookalike spirit guide. Both shows are pre-recorded. Strictly audio. Eye masks provided. Oregon ArtsWatch said of The Strange Case of Nick M. : "Pisarra & company keep things playful, speculative, entertaining, tickling the audience around the edges of consciousness." And  Arts Independent  said of Price in Purgatory : "The play is both hysterically funny and intensely thought-provoking...." ...