Off-Off-Broadway
Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
History
Ontological Theater (1992-2005)
In 1992,
Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman (born June 10, 1937 in New York City) is an American avant-garde playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater.
Achievements and awards
Foreman has written, directed and designed over fifty of his own plays, b ...
founded the Ontological Theater at St. Marks as a home for his theater company, the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. The space hosted 18 of Foreman's original works, in addition to curating works by several emerging downtown theater companies and artists, including Radiohole,
Elevator Repair Service Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.Richard Maxwell and
Young Jean Lee
Young Jean Lee is an American playwright, director, and filmmaker. She was the Artistic Director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work. She has written and directed ten shows for Yo ...
.
Incubator (2005-2010)
The theater's many emerging artists programs were restructured in 2005 by artistic directors Morgan von Prelle Pecelli and Shannon Sindelar under the umbrella "Incubator," including a residency program for premieres, two annual music festivals, a regular concert series, a serial work-in-progress program called Short Form, and various roundtables and salons.
Incubator Arts Project (2010-2014)
In 2010, Richard Foreman's theater company left the theater at St. Marks, and the theater was renamed the Incubator Arts Project, led by director-producers Sindelar and Samara Naeymi, designer Peter Ksander, production manager Brendan Regimbal, and composer Travis Just. The newly formed company received a 2010
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
grant and continued to curate a season of new emerging artists, through their New Performance Series, Short Form, Music, and an annual festival, Other Forces. Presented artists included
Banana Bag & Bodice
Banana Bag & Bodice is a Brooklyn-based ensemble theatre company that creates original plays with a strong emphasis on text, music and design. They have performed at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, PS 122, The Brick Theater, Abrons Arts Center, ...
, The Debate Society,
Daniel Fish
Daniel Fish is an American theater director based in New York City.
Early career
Daniel Fish graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in performance studies. From 1989 to 1993 he worked as the assistant director to Michael Kahn at the Sha ...
, Half Straddle, Hoi Polloi, Object Collection, Buran Theatre, Theater of a Two-Headed Calf, Vampire Cowboys, and Witness Relocation.
In early 2014, the Incubator Arts Project announced it would be closing on July 1, 2014. The former Incubator Arts space is now occupied by the offices and dance school of the New York Theater Ballet.
Notable Productions
*''The Mind King'' by Richard Foreman, January 1992. Inaugural production.
*''McGurk: A Cautionary Tale'' by
Elevator Repair Service Elevator Repair Service (ERS) is a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.
*''Shut Up I Tell You (I Said Shut Up I Tell You)'' by Elevator Repair Service, 1995.
*''The Four Twins'' by Copi, directed by Sophie Hoviland, June 1996.
*''The Train Station'' by Pavol Liska (Co-Artistic Director of Nature Theater of Oklahoma), July 1996.
*''Billings'' by Richard Maxwell, October 1997.
*''Pagaent'' by Ken Nintzel, June 2000.
*''St. Scarlet'' by
Julia Jordan
Julia Jordan is an American playwright, television writer, and screenwriter. She is a graduate of Barnard College, class of 1989, and received a master's degree from Trinity College Dublin.
Biography
Jordan was born in Chicago and spent much of h ...
, June 2003.
*''Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'' by
Young Jean Lee
Young Jean Lee is an American playwright, director, and filmmaker. She was the Artistic Director of Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, a not-for-profit theater company dedicated to producing her work. She has written and directed ten shows for Yo ...
, July 2003.
*''Panel.Animal'' by
Banana Bag & Bodice
Banana Bag & Bodice is a Brooklyn-based ensemble theatre company that creates original plays with a strong emphasis on text, music and design. They have performed at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, PS 122, The Brick Theater, Abrons Arts Center, ...
, July 2005.
*''The Sewers'' by
Banana Bag & Bodice
Banana Bag & Bodice is a Brooklyn-based ensemble theatre company that creates original plays with a strong emphasis on text, music and design. They have performed at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater, PS 122, The Brick Theater, Abrons Arts Center, ...
, July 2006.
*''Dysphoria'' by
Alec Duffy
Alec Duffy is an Obie Award winning writer and director, and the Artistic Director of Hoi Polloi and JACK, a performing arts space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Career
Duffy has written and directed several shows with his theater company, Hoi Polloi ...
(Artistic Director of Hoi Polloi and founder of JACK), August 2007.
*''Vicious Dogs on Premises'' by Witness Relocation, May 2008.
*''The Knockout Blow'' by Tina Satter, August 2008.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
winning company Half Straddle's first production.
*''Astronome: A Night at the Opera'' by Richard Foreman, March 2009. Foreman's final show at the space.
*''The less we talk'' by Hoi Polloi, April 2009.
*''Family'' by Half Straddle, August 2009.
*''Laika Dog in Space'' by The
Neo-Futurists
The Neo-Futurists are an experimental theater troupe founded by Greg Allen in 1988, based on an aesthetics of honesty, speed and brevity. Neo-Futurists in theatre were inspired by the Italian Futurist movement from the early 20th century. Origin ...
, October 2009.
*''Trifles'' by Theater of a Two-Headed Calf, January 2010.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
winning company.
*''Three Pianos'' by Rick Burkhardt,
Alec Duffy
Alec Duffy is an Obie Award winning writer and director, and the Artistic Director of Hoi Polloi and JACK, a performing arts space in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.
Career
Duffy has written and directed several shows with his theater company, Hoi Polloi ...
and
Dave Malloy
Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. They include ''Moby-Dick'', an adaptation of Herman Melville's cla ...
, February 2010.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
, Special Citation.
*''The Really Big Once'' by Target Margin, April 2010.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
winning company.
*''Buddy Cop 2'' by The Debate Society, June 2010.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
winning company.
*''The Little Death, Vol. 1'' by Matt Marks (of
Alarm Will Sound
Alarm Will Sound is a 20-member chamber orchestra that focuses on recordings and performances of contemporary classical music. Its performances have been described as "equal parts exuberance, nonchalance, and virtuosity" by the ''Financial Times' ...
), July 2010.
*''Aw Keats! Keats, Motherf***er'' by filmmaker Stiven Luka with Evan D. Watkins (performer/screenwriter), September 2010.
*''The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G'' by
Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company is an Obie Award and Caffe Cino Award winning NYC downtown theatre company first established in 2000, with a mission towards the creation and production of theatrical events based in stage combat and dark comedy wit ...
, April 2011.
*''All Hands'' by Hoi Polloi, March 2012.
*''Grimly Handsome'' by Julia Jarcho, January 2013.
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City. In September 2014, the awards were jointly presented and administered with the A ...
, Best New American Play.
*''Eternal'' by
Daniel Fish
Daniel Fish is an American theater director based in New York City.
Early career
Daniel Fish graduated from Northwestern University with a BS in performance studies. From 1989 to 1993 he worked as the assistant director to Michael Kahn at the Sha ...
, August 2013.
*''Black Wizard / Blue Wizard'' by Eliza Bent and
Dave Malloy
Dave Malloy (born January 4, 1976) is an American composer, playwright, lyricist, and actor. He has written several theatrical works, often based on classic works of literature. They include ''Moby-Dick'', an adaptation of Herman Melville's cla ...
, December 2013.
*''Magic Bullets'' by Buran Theatre, May 2014.
*''Katorga'' by OZET, June 2014. Final show in the space.