Thinking Theater NYC

Has 2024 left you feeling like a loser without any plans? Double D is here to help! Join them at Rejects Anonymous  on Monday, December 30th at 7:00 PM at Caveat NYC. Hey, at least THEY think you're cool! Staying in NYC for NYE? What better way to shake off the year and all your cringey moments than by coming to  Rejects Anonymous , the improvised 12-step meeting for chronic losers! Conceived and performed by Double D, who take the audience’s true (but anonymous) stories of rejection and use them as inspiration to create a whole cast of wacky characters helping each other make peace with their inner reject. And like any decent self-help meeting, there will be donuts! Double D is made up of Nannette Deasy and Graceann Dorse. Nannette Deasy has performed at theatres including the Public Theatre, La Mama Etc., Ensemble Studio Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, NJ Rep, the PIT, UCB, Chicago City Limits, Gotham City lmprov, Gotham Comedy Club, theatre festivals all around the coun...

Theater for the New City and Crystal Field proudly present the world premiere of A Shift of Opinion , a powerful new play by Vadim Astrakhan, directed by Joe John Battista. A Shift of Opinion is a historical drama that delves into timeless questions of identity, power, and resistance. It explores the story of Jacob Schiff, a Jewish American banker and philanthropist who confronts the Jewish Massacres in the Russian Empire. “The story of Jacob Schiff fascinated me, and I saw multiple similarities to today’s events: Russia at war with a smaller neighbor, the Jewish pogroms, the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments in America, and the need for the Jewish State. Additionally, I saw an opportunity to bring to life some of my favorite giants of American literature: Mark Twain, O. Henry, and Jack London,” says Astrakhan. Set between 1903 and 1917, A Shift of Opinion brings to life the untold true story of Schiff as he secretly funds the downfall of the Russian Empire in retribut...

  After the Revolution Written by Amy Herzog Directed by Susanna Frazer Presented by Morningside Players Theater Co. at The Morningside Players Theater Space 100 LaSalle Street, Manhattan, NYC October 17-November 3, 2024 Natalie Pernick as Emma, Matthew Cubillos as Miguel in After the Revolution.  Photo by Bridget Leicester. Family secrets, protecting the innocent, taking the wrap: when facts come to light, when push comes to shove, what measure do ethics, morals, standards, and loyalty really have? What's the tipping point between burying truth and outright betrayal? Director Susana Frazer gifted the packed house an energetically paced, thoughtfully staged production of After the Revolution , bringing together a tight talented ensemble of seasoned actors, The Morningside Players. All of the nuances and subtleties of this well-crafted, mostly autobiographical play by Amy Herzog were brought to the surface, educating and illuminating the responsive audience. The play, and its...

Alexander Klaus, the One-Legged Shoemaker Man Written and performed by Christian Hege Directed by Jenny Mercein Presented by Christian Hege, Epyllionard at 59E59 Theaters 59 East 59th Street, Manhattan, NYC December 4-22, 2024 Christian Hege in Alexander Klaus, the One-Legged Shoemaker Man . Photo by Carol Rosegg. The opening of Alexander Klaus, the One-Legged Shoemaker Man presents an image that blends beauty and blood: apple tree petals filling the air as the eponymous character suffers a horrific leg wound during the American Civil War. That sort of duality characterizes the central feeling of this wonderfully crafted play, written and performed - in verse, no less - by Christian Hege. Hege's historical research - and an evocative visit to Lower Manhattan's Tenement Museum - heavily informed the process of creating Alexander Klaus and his story, which he relates to us from his vantage point as an older man, a tale in which loss and struggle feature prominently but in which,...

The Hand That Feeds You Written by Sarah Groustra Directed by Jennie Hughes Presented by Forager Theatre Company , the Players Theatre Residency Program, and Sarah Groustra at The Players Theatre 115 MacDougal Street, Manhattan, NYC December 5-22, 2024 L to R: Laurel Andersen, Juan Castro, and Jonathan Lorenzo Price. Photo by Kat duPont Veccio. Film critic and scholar Robin Wood described the monster as the return of the repressed, and if Wood is focused more specifically on social repression than individual psychology, his description is nevertheless a useful way to think about the dynamic at the center of Sarah Groustra's new play, The Hand That Feeds You . Seen symbolically, the monster in this winningly outlandish comedy horror manifests feelings about self and family that protagonist John Gerber ( Juan Castro ) would prefer to avoid and forget (some of which certainly link to larger social attitudes). In The Hand That Feeds You , the monstrous prompts us to wonder what might b...

Failsafe Written by Phil Carroll Directed by Lily Goldman Presented at The Tank 312 W 36th St, Manhattan, NYC December 8-14, 2024 Poster photography by Kobe Gillespie New play Failsafe , from playwright Phil Carroll, begins with its cast of two performing some impressionistic movement together, accompanied by a voiceover that calls to mind the ill-fated "bumble of joy" in Edward Albee's The American Dream (1961), evoking from the outset the concerns with familial dysfunction, toxic relationships, and death shared by both plays. Following this opening, dreaminess gives way sharply to reality as Ivy (Grayce Toon) forcibly wakes up Jones (Johncarlo Zani), who promptly and quite realistically vomits. The pill bottles scattered around the tarp-covered set testify to this moment as the aftermath of yet another suicide attempt by the pair, part of a string of such failures that form an unsettled seam running through the abovementioned reality. With dark humor and psychological ...

RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR Written by Kallan Dana Directed by Sarah Blush Presented by The Hearth at A.R.T./New York Theatres 502 W 53rd St., Manhattan, NYC December 6-22, 2024 Julia Greer and Bruce McKenzie. Photo credit: Travis Emery Hackett Having been displaced by the closing of the Connelly Theater due to censorship by the venue's owner, the Archdiocese of New York, playwright Kallan Dana's RACECAR RACECAR RACECAR , presented by The Hearth, is making its world premiere at A.R.T./New York, giving audiences the chance to see this adventurous, affecting production as originally planned. The play expertly uses absurdity, including breakdowns in logic and language, as a vehicle for resonant emotional authenticity - much, perhaps, like its protagonists mask their personal turmoil with displays of bonhomie. The resulting experience is, in multiple senses, quite a trip. The literal trip in question structures the play: an unnamed dad (Bruce McKenzie) and his unnamed daughter ( Julia...

Christmas Time in the City 2023. Photo courtesy of The PR Social Returning for its second year after a sold-out debut, Christmas Time in the City will once again fill the historic Church of St. Paul the Apostle with the sounds of the season on December 12, 2024. Featuring original Broadway-style arrangements of beloved Christmas classics, this enchanting evening brings together seven celebrated Broadway stars, a 25-piece orchestra, and a 70-voice cross-borough community chorus for a performance that is quickly becoming a must-see holiday tradition in New York City. The concert blends the timeless spirit of Christmas with fresh, creative interpretations, capturing the energy and warmth of the season in a setting that enhances the musical experience. This year’s performers include Tony nominees Eden Espinosa ( Lempicka , Wicked ), and Chris Fitzgerald ( Wicked , Waitress , Spamalot ), Quinten Earl Darrington ( MJ The Musical , Once on this Island ), Tiffany Mann ( Be More Chill , O...

Jack's Bean Stalked Written by Robert K. Benson Directed by Madeline Wall Presented by R & R Productions at Parkside Lounge 317 E. Houston, Manhattan, NYC November 23-December 14, 2024 Gabriel Spector and Lily Ali-Oshatz. Photo by Michael Russell. For many of us, at least, this may not feel like the most joyful holiday season, given the state of, well, seemingly everything. Luckily, there's Jack's Bean Stalked , a new British-style panto in which the recovery of stolen joy is both a narrative element of the show and a byproduct of being in the audience. For those unfamiliar with panto, it is a popular Christmas-season tradition in the U.K. - alongside the ghost story, another holiday tradition which these particular Americans would love to see culturally appropriated - a form of musical comedy based on folk or fairy tales and featuring jokes on contemporary topics, a handful of prescribed character types (a Hero and Villain, a talking animal, and so on), and a bit of R...

The Sex Writer Written by Adam Szymkowicz Directed by Philip Cruise Presented by Thin Duke Productions and SparkPlug Productions  at  The Gene Frankel Theatre 24 Bond St, Manhattan, NYC October 30-November 17, 2024 Seth Gilliam, Sionne Elise. Photo by Mark Veltman. Adam Szymkowicz’s excellent new play, The Sex Writer , probes questions of loss, love, and the writer’s vocation as Jane, (sex) writer and professor at Columbia, returns to her small-town childhood home on the occasion of her father’s death by suicide. Upon her return, Jane is reunited with an old flame, Aiden, and simultaneously rekindles her relationship to her former lover, her hometown, her father, and her writing. A bed sits at center stage and will remain there throughout the play. It is flanked by a writer’s desk and pages from an undetermined source pinned to the walls, providing a perfect codex to the production: sex and writing and their interpenetration are inescapable. As the action, and Jane, ...

  Kitchen Sink Theatre Company, run by a majority of trans, nonbinary, and queer theatre makers, who strive to tell stories which speak to the experiences of our generation—specifically queer stories, or stories with major themes of social change/justice, will present the American premiere of Pillow Talk , written by playwright, actor, and theatre-maker Cory Sapienza and co-directed by Cory Sapienza and Jesse Hartley.  Pillow Talk  previously premiered at Space Liverpool in August 2023. The production is slated for a limited run at The Tank, with evening performances on November 21-22, and matinee performances on November 23-24. Pillow Talk  is a play that follows Ty, a gay trans man in his early twenties, as he embarks on a journey of sexual self-discovery and self-love. We follow Ty across four different sexual partners as he discovers not only what he likes and desires, but how he deserves to be treated and what he needs to be affirmed in who he is. “Pillow Talk f...

Mercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet Loves Written by Gina Femia Directed by Scott Ebersold Presented by Boomerang Theatre Company  at A.R.T./New York Theatres 502 West 53rd Street, 3rd Floor, Manhattan, NYC November 8-24, 2024 Leah Nicole Raymond and Stacey Raymond. Photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum Gina Femia’s Mercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet Loves takes Shakespeare’s most famous star-crossed adolescent lovers both as subject matter and inspiration for its own plot. Rehearsing Romeo and Juliet in their all-girls Catholic high school unexpectedly provides Ellie/Mercutio (Leah Nicole Raymond) and Britt/Romeo (Stacey Raymond), best friends and theater geeks, as well as Amber/Juliet (Rocky Vega), injured cheerleader and first-time thespian, with the venue in which to work out their feelings for each other and the implications of those feelings for their sexuality. Set against the backdrop of a phenomenal late-90s/early-2000s soundtrack, the production hearkens to a time that was simultaneou...

On Cats and Dogs and Other Family Revelations Created, directed, and performed by Ella Veres Presented as part of the 2024 Gotham Storytelling Festival with FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place, Manhattan, NYC November 10, 2024 Elle Veres and Pandele Our relationships with nonhuman animals can be revealing on not only individual but also socio-cultural levels. Solo show On Cats and Dogs and Other Family Revelations , from independent artist Ella Veres, a Harlem-based native of Transylvania, dexterously interweaves both of these levels in a fascinating hour of stories that span her personal history from childhood to the present while drawing on the particular perspective that she has acquired living in both Romania and the United States. Developed during Veres's 2023 Fountain House Gallery summer residency on Governors Island and in Adam Wade’s Magnet Theater Solo Workshop, the show debuted at the 2024 NYC Fringe Festival. Most recently, the performance of On Cats...

Café Utopia featuring Julia Atwood, Al Piper, and Louis Reyes McWilliams Photo credit: John Keon Notch Theatre Company , which creates community-responsive cultural work to drive change around the pressing issues of our time, will host a series of community engagement and talkback events as part of their World Premiere of Café Utopia by Gwen Kingston ( New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and Oprah Daily ’s 'Most Anticipated Books of 2024' for Did I Ever Tell You?: A Memoir ), directed by Ashley Olive Teague (Founder and Artistic Director of Notch Theatre Company), November 2-23 at the Hudson Guild Theater (441 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001).  What is  Café Utopia all   about?  Café Utopia seems like the perfect place to work: flexible hours, great benefits, free juice! But when mysterious pamphlets begin to appear, and key equipment breaks down, the staff start to question whether the renowned health food chain is truly all it seems. Preparing for a visit fr...

Hari Bhaskar and Mark J. Quiles. Photo by Steven Pisano. The new play Oud Player on the Tel , by Tom Block, invites audiences to reflect on the absurdity and humanity behind one of the world’s most enduring conflicts. The World Premiere production will be presented at HERE Arts Center in SoHo, November 8 - 24. Opening night is slated for November 8. The limited engagement is directed by Jesica Garrou with an original score written and performed live on the oud by Rachid Halihal . Oud Player on the Tel is presented by the International Human Rights Arts Movement, a not-for-profit committed to amplifying critical voices from artists around the world. Set against the backdrop of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Oud Player on the Tel follows the story of Amir, a Palestinian olive farmer, who befriends Melke, the patriarch of a newly arrived Jewish refugee family in 1947. As the founding of Israel unfolds, the two families become entangled in friendship, rivalry, and love, highlighting t...