TDF Stages Archive

By MARK BLANKENSHIP They may be the most indelible images in Superior Donuts: Arthur, the ex-hippie who runs the titular doughnut shop, steps out of the action and delivers monologues about his family, his feelings, and his criminal past. While he speaks, Franco, his brash young employee, moves silently in the background, unaware his boss […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP When is it time to stop talking about your performance and just start performing? That’s a question every actor has to answer, but for the cast of Vigil, a dark comedy currently running at Off Broadway’s DR2 Theatre, it has proven especially relevant. Both actors have unusual roles that demand a careful […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP When he took over as artistic director of Ars Nova, Jason Eagan was against the idea of a theatre festival. Until he founded one he liked. Now in its second season, Ars Nova’s ANT FEST has quickly become a stand-out in the New York scene, both because of its adventurous programming and […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP After Miss Juliehasn’t changed that much since Patrick Marber wrote it in the mid-nineties, but now he sees it as a completely different play. An adaptation of August Strindberg’s classic drama Miss Julie, Marber’s piece follows a wealthy young British woman who twists in a sexual and psychological web with one of […]

You can’t get better than free, and New York City is taking part in the national Free Night of Theatre program. Sponsored in part by Theatre Development Fund,Free Night NYC (http://www.freenightoftheater.net/index.cfm) actually runs through the end of October, giving patrons the chance to book free tickets to a host of Off and Off-Off Broadway shows. […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP Memphisis a feel-good musical, but there’s still a scene where a character gets hit in the face with a bat. For every peppy song, there’s a moment of violence, of families facing hard times, or of lovers wondering if they’ll make it through the night. Now in previews at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP Welcome to Building Character, TDF’s ongoing series about actors and how they create their roles. Today, we’re speaking with Bye Bye Birdie’s Jayne Houdyshell. — Playing Mae Peterson might seem like a no-brainer. After all, she’s the classic meddling mother, and as she barrels through the musical Bye Bye Birdie, sending her […]

By ERIC GRODE In Hollywood, the announcement of two very similar projects more or less amounts to an obituary for one of them. But two off-Broadway companies with two very specific demographics have forged a curious alliance, each using its own talent pool and viewpoint to approach Frederick Douglass through a different lens. On the […]

By MARK BLANKENSHIP Lots of productions schedule a talkback or two, but Epic Theatre Ensemble is especially committed to making its latest show a learning experience. Every performance of Mahida’s Extra Key to Heaven, Russell Davis’ play about Iranians and Americans colliding in a small town, is followed by a post-show discussion of the incendiary […]