Thinking Theater NYC

This July, Forgotten Artist Productions is pleased to present the play When In God's Country, Hide In The Closet , written and directed by Michael Thomas Cain, as part of 2026 Spring/Summerfest at the New York Theater Festival (NYC). The theatre production features Mark Parsia as Francis/Frank, Charles Kramer as Honorè/Hank, and Ron Barba as Dr. Sonny Moore. When In God’s Country, Hide In The Closet follows Francis and Honoré while they are attempting to enjoy each other’s company in the Bible belt, but they're careful to hide at a corner table of a restaurant on a Monday night for social and professional reasons. What will be the fate of this gay couples love during a time and place that is not accepting? Forgotten Artist Productions is a full-service production company based in New York that has produced critically acclaimed plays and award-winning films such as Not Approved For Cancer Treatment (theatre and short film), Where Art Lives (theatre), 15 Minutes with Ellen (the...

Misterman Written by Enda Walsh Directed by Labhaoise Magee Presented by Origin Theatre Company at Theatre Row 410 W 42 St., Manhattan, NYC June 23-July 5, 2026 With a new production of Enda Walsh's Misterman , the newly renamed 2026 Origin Irish Theatre Festival (formerly Origin 1st Irish), under the new leadership of Artistic Director Labhaoise Magee and Executive Director Aidan Cleary, Origin Theatre Company returns to the show with which it made its debut 24 years ago, a play whose protagonist restages his own past. Misterman is the centerpiece of Origin's 2026 festival, which runs from June 16th through July 5th and features a concert, staged readings, and a gala in addition to the full production of Misterman , all celebrating Walsh, a transformational voice in contemporary Irish drama. Misterman was first performed in 1999 in Cork, with the playwright also performing, and returned in a revised version (now starring Cillian Murphy) in 2011 at the Galway Arts Festival,...

 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...." ...

Foosball , by playwright Sean Czarnecki and directed by Claire Siebers, will play at Arts On Site (12 St Marks Pl New York, NY 10003) from July 16 through August 1. Previews begin July 16 for a July 18th opening, and tickets ($30) are available for purchase here . Caught between small-town Michigan drama and an abusive father, JJ Janson has to navigate an impossible love triangle on his 16th birthday. Foosball begs the question: Can we overcome our trauma or do we learn to live with our wounds? The cast includes Will Ehren, Alice Jokela, Gideon Klapow, Anthony ‘Ant’ LoGrande, Forrest Malloy, Mia Vallet. Playwright Sean Czarnecki is based in New York. As a journalist, he covers leveraged finance. Foosball , his debut play, was a quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition 2024, advanced to the second round of the 2025 Austin Film Festival in the Stage Play category, and won the Scriptwriters & Co International Festival 2025’s best full-length play award. Foosball ...

Metal Soul Mercy Written by Maci Zakarin Directed by Hana Lauer Ensemble Choreography by K-A Nassoura Duet Choreography by Maci Zakarin Fools Rush In Choreography by Mariama Condé Presented at The Slipper Room 1167 Orchard St., Manhattan, NYC June 2, 2026 Before Metal Soul Mercy reveals its showgirls to be machines, it gives the audience a chance to fall in love with them. In its one-night-only production at The Slipper Room, that proves enough. The evening begins with Olive (Mariama Condé) peeking through the curtain, unable to resist the gathering gaze. It is a small gesture, playful and inviting, but it encompasses the entire production in miniature. The Ladybugs want to be seen; they need to be seen. And soon enough, we meet the girls – performers who have only ever known life under the spotlight, “born in fishnets and a bustier.” Maci Zakarin’s Carolina jokes that she was born addicted to applause, and the line lands as comedy, but it also announces the play's central concer...

In the Devil's Hands Written and directed by Helen Banner Original Music by Joshua Dumas Presented by A/Park Productions at Zoopraxic 11-51 44th Rd, Long Island City, Queens, NYC May 20-June 14, 2026 Rory Greenwood and Umer Khan. Photo by Diego Quintanar. There is something undeniably attractive about the idea of removing oneself from society to live in independent solitude, and, unlike the protagonist of new play In the Devil's Hands , most of us don't even have as compelling a motivation for such fantasizing as being suspected of murder. In the Devil's Hands , by Helen Banner, Creative Director of Zoopraxic, a new arts space in Long Island City, takes inspiration from the story of Alphonse Le Gastelois (1914-2012), a resident of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands and a British Crown Dependency. In 1961, Le Gastelois exiled himself to an island in the Écréhous reef, six miles from Jersey, after having been targeted as a suspect in a series of sexual assaults ...

Julius Caesar Written by William Shakespeare Directed by Jonathan Hopkins Assistant Director: Sundiata Fotso-Chinjé Presented by Smith Street Stage at Carroll Park President St., Brooklyn, NYC May 16-June 7, 2026 Photography by Sam Sulam Summer means Shakespeare in NYC, and of all of the productions to choose from, Smith Street Stage’s annual offerings in Carroll Park, Brooklyn are always a must-see. Even on an unseasonably cool and damp night, this year’s offering, Julius Caesar , has the power to captivate not only those who came to see it intentionally but also dog walkers and other passersby. If Shakespeare’s time seems remote from our own, the Romans who feature in this play were four times as removed from Elizabethan England as Elizabethan England from today. And yet, as Shakespeare made Julius Caesar speak to its contemporaries, so does Smith Street Stage for us today. Featuring both Smith Street Stage veterans and newcomers, the cast is extraordinarily versatile. Save fo...

Trovata una sega! Livorno, Modigliani, and the Legendary Prank of Summer ’84 ( Trovata una sega! Racconto su Livorno, Modigliani e lo “scherzo del Secolo” dell’Estate ’84 ) Written and performed by Antonello Taurino May 17, 2026, at The Rat NYC , 68-117 Jay St., Brooklyn, NYC May 18, 2026, at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU , 24 W 12 St., Manhattan, NYC   Antonello Taurino in Trovata una Sega! Courtesy Teatro della Cooperativa. Research has shown that people will rate the exact same wine more highly if they believe it to be more expensive. The market, in other words, does not so much reflect as create value and prestige. Trovata una sega! Livorno, Modigliani, and the Legendary Prank of Summer ’84 ( Trovata una sega! Racconto su Livorno, Modigliani e lo “scherzo del Secolo” dell’Estate ’84 ), a solo show from actor, comedian, author, and theater researcher Antonello Taurino, suggests that similar dynamics obtain in the art world. Winner of the Tramedautore Festival Selection...

White Noise: Confessions of an Unsuspected Serial Killer with a Background Hiss ( Rumore Bianco – Confessioni di un insospettabile serial killer con fruscio di sottofondo ) Written by and with Danilo Napoli Directed by Yari Gugliucci Presented by Vitruvio Entertainment May 14, 2026, at WOW Café , 59-61 E 4th St., 4th Fl., Manhattan, NYC May 15, 2026, at BAAD - Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance , 2474 Westchester Ave., Bronx, NYC Danilo Napoli in  White Noise . Photo courtesy of Vitruvio Entertainment. If the pressing relevance of the critique by solo show White Noise: Confessions of an Unsuspected Serial Killer with a Background Hiss ( Rumore Bianco – Confessioni di un insospettabile serial killer con fruscio di sottofondo ) of transphobia and homophobia weren't already obvious, we read about the murder of transwoman Juniper Blessing, a University of Washington student, on our way to the performance. The brutal killing of Blessing belongs to a long and ongoing history of violence...

Do a Little Dance is a drag performance art show. A certain gentleman asked Mae to do a little dance, and she froze. She blew it. She blew it! Join her now as she tries to put on the show that she needs to redeem herself through burlesque, live music, lip-syncing, performance art rituals, and other strategies.  Featuring Mae. B. Tomorrow,  Do a Little Dance comes to UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, Manhattan) for performances on May 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 30th.  Content warning for partial nudity, sexually suggestive content, needles, simulated bodily fluids. Tickets are available here . 

Patria, The Town of Cain and Abel ( Patria, il Paese di Caino e Abele ) Conceived by Fabio Banfo, Giacomo Ferraù, and Giulia Viana Directed by Giacomo Ferraù Presented by Centro Teatrale MaMiMò and Eco di fondo with the collaboration of the Flamigni Archive May 10, 2026 at Culture Lab LIC , 5-25 46th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens, NYC May 13, 2026 at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò at NYU , 24 W 12 St., Manhattan, NYC May 16, 2026 at The Rat NYC , 68-117 Jay St., Brooklyn, NYC Fabio Banfo in Patria, The Town of Cain and Abel . Photo courtesy of Mamimo Company. Solo show Patria, The Town of Cain and Abel ( Patria, il Paese di Caino e Abele ) brings a narrative of Italian sectarianism and violence in the second half of the twentieth century to NYC at a time when such a story could not seem more relevant to audiences here as U.S. institutions and norms continue to fracture and divisions deepen. As the play's subtitle suggests, Cain and Abel serve as the microcosmic model for the p...