***** ANGELS IN AMERICA REVIEW – TONY KUSHNER’S FIVE-HOUR FEVER DREAM PREDICTS AND REFLECTS THE US AT 250 · Aug 16th

(Mark Fisher’s article appeared in the Guardian, 8/16/26; Visitations … Angels in America. Photograph: Golin/Edinburgh international festival.)

King’s theatre, Edinburgh
People, ideas and scenes wash over each other in Ivo van Hove’s masterly staging at the Edinburgh international festival

Could Tony Kushner’s sprawling fever-dream of a play now have come of age? It is 35 years since the two-part epic had its premiere in San Francisco when the memory of its Aids-crisis setting a few years earlier was still acute. Today, enough time has passed for us to see it in perspective: the historical moment in the mid 1980s when a new and initially untreatable virus was spreading, primarily among gay men, at the same time as reactionary conservative forces were in the ascendant under the two presidential terms of Ronald Reagan.

In an Edinburgh international festival that is asking questions of the United States in the 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence, Angels in America seems to predict and reflect the contradictory nation of today.

Subtitled A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, the five-hour play lays out a set of competing ideologies as if psychoanalysing the country: the guilt of Judaism, the forgiveness of Catholicism, the repression of Mormonism, the liberation of being out and proud, the self-hatred of being closeted, and the law-of-the-jungle individualism that stokes right-wing thought.

“America has rediscovered itself,” says Joe Pitt (Krisjan Schellingerhout), a Republican Mormon, believing that, under Reagan, his country has reclaimed a “sacred position among nations”. Such messianic idealism runs counter to reality. There is a hole in the ozone layer, points out Harper (Eefje Paddenburg), his wife, and only a particular type of sociopath, such as Joe’s idol Roy Cohn (Hans Kesting), would be proud that this is “no country for the infirm”.

Joe and Roy are symbols of a nation eating itself from the inside. Joe, because he cannot square his conservative values with being secretly gay. Roy, because he associates homosexuality with weakness: “Roy Cohn is a heterosexual man … who fucks around with guys.” The play does not mention it, but in the 70s and 80s, this real-life New York lawyer and kingmaker represented Donald Trump.

So far so polemical, but the appeal of Kushner’s play is the way it blurs into the mythic with its feverish hallucinations. Characters end up in each other’s dreams, there are visitations from horny angels, Harper treats her Valium like a passport to faraway places and even the brutish Roy is haunted by Ethel Rosenberg (Marieke Heebink), a woman condemned to death as a result of his prosecution.

It is this dreamlike quality that pervades Ivo van Hove’s masterly staging for Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, first seen in 2008 and performed here in Dutch, with English surtitles. Actors seem to appear out of nowhere on Jan Versweyveld’s edgeless set, empty but for a counter with a couple of turntables blasting out favourites by David Bowie, a musician whose stridency and vulnerability are a good match for the play. There are no doors, beds, tables or phones; just a fluid movement of people and ideas as scenes wash over each other.

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LA MAMA EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE CLUB PROUDLY PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF “ALLEGRA & THE CELLO, IN MOVEMENTS” · Aug 14th

(via Katie Rosin, Kampfire PR)

 ALLEGRA & THE CELLO, IN MOVEMENTS

A New Opera by Catherine Filloux

A HIGH HARD HEAT/ Dominick Balletta ProductionStory & Libretto by Catherine Filloux Music by Julia Schwartz | Directed by Elena Araoz

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, New York City | December 10-20, 2026

Grammy Award-Winning Soprano Brittany Renee and Cellist Legend Akua Dixon Star in a 400-Year First: The First Woman Doctor as Lead Character in the Opera Canon

NEW YORK, August 14, 2026: La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club proudly presents the world premiere of Allegra & the Cello, in Movements, a new opera with story and libretto by Catherine Filloux and music by Julia Schwartz, directed by Elena Araoz. A High Hard Heat/Dominick Balletta production, this new opera runs December 10-20, 2026, at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City. Tickets are on sale at lamama.org.

In a canon spanning more than four centuries, no opera has ever placed a woman doctor at its center until now. Allegra, the opera’s protagonist, is believed to be the first female physician to serve as the lead character in the history of the art form, a milestone achieved not through an institutional commission but through an act of artistic will.

Filloux, an established playwright and librettist whose career spans three decades of work centered on human rights, women’s voices, and the capacity of art to bear witness, conceived and developed the opera entirely on her own initiative, outside the traditional commission system. Her previous opera, Orlando (libretto by Filloux, music by Olga Neuwirth), made history as the first opera by a woman composer and woman librettist ever staged at the Vienna Staatsoper and went on to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition.

“I couldn’t wait for permission,” says Filloux. “If I had, it wouldn’t have happened at all. I created Allegra for a soprano star and a cellist star, a role for a woman in her 30s to 50s, of any ethnicity, because I believe this story needed to exist in the world, and it was mine to make.”

GRAMMY Award winner Brittany Renee, currently performing the role of Bess in Porgy & Bess at the Metropolitan Opera, takes on the title role of Allegra. Alongside her, acclaimed cellist Akua Dixon accompanies the 70-minute work. Dixon is the first cellist to win the DownBeat Critics Poll and the recipient of the 2025 Jazz Legacy Award, bringing a singular voice to the score.

Director Elena Araoz leads the creative team, which includes Tony Award-winning set and lighting designer Justin Townsend, Slumdog Millionaire costume designer Suttirat Larlarb, and projection designer Milton Cordero. Casting is by Jamibeth Margolis CSA. This world premiere is presented by La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, a High Hard Heat (Dominick Balletta) production. Katie Rosin and Erin Kramer as Press Representatives; Social Media by Daniel Rosen.

La MaMa is one of Filloux’s artistic homes, where her last four productions have premiered, including works directed by Araoz, a collaboration that deepens with this new opera. The production is designed to travel: French and Spanish translations are in development, with further productions planned for international markets.

“Catherine Filloux’s plays are more than just stories; they’re catalysts; they aim to send you forth from the theater not just satisfied and thinking but to make change in the world.” — Matt Barbot, Immigrant Report

“Opera Against the Patriarchy.” — Alex Ross, The New Yorker (on Orlando, Vienna State Opera)

“The man who invented the word genocide, Raphael Lemkin, turns out to have an unsettled afterlife in the compelling drama by Catherine Filloux… A call to action.” — Neil Genzlinger, The New York Times (on Lemkin’s House)

Allegra & the Cello, in Movements, plays the following schedule through Sunday, December 20, 2026:

Thurs Dec 10th – 7:30pm
Friday Dec 11th – 7:30pm
Saturday Dec 12th – 6pm
Sunday Dec 13th – 3pm
Thurs Dec 17th – 7:30pm
Fri Dec 18th – 7:30pm
Sat Dec 19th – 6pm
Sun Dec 20th – 3pm

Tickets are $30 (general admission), $25 student/senior, with La MaMa’s standard 10 tickets for $10 available to each performance. La MaMa’s The Club, 74a East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003. lamama.o
Running time: 70 minutes, no intermission.

Website: CatherineFilloux.com

BIOGRAPHIES

CATHERINE FILLOUX (Story and Libretto) is an award-winning French-Algerian-American playwright and librettist who has been writing about human rights for many decades. Filloux’s 40 plays and libretti have been produced in the U.S. and internationally, and are widely published, anthologized, and written about. Catherine is the librettist for four produced operas: New Arrivals (Houston Grand Opera, composer John Glover); Where Elephants Weep (Chenla Theatre, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, composer Him Sophy) Cambodian national TV and Broadway on Demand; The Floating Box (Asia Society, NYC, composer Jason Kao Hwang) New World Records; co-librettist with composer Olga Neuwirth for Orlando, Vienna State Opera, Grawemeyer Award winner, Komische Opera Berlin. Filloux’s new musical Welcome to the Big Dipper (composer Jimmy Roberts, co-bookwriter John Daggett) appeared Off-Broadway at the York Theatre, cast recording by StarVista Music, 2027 season, ACTORS Inc., Ames, Iowa. Catherine’s new epistolary play Third Person premiered at CultureHub in New York City, and her new play Olivia is part of her recent call to action, the first in Filloux’s trilogy about the climate crisis; the other two plays are Medusa and Deep Time. Filloux has traveled to conflict areas for her plays, including Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Northern Ireland, Sudan, and South Sudan. She received her French Baccalaureate in Philosophy with Honors in Toulon, France www.catherinefilloux.com

JULIA SCHWARTZ (Music) is a composer, conductor, and soprano born in Columbus, Ohio, who grew up in a musical family; her father, Paul Schwartz, founded the music department at Kenyon College. After graduating from the Oberlin College Conservatory with a bachelor’s degree in voice, she continued her studies in voice and music theory in Munich and Zurich. She composes pieces of music theater, choral and orchestral works, vocal and instrumental chamber music, art songs, and works for solo instruments. Her works have been performed in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Bolivia, and the U.S. Several of her works have been published by German music publishing houses: Carus, Furoer, and Certosa. Julia is active as a choral conductor and currently directs the Neuwerkchor and the Chorellen in Constance, Germany and BLECH in Bischofszell, Switzerland. She participated in continuing education programs in choral and orchestral conducting at the Zurich University of the Arts for several years. The latter included intensive rehearsal weeks and performances with orchestras in Bulgaria. She is a board member of musica femina münchen and participates in the Forum für vokale Vielfalt. She teaches voice privately and lives in Frauenfeld, Switzerland www.juliaschwartz.ch

ELENA ARAOZ (Director) is a stage director of theater, opera, multi-media performance, and large-scale immersive theatrical events, working internationally, Off-Broadway, and across the country. Elena is attracted to epic stories, and her productions are known for huge dance-like theatrics and acutely naturalistic acting. The New York Times has praised Araoz’s productions as “form-busting and gorgeous,” “striking,” “primal,” “wild,” “stirring,” and “refreshingly natural” The Boston Globe as “riveting,” “dreamy,” and “vivid,” and The New Yorker as “refreshing.

ABOUT LA MAMA
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is dedicated to the artist and all aspects of the theatre. La MaMa’s 65th Season, ONENESS, focuses on creating solidarity and community, exploring ways to build connections for cross-sector coalition and invites artists, activists, organizers and community members into the creative process. We build audiences that are integral to the creative process. Our local and global community members who gather in our physical, digital, and hybrid spaces to see new work are often the first audience for that work. La MaMa believes art is a force for change.

La MaMa has been honored with 30+ Obie Awards, dozens of Drama Desk, Bessie Awards, Villager Awards, the 2018 Regional Theatre Tony Award, and most recently a 2023 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Special Citation. We are a creative home to artists and resident companies from around the world, many of whom have made lasting contributions to the arts, including Blue Man Group, Bette Midler, Ping Chong, Jackie Curtis, Robert De Niro, André De Shields, Adrienne Kennedy, Cole Escola, Bridget Everett, Harvey Fierstein, Diane Lane, Charlotte Brathwaite, Charles Ludlam, Haruna Lee, Tom Eyen, Spiderwoman Theater, Tadeusz Kantor, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, Meredith Monk, David and Amy Sedaris, Stephanie Hsu, Julie Taymor, Kazuo Ohno, Tom O’Horgan, Heather Christian, Andrei Serban, Liz Swados, and Andy Warhol. La MaMa’s vision of nurturing new artists and new work from all nations, cultures, races and identities remains as strong today as it was when Ellen Stewart first opened the doors in 1961.

For more info, visit: lamama.org.

LISTINGS INFORMATION:
WHAT: Allegra & the Cello, in Movements
WHERE: The Club at La MaMa ETC | 74a East 4th Street, New York, NY 10003
WHEN: Opening: December 2026
HOW: Tickets on sale at lamama.org
Running Time: 70 minutes

CHINA’S NEW ‘ETHNIC UNITY’ LAW LOOMS OVER CLOSED-DOOR TRIAL OF KAZAKH WRITER · Aug 14th

(Zamira Eshanova’s article appeared on Radio Free Europe, 8/14/26. Photo: Zhengis Reskhan (left) with members of his family in an undated handout photo.)

After months of uncertainty, the family of prominent ethnic Kazakh writer and satirist Zhengis Reskhan has learned that he faces a closed-door trial in China and could spend a decade in prison.

Reskhan has been detained since March 19 following months of police interrogations. Until now, his family had received no official confirmation of where he was being held and had no contact with him.

Reskhan’s family says Chinese police had previously accused him of having “extremist” ideas, an allegation conveyed to them verbally. He is now accused of “undermining ethnic unity,” according to his son, Nartai Zhengis.

Nartai said his father’s trial is scheduled for August 15 and will be held in secret. He told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service that his father’s lawyer informed the family that “no one will be allowed to attend the trial.”

Reskhan’s wife, Nartai’s mother, will also be barred from the proceedings, he said, adding that the lawyer told him that once the court issues its verdict “the only information that might be made public would be something like: ‘He was sentenced to this many years in prison.’”

Family Seeks Answers After Prominent Kazakh Writer Disappears In Xinjiang

The family has been told that Reskhan could face up to 10 years’ imprisonment if convicted.

Nartai said the “undermining ethnic unity” allegation had been added to the earlier accusation that his father was guilty of “extremist thought.”

The family has not seen an indictment or other court documents identifying the legal basis for the accusation.

A Test Case?

The charge comes shortly after China’s Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress took effect on July 1. Adopted by the National People’s Congress in March, the controversial measure establishes a broad legal framework for interethnic relations and includes provisions concerning conduct deemed to undermine ethnic unity.

Whether the allegation against Reskhan is being brought under the new law remains unclear.

If the case falls under this legislation, it could provide an early indication of how the law is being applied to ethnic minority defendants.

Fears Mount In Kazakhstan As Beijing’s ‘Ethnic Unity Law’ Looms Across The Border

Beijing says its provisions will “strengthen the rule of law” and “better protect” the rights of China’s 56 officially recognized ethnic groups. The measure, however, has drawn criticism from advocacy organizations, UN experts, the European Union, and Western governments over concerns that it could further restrict minority rights and extend Beijing’s ethnic policies beyond China’s borders.

UN experts warned in April that the statute risked entrenching “a uniform approach to ethnic relations across all regions,” while Human Rights Watch and the European Parliamenthave called for its repeal. Beijing has rejected international criticism of the legislation as a “malicious smear” and interference in China’s internal affairs.

Separately, Amnesty International issued a call on July 14 calling for Reskhan’s immediate release unless Chinese authorities can provide “sufficient credible and admissible evidence” that he committed an internationally recognized criminal offense.

‘Unlawful From The Very Beginning’

Chinese authorities have remained tight-lipped about Reskhan’s case, including the legal basis for the allegations against him.

“We have received no response whatsoever from the Chinese side,” his son said.

As a Kazakh citizen living in Kazakhstan, Nartai has appealed to Astana to intervene — a sensitive issue for a government that has long balanced concerns over the treatment of ethnic Kazakhs in China with close political and economic ties to Beijing.

According to Nartai, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry told him that his father is a Chinese citizen and that the case falls under Beijing’s jurisdiction. The ministry advised the family to seek assistance from the relevant Chinese authorities, he said.

(Read more)

 

“PHYL” STARTS 10/3 AT MINT THEATRE–WITH STEREOPHONICS’ LILY GANSER TO PLAY PHYLLIS “PHYL” · Aug 13th

(via Joe Trentacosta,  JT Public Relations.)

MINT THEATER COMPANY’S NEW YORK PREMIERE OF 

PHYL 

BY CECILY HAMILTON; Directed by BRITT BERKE

Launching its LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX season 

Featuring 

Stereophonic’s Lily Ganser will play Phyllis “Phyl” Chester in Mint Theaters’s PHYL, joining Tessa Blimes (Film: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend), Jennifer Blood (Broadway: Girl From the North Country), Curzon Dobell (Mint’s  A Little Journey and Susan and God), Katie Firth (Off-Broadway: The Hiding Place), Livvy Marcus (National Tour: Suffs;), Anthony Michael Martinez (Off-Broadway: Titus Andronicus), Talia Sulla (Off-Broadway: A Perfect Peace), Charlotte Van Ledtje (Lincoln Center’s  Zelda) for the upcomning production beginning Octopber 3.

Performances begin October 3, 2026

Opening Night is  Oct 22, 2026

At Theatre Row

New York, NY — Mint Theater Company (Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director; Matthew McVey-Lee, Producing Director) has announced the complete cast and creative team for the New York premiere of PHYL, a rarely seen comedy by pioneering British playwright and suffragist Cecily Hamilton, directed by Britt Berke.  Performances begin October 3 through November 7, 2026 and will open on October 22nd at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street. 

PHYL follows Phyllis Chester, a governess trapped in a solitary existence and walled off from the life she craves—until a moment of lost temper leads her to risk everything.

The play launches Mint Theater Company’s new season, featuring two frank, provocative, and deeply human works exploring sex, love, marriage, and the complexities of relationships.  Originally scheduled to premiere in Oxford, PHYL was banned by the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, although it had passed the scrutiny of the Lord Chamberlain without requiring the alteration of a single line. The play instead premiered in Manchester, where one disapproving critic described Phyl as “slaking thirsty lips in the voluptuous pleasure of life.” When Hamilton was asked how she described the play, she replied, “Well, I call it a comedy because it has a happy ending, and I hope somebody is funny in it.” The season will continue in February 2027 with Miles Malleson’s THE FANATICS, directed by Davis McCallum.

“Cecily Hamilton created a wonderfully surprising heroine in Phyl—a woman determined to break through the walls that have been built around her,” said Mint Theater Company Artistic Director Jonathan Bank. “Britt Berke has assembled an extraordinary company of actors and designers who understand the play’s humor, emotional honesty, and quietly radical spirit. We are thrilled to introduce New York audiences to this remarkable play with a cast and creative team so perfectly suited to bringing Hamilton’s world to life.”

The cast of PHYL features Lily Ganser (Broadway: Stereophonic) as Phyllis “Phyl” Chester, making her Off-Broadway debut with Tessa Blimes (Film: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend), Jennifer Blood (Broadway: Girl From the North Country), Curzon Dobell (Mint’s  A Little Journey and Susan and God), Katie Firth (Off-Broadway: The Hiding Place), Livvy Marcus (National Tour: Suffs;), Anthony Michael Martinez (Off-Broadway: Titus Andronicus), Talia Sulla (Off-Broadway: A Perfect Peace), Charlotte Van Ledtje (Lincoln Center’s  Zelda). 

The creative team for PHYL includes Brittany Vasta (Scenic Design), Alicia J. Austin (Costume Design), Mary Louise Geiger (Lighting Design), Jane Shaw (Sound Design), Chris Fields (Properties), Amy Stoller (Dramaturgy and Dialect Design), Stephanie Klapper, CSA (Casting Director), Mitch Strong (Production Manager), Jeff Meyers (Production Stage Manager), Matthew McVey-Lee is Producing Director, and Jonathan Bank is Artistic Director.

Director Britt Berke returns to Mint Theater Company following her production of Zack and Betty Smith’s Becomes a Woman. The latter marked Berke’s Off-Broadway directorial debut and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

Berke’s additional credits include projects with New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Mabou Mines, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Origin Theatre Company. She is a member of the Roundabout Directors Group and an alumna of the Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellowship. She received the Kenneth Janes Prize for Outstanding Intellectual and Artistic Achievement from Barnard College of Columbia University and is an associate member of SDC.

PHYL begins performances on October 3, 2026, at Theatre Row, located at 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. Opening night is October 22, 2026 and performances will continue through November 7, 2026.

Tickets begin at $39 and may be purchased online at MintTheater.org, by calling 212-714-2442, extension 2, or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office, Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Service fees apply to online and telephone orders.

Theatre Row is a fully accessible venue. Accessible restrooms and elevator service to all floors are available, and assisted-listening devices are offered.

This season is dedicated to the memory of Mint Theater Company’s beloved friend and longtime press agent David Gersten.

ABOUT CECILY HAMILTON

Cecily Hamilton (1872–1952) was an influential British playwright, novelist, journalist, actress, and advocate for women’s rights.

Hamilton was a member of the Women Writers’ Suffrage League, a founding member of the Actresses’ Franchise League, and one of the first members of the Scottish Women’s Hospital Committee.

During World War I, she helped establish an auxiliary hospital in France, where she nursed wounded soldiers. She later joined the Women’s Auxiliary Corps and was assigned to a postal unit before forming a repertory company that performed for Allied soldiers on the Western Front.

Hamilton’s works include Diana of Dobson’s, which Mint Theater Company produced to critical acclaim in 2001; the suffrage plays How the Vote Was Won and A Pageant of Great Women; the influential book Marriage as a Trade; and her autobiography, Life Errant.

ABOUT MINT THEATER COMPANY

Mint Theater Company has carved out a unique place in the New York theater community through its dedication to rediscovering lost and neglected plays.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Bank since 1995, Mint has produced more than 60 overlooked works, earning critical acclaim as well as special Obie and Drama Desk Awards.

Mint also publishes plays through its anthologies and “Reclaimed” series and offers free streaming presentations of past productions. Since 2020, more than 30,000 viewers from all 50 states and 50 countries have watched Mint productions online, logging more than 60,000 hours of viewing.

HOLLYWOOD ENCORE: HOW ‘PRO-SHOT’ BROADWAY SHOWS BECAME A MAJOR DRAW ON THE BIG SCREEN · Aug 13th

(Jesse Hassenger’s article appeared in the Guardian, 8/13/2026; A still from Hadestown: The Musical. Photograph: LD Entertainment.)

Filmed versions of hit shows such as Hadestown, Hamilton and SIX have been transformed into cinematic events for those without hundreds to spend on tickets

It’s long been a source of frustration for theater fanatics: many Broadway shows, even those that don’t become years-long fixtures of the Great White Way, are professionally filmed, but often only for archival purposes, not public consumption. For years, those living outside of the greater New York City area unwilling to make an expensive trip of seeing a particular show were limited to the hierarchy of a touring company, a local production, or maybe, some years later for a particularly notable show, an airing of a filmed version on PBS. If all else fails, they could hope for an inevitably disappointing film version that failed to recapture the onstage magic. Starting in 2005, there were also occasional Fathom Events presentations of filmed stage shows, typically made available for one or two nights at a time, at premium prices (and looking more like ultra-big TV than polished cinema, at least at first).

Lately, though, so-called “pro-shot” movies – those filmed versions that used to pop up on public television’s American Playhouse or Great Performances series, as with the 1989 version of Into the Woods, aired two years after shooting but decades before Disney got around to making its Meryl Streep version – have been elbowing their way to the front of the line as a Broadway alternative. The highest-profile pro-shot so far has been Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash Hamilton, intended to debut on the big screen but thrown to Disney+ during the pandemic-inspired yearlong break from wide theatrical releases. No surprise that the sudden ability to watch the original cast perform the most talked-about Broadway show in years from the comfort of the couch became an at-home event.

It was a bit surprising, though, that five years later, Disney put Hamilton in movie theaters anyway – and that it cleaned up at the box office, despite or maybe because of how many fans already knew the show from a streaming service. By then, Hamilton was a pop-culture phenomenon featuring many now-familiar faces, inspiring fans attending at least one Manhattan theater to dress in costume for its opening night at the cinema (so, between Off-Broadway, Broadway, post-pandemic Broadway, and Disney+, at least its fifth opening night overall). Obviously that particular masterpiece draws particularly fanatical devotion.

(Read more)

***** B​UGGERS REVIEW – PHENOMENAL FLESH AND BLOOD PORTRAIT OF FRANCIS BACON AND GEORGE DYER · Aug 12th

Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh
The painter and his lover are played with real intensity by Alistair Hall and Peter Clements, in a visceral psychodrama of contained violence and sadness

The famously fraught relationship between the artist Francis Bacon and his lover-muse, George Dyer, has been much documented. So it is remarkable that this play by Alistair Hall makes the story so utterly fresh and arresting. Hall has drawn on documents and letters from the Francis Bacon estate, but if Buggers is anchored in research, it leads with physicality, charged with eroticism and contained violence.

Hall plays Bacon, and Peter Clements portrays Dyer, with absolute conviction. Clements’ performance as an initially swaggering man, who Bacon airily describes as his “delicious piece of rough trade” and who over the years succumbs to alcoholism, is especially astute and vulnerable.

​The play begins in 1963 with a wordless sequence that shows their first night together, drawn somewhere between a wrestling match and an act of passion. The choreography retains its visceral threat throughout (great work by movement director Ken Nakajima). They could be Pinter’s men as they circle one another barefoot on Rosie Elnile’s set, which is somewhere between a Bohemian apartment and a wet-room, complete with toilet and tub.Beautifully directed by Alice Wordsworth, the two-hander proceeds to capture the full span of their intense, complicated love – a melange of eroticism, sadomasochistic power-play and cruelty – from this first charged night to Dyer’s death in a Paris hotel room in 1971.​

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JEAN COCTEAU’S SCANDALOUS NOVELLA LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES–WORLD PREMIERE THEATRICAL ADAPTATION BY MICHAEL GARDNER AT EAST VILLAGE BASEMENT SEPT 10 – OCT 4 · Aug 11th

(via David Gibbs, DARR Publicity; photo: by Travis Emery Hackett – Maysie Jane Kilgore & Caroline DeFazio.)

CRAWL SPACE PLAYS TO PRESENT MICHAEL GARDNER’S WORLD PREMIERE THEATRICAL ADAPTATION OF JEAN COCTEAU’S SCANDALOUS NOVELLA,  LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES,
DIRECTED BY GARDNER, AT EAST VILLAGE BASEMENT IN NYC,
SEPTEMBER 10 – OCTOBER 4

New York, NY – Crawl Space Plays presents Michael Gardner’s world premiere theatrical adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s scandalous novella, Les Enfants Terribles, directed by Gardner, running September 10 – October 4, 2026 for 21 performances in a limited engagement at East Village Basement, located at 321 East 9th Street in New York City. Opening night is September 12 at 7pm.

Paul and Elisabeth, two emotionally-sheltered teenage siblings, seclude themselves in a spiritual fiction of their own creation. A fantasy organized by rules and rituals only children understand. As they vie for dominance, the “enfants” play cruel games amongst themselves and upon their adoring companions, Gerard and Agatha. Reality creeps in, fantasies spin out and the borders of their worlds collapse. Is tragedy inevitable? And divine?

Michael Gardner says, “Jean Cocteau’s novella, Les Enfants Terribles, feels like one of those subversive secrets you discover at some point in your reading life. It guts and delights you and breaks all the rules in a way you thought was not allowed. Sexy and verboten, heartbreaking and wrong. It reminds you of a time in your youth when playtime was more real than reality. And playtime had just as many rules. The book cries out for theatricality, describing the children’s “room” as the set of a stage drama upon which they all play. I’ve been longing to create a literalization of their “play” for years. And the themes of cruelty, persecution and mythomania couldn’t be more timely.”

“A child plays at horses and becomes a horse. A mythomaniac reads Les Enfants Terribles. He plays at horses and thinks he is a horse.” – Jean Cocteau (from his autobiography The Difficulty of Being)

The cast includes Caroline (Lina) DeFazio, Victor Gao, Maysie Jane Kilgore and Rutger Scott.

Hannah Kunce is Intimacy Director and Bethany Qian is Production Stage Manager.

Performances are Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Run time is approximately 100 minutes. Ages 18+. Tickets are $25 and $15 for students. To purchase tickets and for more info visit https://www.enfantsplay.com.

Michael Gardner (https://www.michaelgardnerdirects.com) is a playmaker and filmmaker and the proprietor of Crawl Space Plays, LLC. He is a Founder and former Artistic Director of The Brick Theater (2002 to 2019). Recent film projects (written & directed) include I Watch Buildings and kintsugi: a VR theatre experience. Directorial works for stage include Breakfast at Blooms (segments), Brandywine Distillery Fire (2015 NYITA nominee “Outstanding Performance Art Production”), Notes from Underground and Vaclav Havel’s Mountain Hotel (English Language premiere). Adapted and directed: The Ninja Cherry Orchard, The Kung Fu Importance of Being Earnest, Memoirs of My Nervous Illness and In a Strange Room (Top Ten Plays, 2004—Time Out NY).

Crawl Space Plays, LLC is a production company, a venue and place for developing experimental and non-traditional artworks. Performance, film, VR and other arts are presented at their BedStuy studio, crawlspace, and in other traditional and non-traditional theater spaces. The company was born during the pandemic, and is not currently divided into seasons. Les Enfants Terribles will be the fourth production produced by the company, following Breakfast at Blooms (an adaptation of Molly’s chapter from James Joyce’s Ulysses), ghost light: a VR theatre experience, and enfants (a workshop precursor to Les Enfants Terribles).

ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER URGES BROADWAY COMMUNITY TO ADDRESS ‘UNSUSTAINABLE’ COST OF LIVE THEATER · Aug 11th

(JD Knapp’s article appeared on The Wrap. 8/8. Andrew Lloyd Webber attends the West End Opening Night of “Evita” at the London Palladium on July 1, 2025. (Simon Ackerman/Getty Images.)

“I’m gutted that the wonderful Broadway production of ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ is closing today,” the Tony winner says

Andrew Lloyd Webber mourned the premature closing of “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” on Saturday, while urging his fellow members of the Broadway community to get real about the current state of live theater.

“I’m gutted that the wonderful Broadway production of ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’ is closing today,” he wrote on Instagram. “I’m immensely proud to have been a part of an incredibly daring production whose cast and creative team broke new ground on Broadway and gave 17 actors their Broadway debut.”

“Maybe the show’s closing just might be remembered as the moment that caused everyone involved with Broadway to come to their senses and address the unsustainable cost of producing and running any new show on The Great White Way, let alone daring new work,” Webber continued. “My undying thanks to the producers and investors and everyone who believed in Jellicle Cats. I won’t forget you.”

The ballroom culture-inspired revival first opened Off-Broadway in June 2024 and was twice extended before eventually transferring to the Broadhurst Theatre in April. It then won three Tonys at the 2026 Tony Awards in June, out of nine nominations — Zhailon Levingston and Bill Rauch for Best Direction of a Musical, Qween Jean for Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles for Best Choreography.

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FRIGID NEW YORK ANNOUNCES PROGRAMMING FOR 2026-27 SEASON · Aug 10th

(via Emily Owens.)
FRIGID New York announces the lineup of programming for their 29th season including the 5th annual Days of the Dead Festival, the 14th annual Gotham Storytelling Festival, the 18th Annual The Fire This Time Festival, and the 19th Annual New York City Fringe Festival (formerly FRIGID Fringe Festival). All programming takes place at UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009), unless otherwise noted. Most performances will also be available to live stream from home. For further information on FRIGID New York and to purchase tickets to any of their upcoming events, please visit www.frigid.nyc. 
This season also sees long-time FRIGID staff and collaborator Jimmy Lovett stepping back from their role as Resident Artistic Director, though they will continue to curate the annual Queerly Festival and hope to find new collaborations with FRIGID going forward.
Festivals & Productions 
Iris Bahr’s Neurotica Fest 
September 10-13
Launched in 2025 by multiple award-winning actor, writer, director and solo performer Iris Bahr (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hacks, Stories from the Brink!) Neurotica Fest is a four day festival showcasing storytellers and stand-up comedians offering fresh perspectives, fascinating life stories, and compelling narratives. The festival will also feature an evening of short films and a special in-conversation event with bestselling author Kurt Andersen.  
Days of the Dead Festival 
October 16-November 1 
Celebrate Día de los Muertos and Halloween with FRIGID New York at the Days of the Dead Festival curated by FRIGID New York’s Resident Artistic Director Martha Lorena Preve in collaboration with Something from Abroad theater company members. A celebration of life and death, Days of the Dead is a festival inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos. During this time of year the dead return to earth to spend time with their families and enjoy their favorite things. It can be cheerful, sad, nostalgic, ritualistic and mysterious. It’s all about the family and the community. The festival will be offering shows that have death and the afterlife as a theme as well as Halloween themed plays. We welcome everyone regardless of their cultural background or religious beliefs to celebrate our muertos together.

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SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION, SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 (BROOKLYN) · Aug 9th

(via Ron Lasko, Spin Cycle.)

SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW:
AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION
Saturday, August 15 in Brooklyn
* Honoring the 100th Birthday of company co-founder Gloria Miguel *

 
Spiderwoman Theater — the oldest, continually running, Native feminist theater company in the Americas — will celebrate its 50th Anniversary with SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION on Saturday, August 15. This family-friendly afternoon of art, culture, heritage and neighborhood unity will be held on DeGraw Street between Court and Smith Streets on the border of historic Carroll Gardens and Cobble Hill (easily accessible from the F & G lines at Carroll Street Station) from 1pm – 5pm. It is free and open to the public, no reservations required. For more information visit www.spiderwomantheater.org.
 
In the 1930’s, 40’s and 50’s, Boerum Hill, Red Hook, and Cobble Hill were home to a vibrant Native community: Mohawks from Kahnewake, who built New York’s bridges and skyscrapers, and the Western tribes, all found freedom in NYC to practice their songs, dances, and ceremonies in the community where founding members of Spiderwoman Theater, the Miguel sisters, were born and grew up. Now, the Miguels will open up their childhood block for SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION, a look back at the history of the community and the neighborhood where Spiderwoman was born… and Gloria, the eldest Spiderwoman, will be féted as she marks her 100th birthday.
 
On August 15, in the heart of Brooklyn, SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION will be a sea of color with Indigenous dancers, drummers and singers. Newly announced performers include: drummers Wicozani (from CT); The Tonepahhote Dancers, Joe Cross, Alyssa Mosely and Jamie John; the soulful storytelling and shimmering vocal blend of Ms. Josephine and David Terhune with vocalists Jayden Avery Love and ISA; and Aanmitaagzi (Penny Couchie, Sid Bobb and Ouske Couchie-Bobb) from Nipissing First Nation with dancers from their Summer Arts Program. Previously announced performers include the NYC drum, SilverCloud Singers; and MC Louis Mofsie of the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers. In addition to neighborhood vendors and speakers, there will also be screened excerpts of Spiderwoman’s work and on Spiderwoman’s stoop, an excerpt of “Tipi Tales from the Stoop,” Murielle Borst-Tarrant’s one woman show. This event is curated by Josephine Tarrant.
 
SPIDERWOMAN THEATER’S BLOCK PARTY POW WOW: AN INDIGENOUS CELEBRATION kicks off a year-long celebration that will continue in Autumn of 2026 as Spiderwoman Theater takes over La MaMa’s main East 4th Street location for two weeks, highlighting Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island and the world for a unique mixture of performances, workshops and a visual arts exhibit that will be open to the public.
 
SPIDERWOMAN THEATER is the oldest, continually running, Native feminist theater company in the Americas and is situated in the NYC Indigenous and arts communities. Activism, self- determination and storytelling are at the core of Spiderwoman’s programming and is rooted in an urban Indigenous sensibility. Live theater performance and production are the vehicles by which those core principles and values are shared with our communities and audiences. Since 1976, our body of work has addressed critical cultural, social and political issues in the Indigenous and women’s communities. Our work is informed by traditional artistic expression, teachings and values which bridge traditional cultural practice and Western theater sensibilities. The practice of creating our theater is “storyweaving”, where personal and traditional stories are layered with movement, text, sound, music and visual images. This weaving of stories is the foundation upon which we build Spiderwoman productions and a framework for our training and outreach activities. www.spiderwomantheater.org

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