59E59 Theaters is a curated rental venue located in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

that consists of three theater spaces or stages. It shows both off-Broadway (in Theater A) and

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 pro ...

plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation.

History

The Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation was established by Founding Artistic Director, Elysabeth Kleinhans to create a new theater complex in East Midtown Manhattan. In 2002, the building at 59 East 59th Street was donated to the Foundation. The building was then gut renovated, creating three new theaters, Theater A, Theater B, and Theater C, designed by architect, Leo Modrcin. Under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Elysabeth Kleinhans and Executive Producer Peter Tear, 59E59 Theaters opened its inaugural season in February 2004 with a production of The Stendhal Syndrome produced by then resident company, Primary Stages, in the largest of its three spaces, Theater A. Shortly following, in April 2004, the other two spaces, Theater B and Theater C opened their doors with productions of Sun Is Shining, by the ground breaking British-Chinese Mu Lan Theatre Company, and My Arm, Tim Crouch's critically-acclaimed hour-long solo show from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, during the Theaters' first annual Brits Off Broadway—a season dedicated to premiering new work by Off Broadway-style UK companies. Since 2004, the theaters have been continuously occupied with shows running from three to seven weeks. In 2017, Elysabeth Kleinhans and Peter Tear stepped down from their roles, and Val Day, a longtime agent with William Morris and ICM, was appointed as Artistic Director. With the addition of a new Artistic Director, 59E59 Theaters moved to the final phase of transitioning from the founding team to a traditional theater management structure, begun in 2012 with the appointment of Brian Beirne as Managing Director.

Recognition

In 2008, 59E59 Theaters was awarded a Drama Desk Award for Excellence in Theater.

Brits Off Broadway Season

Brits Off Broadway is an annual Season showcasing work from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The Season usually takes place during the months of April, May, and June and comprises between 6 and 8 productions across the three theater spaces. In 2006, Charles Isherwood of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' hailed the festival as "a highlight of the theatrical year in New York." Past seasons have seen work by

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2:1 BSc Hons. He then ...

(''

One Man, Two Guvnors ''One Man, Two Guvnors'' is a play by Richard Bean, an English adaptation of ''Servant of Two Masters'' ( it, Il servitore di due padroni), a 1743 Commedia dell'arte style comedy play by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni. The play replaces ...

'') and Alan Ayckbourn (''

The Norman Conquests ''The Norman Conquests'' is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house. ''Table Manners'' is set in the dining room, ''Living Toget ...

'', '' Bedroom Farce'') amongst other notable British playwrights. 59E59 also hosts an annual festival called East to Edinburgh, a preview of new plays going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from North America.

References

External links

59E59 Website

Primary Stages Website
* Theatres in Manhattan Non-profit organizations based in New York City Off-Broadway theaters 59th Street (Manhattan) {{Manhattan-struct-stub