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...

PackRat Written and directed by Renee Philippi Presented by Concrete Temple Theatre at Dixon Place 161A Chrystie St., Manhattan, NYC January 31-February 14, 2020 L-R: Alanna Strong (Kitt); Maggie Gayford (Kip); Carlo Adinolfi (Bud); and Kayla Prestel (Happy). Photo by Stefan Hagen The inciting incident in Renee Philippi's new puppet-forward play PackRat is a fire. Ignited accidentally by a careless rancher, it forces the animals of the Valley to flee before its advancing flames. PackRat cites Watership Down as an inspiration, but in these opening minutes, it is hard to avoid also thinking not only of the animals in Bambi desperately running from a forest set ablaze by a human campfire but also of how much worse human avarice and disregard has made such events in the close to 80 years since the Disney film, as witnessed by the fires in California in recent years and, even more immediately, by the catastrophic, heart-sickening crisis in Australia. In PackRat, the ...