12 Shows to See Off Broadway This August
Catch two new musicals, a hypnotic comedy, new takes on Shakespeare and more
August is the calm before the stormy fall season. But even though it’s a quiet time for theatre, there are still a dozen worthy shows bowing in August, including a new musical by Michael John LaChiusa, a kosher comedy starring Hal Linden and Bernie Kopell, and a hypnotic improv featuring Whose Line Is It Anyway? star Colin Mochrie. For a comprehensive overview of theatre in New York City, browse the listings in TDF’s Show Finder. And remember, many of our picks for July are still running!
If you’re a TDF member, be sure to log in to your account to see what we’re selling as ticket inventory changes frequently.
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Camp, A New Musical – August 4
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 4. Closes August 21. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
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Second Stage Theater: Patience – August 4
Previews begin August 4. Opens August 16. Closes Sunday, August 28. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Note: proof of vaccination NOT required. Masks are mandatory.
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New Perspectives Theatre Company: Endgame – August 8
NPTC Studio, 458 West 37th Street at Tenth Avenue in Midtown West
Begins August 8. Closes August 13. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Endgame is the title of New Perspectives Theatre Company’s 14th annual women’s work short play festival, featuring a half dozen half-hour pieces presented in two programs. All the playlets were developed in NPTC’s Women’s Work LAB over the last six months. Subjects explored with insight and humor include climate change, sexual assault, racism and the end of the world.
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De-Cruit: She-Wolf – August 12
Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 12. Closes August 20. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Founded by Stephan Wolfert, a US Army veteran, De-Cruit is a NYC theatre-based nonprofit that treats trauma through Shakespeare and science. This summer, the troupe is presenting a trio of one-act plays, all inspired by the Bard’s language, characters and themes. The final offering is She-Wolf, an exploration of four Shakespeare history plays (Henry VI, Parts I, II and III, and Richard III) through the eyes of Margaret of Anjou. Written and performed by Wolfert and his wife Dawn Stern, the hour-long piece chronicles how this captured princess became Queen of England, and at what cost.
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The Tank: Don’t Do This To Us! – August 12
The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 12. Closes August 28. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
During the pandemic, indie theatre incubator The Tank presented a virtual edition of Don’t Do This To Us! under the title A Play about Doing a Play about Jared Kushner on Zoom! Now Stephanie Swirsky’s outrageous romp comes to the stage. It’s 2022 and a woman named Rachel is disturbed by the rise of anti-Semitism. She thinks Jared Kushner—with his wealth, greed and behind-the-scenes power plays—is the root cause. So, she decides to travel back in time to 1999 to break his penis before he mates with Ivanka, thus making the world safe for 21st century Jews. A darkly comic exploration of centuries of hatred.
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HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis – August 12
Daryl Roth Theatre, 101 East 15th Street between Union Square East and Irving Place in Union Square
Previews begin August 12. Opens August 22. Closes October 30. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
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Chain Theatre: macbitches – August 19
The Chain Theatre, 312 West 36th between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 19. Closes September 10. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Note: proof of vaccination NOT required. Masks are mandatory.
Something wickedly funny this way comes in macbitches, Sophie McIntosh’s dark comedy about a freshman acting major who unexpectedly lands the role of Lady Macbeth. A few upperclassmen invite her over, ostensibly to celebrate. What follows is an alcohol-fueled evening of competition and cattiness, as these young women explore their personal ambitions and the power structures that shaped them.
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Kate – August 20
The Connelly Theater, 220 East Fourth Street between Avenues A and B in the East Village
Begins August 20. Closes October 8.
Note: proof of vaccination NOT required. Masks are mandatory.
What can we share about Kate Berlant’s new one-woman comedy? Honestly… not much. The absurdist stand-up and actress, who’s one of the stars of Amazon’s buzzy A League of Their Own reboot, won’t reveal what her latest show is about beyond saying she’s exploring “the events of her life that have brought her to this moment.” We do know that Kate is being directed and co-produced by comedy icon Bo Burnham, that she’ll embody multiple characters and that there’s a parental advisory for sexual content. Oh, and that her surreal takes on everything from washing dishes to stealing are uproarious.
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Two Jews, Talking – August 20
Theatre at St Clement’s, 423 West 46th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin August 20. Opens August 29. Closes October 23. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Note: proof of vaccination NOT required. Masks are mandatory.
Legendary TV writer Ed. Weinberger (Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson) penned Two Jews, Talking, a brand-new, old-school two-hander featuring Tony winner Hal Linden (The Rothschilds, Barney Miller) and Love Boat doc Bernie Kopell as, well, as pair of Jews kibbitzing. If you didn’t need to Google that Yiddish, you’re likely the target audience for this comfort comedy, which consists of two one-acts, one set in the Biblical past, the other on modern-day Long Island, as these alte kakers crack wise about women, sex, food, friendship and religion. Dan Wackerman directs.
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Egg & Spoon Theatre Collective: Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle – August 23
A.R.T./New York Theatres, 502 West 53rd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Midtown West
Begins August 23. Closes September 2. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
The perfect end-of-summer dark comedy! Alexander Perez’s Randy’s Dandy Coaster Castle is set at a low-rent Florida amusement park, where the eccentric employees bond over their terrible wages and even worse boss. Misery loves company, right? WP Theater’s associate artistic director Rebecca Martinez helms this quirky play about the day jobs that almost kill us.
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Ma-Yi Theater Company: ONCE UPON A (korean) TIME – August 23
La MaMa’s Ellen Stewart Theatre, 66 East 4th Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews begin August 23. Opens August 31. Closes September 18.
Ma-Yi Theater Company presented a virtual edition of Once Upon A (korean) Time during the shutdown. Now the lauded Asian-American troupe is mounting the in-person premiere of Daniel K. Isaac’s evocative epic, which fuses traditional Korean fables with the horrors of the Korean War to explore the experiences of the Korean-American diaspora across the centuries. Ma-Yi’s artistic director, Ralph B. Peña, helms the work
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Premieres NYC: Los Otros – August 25
A.R.T./New York Theatres, 502 West 53rd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin August 25. Opens August 31. Closes October 8. If you’re a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
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Top image: Asad Mecci and Colin Mochrie, who costar in HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis. Photo by Aaron Cobb.
RAVEN SNOOK