Where Do Your Contribution Dollars Go?
Please help us keep the lights on at two of the busiest stages in New York!
From the wildly varied Sundays@Six and Three-Day Staged Readings to Plays in Process productions; from the monthly hilarity of Bobby, the Middle Aged Celebrity and Loren Dunn’s Sketch Comedy Improv to our annual COLD SNAPS Festival, the WorkShop Theater Company is rarely dark. When we’re not in production ourselves, our reasonable rental rates provide a vital service to other companies not fortunate enough to have their own home.
First and foremost, toward the development of new American plays...
Our process begins with Monday Night Writers’ Meetings, where playwrights explore new ideas. The results are seen across the country and around the world. Recently, for example, Bob Ost’s Breeders won the 2010 New Works of Merit Playwriting Competition. Glenn Alterman’s The Pain In The Poetry was published in Great Short Plays: Volume 8.
In the past year we have given our audiences:
MISS LULU BETT by Zona Gale, the first Pulitzer Prize-winning play by a woman, on our Main Stage in March, was a magnificent revival hailed as “…engrossing…an unvarnished portrait of an American family…” (CurtainUp.com) and “…a little-known gem…” (NYTheatre.com). It proved one of the most popular productions in years.
THE NAVIGATOR, by Eddie Antar, took an hilarious look at our dependency on high tech devices by telling the story of a down-on-his-luck man whose problems are all solved by his car’s GPS system. Its modest Jewel Box production was so well received that it will be given a full Main Stage production in 2012.
INTERCHANGE, by Ken Jaworowski, opened on our Main Stage in October to rave reviews. The New York Times praised INTERCHANGE as “…taut and well constructed…brisk direction…provides the dramatic conflict that brings characters to life…” And Show Business Weekly called it “…decidedly relevant…deft and clear…”
MOLIÈRE’S TARTUFFE, in a new translation by Paul Weidner, premiered in January 2011. This contemporary version of the great French classic drew delighted laughs and positive critical response: “…the most exciting piece of Indie Theater seen in recent memory.” (Bloomberg Radio) “…everything in and about this production fits…” (Town and Village NYC).
And we revitalized our Musical Theatre Wing!
It Takes Two!, our Valentine’s Cabaret, and Merry Minced Madness, a Holiday Revue, both played to packed houses, and there’s more to come as the year goes on!
Our educational and community outreach programs have also expanded:
We offer weekly classes in Shakespeare, Musical Theater, and Energy Alignment and Balance, as well as post-performance discussions and special celebrations. This March, we commemorated Women’s History Month with SHE’S THE BOSS - an event that presented staged readings of two new plays – The Silver Fox by Donna de Matteo and Beat Chick by Joanne Joseph and Prudence Wright Holmes – followed by a production of Lizzie Borden at 8 O’Clock, by guest playwright Mitch Giannunzio.
Your gift, in ANY amount, makes the WorkShop WORK!!
