Openings and Closings

It's looking as though April and May are going to be super-busy months for the theatre world (at least, for me and most folks I know on the scene).

As we begin rehearsals for Colorful World, I wanted to take some time to point out some shows of note that are both coming our way in the Rotten Apple and going up to the Great Production in the Sky.

Nunchuck Ninja Nuns. For her onstage writing debut, Lauren Cavanaugh has created a funny and oddball collection of loosely-connected sketches and one-acts about faith (or the lack thereof), spirituality and morality. Sort of. You really should see for yourself.

There are some scenes in particular here that show such unfiltered craziness and silliness - such as a bunch of white chick rappers, a "performance artist" smearing chocolate sauce and eggs into her hair at a poetry slam for shitty poets, and of course, some dance pieces featuring nunchuck-wielding nuns - that it reminded me how fun and refreshing it is to see unfiltered/uncensored creativity (read: barely restrained madness) coming from a new/young playwright.

Anyway, Nunchuck Ninja Nuns, playing at the 13th Street Repertory Theater, is a good deal of fun. It closes this weekend, so get your tickets soon.

Also closing relatively soon is Working Man's Clothes Productions' 37 Stones, a play about a man who not only has problems with women, sex, and intimacy, but with (according to the press notes) "a love/hate relationship with [his] dick." I see. Written by Mark Charney and directed by Will Neuman. It plays until April 26 at the Looking Glass. Get your tickets here.

When Is A Clock? Matthew Freeman's latest show, described as "surrealistic detective story," just opened yesterday and runs until Saturday, May 10 at the Access Theater. According to the press notes, the play is about a guy named Gordon taking off to a strange Pennsylvania town to search for his missing wife while being pursued by the police as a potential homicide suspect and perpetually nagged by his teenage son. Frequent collaborator Kyle Ancowitz directs.

Babylon Babylon. Piper McKenzie Productions' insanely ambitious 30-cast project chronicling the fall of an ancient civilization opens this Friday at The Brick. This really seems to be something most people in the New York indie theatre scene are either a.) in, or b.) absolutely fascinated to see. Written and directed by Jeff Lewonczyk. For tickets go here.

The Accidental Patriot. Stolen Chair continues its Cinetheatre Tetralogy (four years, four productions, four classic film styles adapted for the stage) with "an original 1930s-style swashbuckling adventure (as Sophocles might have written it if he'd been under contract to Warner Brothers) set against the tumultuous backdrop of the American Revolution." Hell, even the folks at Nosedive Central are participating in the company's dark night series. Jon Stancato directs Kiran Rikhye's original script. The show goes up at The Milagro Theater in the CSV Cultural Center from April 25 to May 17. For tickets go here.

And again, although the comments section isn't usually a place for blatant plugging of non-Nosedive shows, if anyone has or knows of a show going up or closing in the New York area that deserves attention, by all means, plug, plug away!

Trying to catch up on his playgoing,

James "Wait Up, Guys!" Comtois