Thinking Theater NYC

The Ukraine Fringe Team. Courtesy of Alex Borovenskiy Ukraine Fringe grows out of the only English-language theatre festival in Ukraine, the PRO.ACT Fest, which after its 5 years of existence is changing its format.  The idea of Ukraine Fringe came from 2 international theatre makers, Steve Gove (founder of Prague Fringe) and Alex Borovenskiy (artistic director of ProEnglish Theatre of Ukraine). Together they will bring the International Fringe culture to Ukraine and raise awareness about Ukraine in the World. The creators of Ukraine Fringe believe that the format is perfect for the country because it is affordable for a wide audience and it supports the unique work of independent artists.  The goal of Ukraine Fringe in 2023 is to support Ukraine via the Ukraine Fringe Festival, which has objective including to unite the world's Fringe theaters, to bring Fringe culture to Ukraine, to create a festival with an active position, and to increase the world's awa...

The New York theater community will come together for 12 hours on Saturday, April 16, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM for 24 online readings and conversations on www.HowlRound.com . Artists will share their outrage at the bombing of the Donetsk Drama Theater Mariupol, where 300 people died while seeking shelter in a space that is sacred to all. Using the words of playwrights, poets, and novelists the artists will express and share their deep sorrow in response to this shocking and devastating tragedy. By showing empathy and compassion, they will let the world know that the New York theater community cares deeply about the victims, survivors, and families of the Mariupol catastrophe and that Ukraine is on our minds. This is not a fundraiser. It is anticipated that listeners from over 20 countries will tune in, and the national Public Broadcasting Station of Ukraine will live-stream the gathering for all Ukrainians. With: Abrons Arts Center; CUNY STAGES; HERE Arts Center; HowlRound; La ...

Image courtesy Emily Owens PR Crush , a VR puppet play by Krista Knight , is a finalist for the Broadway on Demand Film Festival, a short film festival to honor the groundbreaking ways in which creators approach theater in a digital age and socially-distant world. The short film with the most views by September 13 will be live-streamed on the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Emmy® OTT platform this fall. To watch Crush , just create a free account at Broadway On Demand . Crush  is a six-part video puppet play created by No Puppet Co. using virtual reality. Picking up roughly from where Kafka left off—a loner, squatter, and rebel dares to love. We follow the anti-morphosis through a series of beat poetry performances as our hero draws nearer to the object of his desire and his undoing.  When  Crush , a finalist for the 45th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival, was canceled due to COVID-19, Knight and Barry Brinegar decided to use th...

A Small Handful Conceived and directed by Jim Petosa Presented by PTP/NYC via streaming August 13-17, 2021 Paula Langton. Courtesy DARR Publicity A Small Handful is the final of three online productions in what PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project) is calling its Season 34 ½. This filmed piece presents a trio of poems by Anne Sexton, a pillar of 20th-century American poetry who struggled with her mental health and died by suicide in 1974. Each of the three poems is spoken and then sung, providing distinct but complementary experiences of Sexton's words. Running under half an hour, A Small Handful is free, but reservations are required and can be made at Home | PTP/NYC (ptpnyc.org) . Donations in support of the company are of course welcomed. The poems performed come from the earliest and latest of Sexton's published volumes, beginning with "Where It Was At Back Then," from the posthumous 45 Mercy Street (1976); then reaching back to "Music Swims Back to Me," ...

The Karens Written by Peter Gray Directed and edited by Michael Alvarez Presented by The Muse Collective via streaming August 13-27, 2021 Morgan Danielle Day, Felicia Santiago, and LaurenSage Browning. Courtesy Emily Owens PR. Watching the protagonists of Peter Gray's comedy The Karens market social justice as part of their personal brand strategies, it is hard not to think of Nancy Fraser's analysis in Capitalism: A Conversation in Critical Theory (co-authored with Rahel Jaeggi) that capitalism presents differences "as consumer of lifestyle options" (186) and that what she calls "progressive neoliberalism" has appropriated emancipatory politics in order to "'diversify'" the existing meritocracy rather than "abolish social hierarchy" (Polity Press, 2018, pp. 186, 203-204). The eponymous Karens here are not the entitled middle-aged, manager-and-police-summoning white women for whom the name became a shorthand in popular discours...

Supernova Written by Elizabeth Hawes Directed by Bernadette Armstrong Presented by the Open-Door Playhouse Podcast at www.opendoorplayhouse.org ESA/Hubble & NASA. Acknowledgement: Claude Cornen. Used under Creative Commons 4.0 Elizabeth Hawes writes in multiple genres and has won multiple PEN America Prison Writing Awards, including for her new audio play, Supernova . Incarcerated in the Shakopee correctional facility in Minnesota, Hawes has described her purpose in writing as " to bear witness, to advocate, to entertain ," and Supernova achieves all three. Presented in two parts (debuting July 14 and July 21, 2021 and totaling about two hours and fifteen minutes) on the Open-Door Playhouse's website as part of its Prison Plays series, Supernova gives intimate expression to the experiences of women incarcerated by America's Prison Industrial Complex (PIC). This and Open-Door's other plays are available for free, but donations are welcomed. Part 1 of the pla...

East to Edinburgh Goes Virtual Presented by 59E59 Theaters via  https://59e59.org/ July 15-25, 2021 Cori Hundt, Jessica Giannone, Desireé Rodriguez, Doron JéPaul Mitchell, & Biko Eisen-Martin in Testament . Photo credit: Jessica Bennett The East to Edinburgh festival comes to 59E59 Theaters this summer in virtual form, as East to Edinburgh Goes Virtual. The lineup of nine shows has been curated by 59E59 Associate Curator Jessica Hart to celebrate the diversity of the Edinburgh Fringe, even if this year's productions won't be physically performed there. The festival's limited run extends from July 15 through July 25, with one $20 festival pass ($18 for 59E59 Members) giving access to all nine shows for on-demand streaming through the 59E59 website. Yesterday, we discussed #Charlottesville and Black Women Dating White Men , a pair of plays constructed verbatim from interviews. Today, in our second of two pieces on the festival, we look at two plays that take a more tra...

East to Edinburgh Goes Virtual Presented by 59E59 Theaters via  https://59e59.org/ July 15-25, 2021 (top, l-r) Christelle Belinga, Clara Emanuel, Risha Silvera, (bottom, l-r) Arianne Carless, and Merryl Ansah in BLACK WOMEN DATING WHITE MEN The East to Edinburgh festival comes to 59E59 Theaters this summer in virtual form, as East to Edinburgh Goes Virtual. The lineup of nine shows has been curated by 59E59 Associate Curator Jessica Hart to celebrate the diversity of the Edinburgh Fringe, even if this year's productions won't be physically performed there. The festival's limited run extends from July 15 through July 25, with one $20 festival pass ($18 for 59E59 Members) giving access to all nine shows for on-demand streaming through the 59E59 website . In the first of two pieces on the festival, we look at #Charlottesville and Black Women Dating White Men , a pair of plays constructed verbatim from interviews. While the focus of the latter might seem in some ways much bro...

  Peppermint. Photo courtesy Emily Owens PR Activist and international star Peppermint (she/her) will host an online conversation on Tuesday, October 19th at 6pm ET (5pm CT, 4pm MT, 3pm PT) with the recipients of the 2021-22 New Visions Fellowship, Ayla Xuan Chi Sullivan (they/them) and Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko (he/they), along with New Visions Lead Mentor, Roger Q. Mason (they/them) on the importance of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) representation in the American Theatre. The conversation, originally scheduled for July 8th, will take place on Zoom and will be FREE and open for all to attend.  New Visions Fellowship is an innovative new artistic program established by National Queer Theater and The Dramatists Guild of America. The Fellowship is a rigorous year-long professional development initiative aimed at celebrating the brilliance of and uplifting Black TGNC writers in the face of the systemic exclusion that they have endured within American theater. The 2021 ...

  The Queer Witch Conspiracy Written by Brandon Walker Directed by Erin Cronican Presented by The Seeing Place Theater Live via Zoom June 23 and 24, 2021; and on demand via YouTube through June 27, 2021 The ensemble. Courtesy Kampfire PR.  Andrew J. Owens writes in his study Desire After Dark: Contemporary Queer Cultures and Occultly Marvelous Media (Indiana University Press, 2021) that "both queerness and occultism have been united by a historical doubling down of secrecy, empherality, and the evasion of official archival records," but the internet, through platforms such as Tumblr, has "allowed minoritarian communities the ability to articulate senses of both community and self that might otherwise prove difficult, distressing, and even dangerous within normal daily interactions" (141, 140). This dynamic is central to the The Seeing Place Theater's new production, The Queer Witch Conspiracy , written by Brandon Walker, the company's Producing Artistic Dir...

  Through the Door Story by Kasper Klop and Morwenna Spagnol Directed by Morwenna Spagnol Presented by Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and New York Theatre Salon via Zoom June 2, 8, and 9, 2021 Image from https://www.nytheatresalon.com/ In some dramatic works in this moment, an empty theater might signify loss or absence, but for Through the Door , a new recorded piece that mixes approaches from video and theater, that space acts as an opportunity for and a means of exploration in multiple registers. Presented free as part of the second annual Global Forms Theater Festival , a nine-day event which is dedicated to international artists living in the U.S. and features the theme "Seven Continents Unite," the ten-minute Through the Door was filmed in the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, which is transformed into an expansive landscape across which the production's equally expansive considerations unfold. Performed by French-Dutch interdisciplinary artist and actor Kasper Kl...

  Photo courtesy Killy Dwyer WHAT: Sour Grapes Prods Presents A Killer Killy Dwyer production of  Doggotainment  as part of the Down To Clown Online Theater Festival . Written by Killy Dwyer, directed by Bricken Sparicano, DP: Craig Schober WHEN:  May 29th 5pm EST 2pm PST and June 2nd at 8:30 EST 5:30 PST WHERE:  Show is LIVE on Zoom! Tickets: $15 Created and performed by bi-coastal “Mock$tar” musician & performance artist Killy Dwyer and directed by ward-winning performer and Assistant Director of Live Interpretation for the Wildlife Conservation Society Bricken Sparacino,  Doggotainment  makes those pet Zoom bombings that anyone who has been working from home is familiar with all part of the show.  Get a new leash on life and let Killy and Tucker The Wonderpupper be your pack leaders for a power hour of pupper related Doggotainment,  with songs like “I Wanna Smell Your Butt,” “Boop The Snoot,” and “Dog In A Basket,” along...

  Planet of the Grapes Live Created by Peter Michael Marino Directed by Michole Biancosino Presented by Project Y Theatre Company and PM2 Entertainment via YouTube Live April 16-May 15, 2021 Photo credit: Mikiodo Even if you've somehow managed never to see 1968's Planet of the Apes , moments of which remain cultural touchstones more than 50 years later, that won't make Peter Michael Marino's Planet of the Grapes Live any less of a blast. Marino reimagines the sci-fi classic as a live hourlong toy theater production, blending the main beats of the film's story and its unintentional humor with some added comedy (yes, there are some grape puns; and yes, at least one of them made us laugh out loud). The show's website includes some great background on toy theater, as well as on the Apes film and the creation of this miniaturized parody, which viewers should make some time to peruse before or after their live Grapes experience. The plot finds a quartet of astro...

The Jackson C. Frank Listening Party w/ Special Guests Written by Michael Aguirre Directed by Sarah Norris Presented virtually by New Light Theater Project as part of 59E59 Theaters' Plays In Place March 29-April 11, 2021 Michael Aguirre. Courtesy New Light Theater Project. As restrictions for in-person events begin to loosen in New York, the virtual theater scene that has developed over the past year continues to assume intriguing variations. The Jackson C. Frank Listening Party w/ Special Guests anchors its storytelling in, as the title suggests, the communal experience of music. By the end of the play, audiences will have listened to the entirety of Jackson C. Frank's self-titled 1965 folk album, interwoven with narrative threads focused on Frank himself and on the relationship of listening party host Allen (playwright Michael Aguirre) with his brother, Rob. Audience members access the album themselves through their preferred platform (we used a copy on YouTube, which, i...

  Image courtesy of Nichole Mottershead Chaos Theory begins as a lecture about chaos theory that quickly devolves into a series of interactive games inspired by the science of chaos theory, reality dating shows, middle school crushes, and the butterfly effect to end all butterfly effects: COVID-19. The audience is guided by mathematical scientist, Dr. Genevieve Saoch, whose personal life hilariously interferes with her ability to be objective about her research as a Chaologist. Through a series of participatory experiments, audience members are invited to embrace their inner chaos agent. Chaos Theory  is a NY Times recommended comedy show and winner of the Immersion Nation Best Social Immersion Award 2019. After a robust run as a live show pre-COVID-19 at Caveat, Here Arts and others, the digital adaptation premiered May 1st, 2020, in partnership with Caveat, NYC and now comes from NYC to Curious for a special two-week digital run Feb. 25th through March 7. Writer and perfor...

  Image courtesy Theatre Now WHO: Theatre Now WHAT: Theatre Now New York presents “Behind the Lab,” a biweekly web series WHEN: August 19th, continuing through the fall WHERE: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheatreNowNewYork Beginning today, Theatre Now New York is presenting  Behind the Lab , a biweekly web series spotlighting the songs and the songwriting process of Theatre Now Writers Lab members. The series will feature new music, interviews with the artists, and general discussion on how creativity can continue to flourish in uncertain times. The series will be available on Theatre Now New York’s YouTube channel . Featured writers will include Dylan Glatthorn and Will Lacker, Casey Kendall and Jonathan Bauerfeld, Thicket & Thistle, Henco Espag and Kathy Ng, Jonathan Keebler and Bob Kelly, Ethan Crystal and Garrett Poladian, Jonathon Lynch, Paul Cozby, Matt Patrick Walsh, and Michael Finke. The series is hosted by Tom Morrissey, Artistic Director of Theatre Now, and C...

  Andromeda's Sisters: An Arts & Advocacy Forum Written, choreographed, and directed by various artists Presented by The Neo-Political Cowgirls via Musae and Zoom August 14, 2020 Kate Mueth. Image courtesy Emily Owens PR On August 14th, not-for-profit dance theater company The Neo-Political Cowgirls (NPC) held the first part of its fourth annual fundraising gala, Andromeda's Sisters: An Arts & Advocacy Forum , virtually, presenting a series of monologues and dance pieces created by female-identifying artists. NPC and its gala are dedicated to, as Founding Artistic Director Kate Mueth said, the need to protect and amplify women's creative voices. One need look no further than this past week's attempts to label Kamala Harris "mean" and "nasty" (a tactic that may sound familiar) because of having displayed insufficient deference to powerful men for an example of the way that patriarchy continues to work to police gender roles and to silence wome...