Thinking Theater NYC

FEARfest 2023 Plays: A Year to Grieve , by Deirdre Girard & directed by Sydney Burtner; Cassie Strickland Is Not Under the Bed , by Vince Gatton & directed by Marie Elèna O'Brien; The Big Bad D Word , by Jennifer Downes & directed by Claire Shiell; Practice , by Caitland Winsett & directed by Lucy Roberts; Hysterical , by John Peña Griswold & directed by Maura Kelley; The Bowl , by R. A. Pauli & directed by David Adam Gill; and The Right One , by William Oliver Watkins & directed by Emily Hartford Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at The Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th Street, Manhattan, NYC October 25-29, 2023 Nicolas DiPierro and Marie Elèna O'Brien. Photo courtesy of New Ambassadors As we rapidly approach the uncontested best holiday of the year (Halloween, if that wasn't clear), New Ambassadors Theatre Company has played the Victor Frankenstein to another great slate of new short plays, assembling these parts into the 2023 incarn...

New Ambassadors Theatre Company - a playwright-forward company that facilitates a radically inclusive, intersectional, and safe environment in which both the inexperienced writer and seasoned playwright finds encouragement, constructive criticism, and camaraderie throughout the development process, from conception to production, of an original work - will present its third and final short play festival of the year, FEARfest 2023. FEARfest 2023 begins on Wednesday, October 25th for a limited engagement through Sunday, October 29th. FEARfest 2023 features seven of the best in new, original horror and sci-fi themed short plays, with a regular schedule of Wednesday–Friday at 7:30 pm; and Saturday and Sunday 2 pm. Performances are at the Hudson Guild Theater (441 West 46th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues).  This year's lineup features sci-fi, horror, and laugh-out-loud dark comedy. It includes:  A YEAR TO GRIEVE, by Deirdre Girard Best-Selling author Heather is excited that sh...

Irregulars Written and directed by David Adam Gill Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at the Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th St., Manhattan, NYC September 7-24, 2023 Marie Elèna O'Brien, John Peña Griswold, Eric Svendsen, Jonathan Peck, Mickey Pantano. Photo by Mordecai Nuccio The titular Irregulars in the rollicking new comedy from David Adam Gill, Artistic Director of New Ambassadors Theatre Company, hail not from London's Baker Street but Brooklyn's own Carroll Gardens, but if the mysteries with which they are concerned are intrafamilial rather than criminal, they are no less important–and a lot funnier–for that. The title Irregulars literally refers the business, Roger's Irregulars, which sells irregular clothing, that is owned by one of its characters, but metaphorically encompasses Roger (Todd Butera) and his immediate family and in-laws, as well as a couple of those in that extended family's immediate orbit. Playing in repertory with the terrific...

Tight Five Written by Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold Directed by John Peña Griswold Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at the Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th St., Manhattan, NYC September 7-24, 2023 Priyanka Arya Krishnan and Jennifer Downes. Photo by Mordecai Nuccio. Most of us have plans for self-improvement that are contingent with some kind of "if only"–if only we had more time or funds or resources or support, surely we would succeed, perhaps even transformatively. In Tight Five , a superb new play from New Ambassadors Theatre Company's Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold, one woman offers another the chance to have all of the obstacles on her path to the top of her career removed. The question, though, as always with such offers, is, at what cost? As the funny and captivating Tight Five , playing in repertory with the equally terrific new comedy Irregulars (read our review here ), unspools its answer, it tackles big questions of what it means...

Blurring Boundaries 2023 Plays: Fragile , written by Dana Leslie Goldstein and directed by Brandon M. Weber; Settings , written by John Peña Griswold and directed by Jennifer Downes; The End of Society , written by Ben Scranton and directed by Claire Shiell; Prewritten , written by Erin Moughon and directed by Sydney Burtner; Wednesday in the Park with Blake , written by Nancy Hamada and directed by Perryn Pomatto; In the Garden of the Hesperides , written by David Adam Gill and directed by Marie Elèna O'Brien; and Podunk , written by David Taylor Little and directed by David Adam Gill. Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at The Hudson Guild Theatre 441 W. 26th Street, Manhattan, NYC June 14-18, 2023 (left to right, top) John Peña Griswold, La Veda Davis, Helene Galek, William Franke, Jeff Checkley, Josh Hemphill, Chase Naylor, Maya Rosewood, Saadiq Vaughan, Sandra Parris (left to right, bottom) Todd Butera, Claire Shiell, Mandy Murphy, E. B. Hinnant. Courtesy Ne...

FEARfest 2022 Playing with Matches , by Jennifer Downes and John Peña Griswold; dir. John Peña Griswold Hot Blood Sundae , by Aly Kantor; dir. Mia Y. Anderson Fear Floor , by Caitland (Caky) Winsett; dir. Todd Butera Black, White, & Blue , by William Oliver Watkins; dir. Sara Berg The Hand , by Erin Moughon; dir. David Adam Gill Do You Remember? , by Nina Tolstoy; dir. Jonathan Wong Frye The Man in Red , by Mandy Murphy; dir. Mandy Murphy Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at TADA! Theater 15 W 28th Street, 2nd floor, Manhattan, NYC October 26-30, 2022 Mandy Murphy and Raquel Valiente in The Hand . Photo courtesy New Ambassadors Theatre Company The horror and comedy genres often benefit from brevity, making them a good fit for a short play festival such as this year's installment of New Ambassadors Theatre Company's FEARfest, which features hefty doses of both, along with a strong measure of dystopian sci fi. The fears that rear their discomfiting heads in the fe...

Blurring Boundaries 2022: Program B Plays: Iphis and Ianthe at the Courthouse , written by Aly Kantor and directed by Jonathan Wong Frye; Sons and Fathers , written by Mark Hofmaier and directed by Susanna Frazer; Prometheus Found , written by Michael Narkunski and directed by Perryn Pomatto; Building Blocks , written by Arielle Beth Klein and directed by Jennifer Downes; Shakespeare Recalibrated , written by Amanda Hanna and directed by Sydney Burtner; Ava Hearts Riley , written by Cris Eli Blak and directed by Syona Varty; and Redhead Only Orgy , written by Ruthie Rado and directed by Todd Butera Presented by New Ambassadors Theatre Company at TADA! Theater 15 W. 28th St., Manhattan, NYC August 10-21, 2022 Bryan Patrick Stoyle and Ruthie Rado in Iphis and Ianthe at the Courthouse . Photo credit: Ruthie Rado The plays included in the 2022 incarnation of New Ambassadors Theatre Company's Blurring Boundaries festival, which is dedicated to amplifying marginalized voices, apply th...