Thinking Theater NYC

The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber Written by Renee Philippo Music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn Directed by Eric Nightengale and Renee Philippi Presented by Concrete Temple Theatre , Playfactory Mabangzen , and Yellowbomb, in partnership with the Korean Cultural Center NY at Dixon Place 161A Chrystie Street, Manhattan, NYC May 25-29, 2022 R to L: (standing) NamPyo Kim, (on table) James A. Pierce III, and Lisa Kitchens in The Legend of the Waitress & the Robber at Dixon Place. Photo by Stefan Hagen. The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber , a transnational collaboration between theater artists based in Seoul and New York City, first began to take shape in 2018 and now makes its pandemic-delayed New York City premiere at Dixon Place - a venue which is, incidentally, celebrating its 35th year showcasing adventurous theater. The Legend of The Waitress & The Robber , performed in English and Korean, with supertitles in each when the other is spoken, offers a distinctiv...

The Karpovsky Variations Written by Adam Kraar Directed by Tasha Gordon-Solmon Presented by Boomerang Theatre Company at A.R.T./New York Theatres 502 W 53 St., Manhattan, NYC May 13-29, 2022 L to R: J. Anthony Crane, Chris Thorn, Barbara Broughton, Rivka Borek, and Ezra Barnes. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Theatrical Photography In basic musical terms, variations, of which there are a number of types and approaches, repeat material in a changed form. With playwright Adam Kraar's The Karpovsky Variations , currently making its world premiere courtesy of Boomerang Theatre Company , the titular variations metaphorically encapsulate the individual and cross-generational experiences of the imperfect but loving family at its center. Music also plays a significant literal role in the story of the Karpovsky clan, a wonderfully acted exploration of the search for one's own song, both solo and within the sometimes tumultuous chorus of family. Julia Karpovsky (Rivka Borek) serves as the nar...

Image courtesy Boundless Theatre At a time when craft categories are not receiving the dues they deserve in the film and theater world comes a model theater company ahead of its time in giving recognition and a voice to industry players that have long deserved it. Not only is Boundless Theatre (BT) led by female designers and designers of color, but their plays explore themes that challenge our social agreements, elevate humanity and honor the human condition. This is exactly what BT's newest production, Mercado Libre , intends to do when it premieres on June 3rd, 2022 at the Julia de Burgos Performance and Arts Center (1680 Lexington Avenue) in East Harlem, El Barrio, NYC. The award-winning  Mercado Libre  will explore the challenges of human dignity under capitalism, a topic that is vital to our current sociopolitical moment. The play, which runs until June 12th, is written in Spanish by playwright Luis Araújo, and it comes to the NYC stage after receiving accolades througho...

Occasionally Nothing Written by Natalie Menna Directed by Ivette Dumeng Presented by Theater for the New City 155 1st Ave., Manhattan, NYC April 28-May 15, 2022 L to R: Mike Roche, Sean Hoagland. Photo by Jonathan Slaff. Imagine a group of people trapped inside with one another, sheltering in place from the pandemic and war outside. This is the situation presented in actor and playwright Natalie Menna's Occasionally Nothing , and while the circumstances might sound ripped from today's headlines, Occasionally Nothing was first presented, in a shortened form, at the Planet Connections Festivity in 2016, which reflects well on the play's perspicacity and rather less well on humanity. Loss and despair are shot through with  humor in the new production of Menna's absurdist look at social disintegration. By the time that the play opens, Clay (Sean Hoagland), a British expat punk, and his uncle Harry (Mike Roche) have been holed up in an abandoned church for months (perhaps, ...

Roe v. Wade 2.0, a collective action troupe of artists and activists, invites the public to participate in a week of theatrical action May 16-23 in defense of abortion rights. The action begins on May 16 at 7 pm ET with an online performance and panel discussion of Roe v. Wade 2.0 , a satire written by Drama League Award nominee Margaret Vandenburg and performed by a star-studded cast including Carrie Preston ( True Blood ), Joel de la Fuente ( The Man in the High Castle ), Florencia Lozano ( One Life to Live ), and more. The week continues with local readings hosted by artists and organizers across the country through May 23. To gain the greatest impact and nationwide spread, there is no barrier to entry: anyone can host and support the initiative. Interested parties are encouraged to sign up to host their own readings. Register for the livestream  here  and learn more at  http://roevwade20.com/kickoff . The play dramatizes the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organizati...

A Barn Play Written by Lizzie Donahue Directed by Leslie Kincaid Burby Presented by UP Theater Company at Fort Washington Collegiate Church 729 W. 181st St., Manhattan, NYC May 4-21, 2022 L to R: Denisse Estefany Mendoza, Erin Nelson, Ariel Blake, Adam Burby, Mary Albert. Photo by Amy Milstein Other issues with the Chick-fil-A organization aside, its advertising campaign involving cows exhorting people to "Eat Mor Chikin" has always seemed far more disturbing than funny, evoking the cows' awareness of and desperation to avoid industrial murder even as their misspelling obliquely justifies it because they're just dumb animals anyway. Lizzie Donahue's A Barn Play asks that we take seriously the mental and emotional lives of the cows, chickens, and other non-human animals whose reduction to mere commodities is so culturally ingrained (helped, of course, by plenty of costly lobbying and advertising). A program note from the Artistic Director at the time of A Barn Pl...