Thinking Theater NYC

HardLove Adapted by Esin İleri and Miray Beşli from the original Turkish play by Anıl Can Beydilli Directed by Jee Duman Presented by Rue De Pera Films and Sonder Project at SoHo Playhouse 15 Vandam St, Manhattan, NYC November 6-December 12, 2025 Miray Beşli and Chandler Stephenson. Photo by Arron West What we refer to as sexual "chemistry" between two people points to an elusive, intangible, and dauntingly complex web of the mental, physical, and emotional. Turkish playwright Anıl Can Beydilli's HardLove , adapted by Esin İleri and Miray Beşli for a Turkish and American co-production that has returned to SoHo playhouse following a successful run at the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe, immerses audiences deep in the messy hammering out of the boundaries and contours of desire between two characters seeking that "click" during one amorous night together. In this encounter, HardLove offers a boldly probing and thoroughly–sometimes darkly–funny look at a pair of compelling,...

Señor Babyhead Written and performed by Analisa Raya-Flores Presented by FRIGID New York at UNDER St. Marks 94 St Marks Pl, Manhattan. NYC October 24 and November 1, 2025 The history of immigration in the United States boasts no shortage of governmental racism and inhumanity, with our current moment, however extraordinary in certain aspects, part of a recurring pattern. The solo show Señor Babyhead , written and performed by Analisa Raya-Flores, who is also responsible for its make-up, costumes, and props, including a full-head papier-mâché mask for one memorable sequence, approaches this dark topic with a clowning sensibility, a sharply honed sense of absurdity, and a refusal to cede to the audience the comfortable distance of passivity. With its recent performances part of FRIGID New York's fourth annual Days of the Dead Festival, a celebration of life and death inspired by the Día de Muertos, Señor Babyhead expertly embeds trenchant critiques in hilarious set pieces that showc...

2nd Murderer Written by Kanika Asavari Vaish Directed by Frankie DiCiaccio Presented by SoHo Shakespeare Company  at The Flea Theater 20 Thomas Street, Manhattan, NYC October 9-November 1, 2025 Txai Frota and Ahmad Maher. Photo by Travis Emery Hackett. Questions of morality, performativity, and adaptation are all in play from the moment the audience steps into the theater, welcomed into by Black Sheep’s “The Choice is Yours (Revisited)” and MF Doom’s “Coco Mango.” The lights drop; a body hits the floor; and then, in murky darkness, a shriek – and a man with a knife who decides to rewind the night. This decision to “wind it all back” amidst the darkness sets the tone for Kanika Vaish’s fantastic 2nd Murderer , a play as funny as it is unnerving, where the dramatological dream of “making it real” collides with the ethics of what performers are asked to endure for the sake of ego and entertainment. Directed with precision and aplomb by Frankie DiCiaccio and presented by SoHo Shakespea...