Thinking Theater NYC

Point Loma Written by Tim Mulligan Directed by Ken Wolf Presented by Manhattan Repertory Theatre at the Chain Theatre 312 W. 36th Street, 3rd fl., Manhattan, NYC May 31-June 15, 2025 Parker Jenkins and Jessica Luhmann. Photo by Chris Bentley. In his recent book The Ethics of Horror (Lexington Books, 2024), Michael J. Burke argues for a distinction between traditional haunting films, in which specters seek some kind of restitution and ultimately, thanks to and along with the living protagonist(s), achieve closure, and a more recent strain that he terms phantom persecution films, in which the ethical debt to the spirit(s) can never be paid and closure remains forever out of reach. If we transpose these categories to the stage, Tim Mulligan's haunted-house play Point Loma , making its world premiere at the Chain this month, does not completely fit either–or maybe more precisely, shifts from one of them to the other–much to its advantage. Mulligan, also author of the World of Witchla...

The Mascot Murders Written by Michael Zielinski Directed by Ken Wolf Presented by Manhattan Repertory Theatre at the Chain Theatre 312 West 36th Street, 4th Floor, Manhattan, NYC June 7-9, 2024 Dave Silberger as Tom and Nathan Cusson as Matt. Photo by John Sarno For a brand, a mascot does nothing but trumpet identity, but for the person inside a mascot costume, complete anonymity is the diametrically opposed effect. There's also something inherently humorous and yet a little creepy about these ungainly, unspeaking, masked characters (think about how many horror movie villains fit that description). Michael Zielinski's new play, The Mascot Murders , notwithstanding its title, mines these contradictory elements not for fright but for full-tilt farce, as a pair of hapless private investigators face repeated–and varyingly outrageous–attempts on their lives by someone concealed within the fuzzy exteriors of various mascot costumes. Nathan Cusson as Matt and Geoffrey Grady as Biff B...

Witchland Written by Tim Mulligan Directed by Ken Wolf Presented by Manhattan Repertory Theatre at the Chain Theatre 312 W. 36th Street, 3rd fl., Manhattan, NYC April 5-14, 2024 L to R: Dave Silberger, Mars Holscher, Geoffrey Grady. Photo by Jordan Schreiber It might seem odd (at least to non-horror fans) to describe a play featuring catastrophic illness, tragic loss, and a "dead baby cemetery" as great fun, but the socially conscious scares of Witchland certainly earn that designation. First performed in 2021, playwright Tim Mulligan's story of a family who moves to a contaminated town and a house across the street from a locally infamous neighbor now brings its blend of spookiness and humor to midtown for a new production at the Chain Theater. Infused with creepy imagery and inventive staging, Witchland entertainingly explores the sicknesses that threaten both a family and a community, its outsiders included. The titular Witchland is Mulligan's native Ric...