The Niceties

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 18th, 2018

At an elite East Coast university, an ambitious young black student and her esteemed white professor meet to discuss a paper the college junior is writing about the American Revolution. They’re both liberal. They’re both women. They’re both brilliant. But very quickly, discussions of grammar and Google turn to race and reputation, and before they know it, they’re in dangerous territory neither of them had foreseen – and facing stunning implications that can’t be undone. Written with powerful truth and humor by Eleanor Burgess, this deeply resonant work is directed by Kimberly Senior (Disgraced). The Washington Post hails it as “a barnburner of a play,” adding that it’s “one of the best plays I’ve seen about who gets to tell the story of America, and how.”

Prince of Broadway

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS October 29th, 2017

Harold Prince is a legend in the American theatre – the acclaimed director and producer behind a long list of America’s most iconic musicals and the winner of a staggering, record-breaking 21 Tony Awards. Now, he’s bringing together six decades of magical moments in a new musical event, Prince of Broadway.

This thrilling night of theatre includes fully staged numbers from such celebrated musicals as West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Evita, Company, Follies, A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd, The Phantom of the Opera and more, in an unforgettable tribute to an unmatched Broadway career.

The show features a book by two-time Tony nominee David Thompson (Chicago), co-direction and choreography by five-time Tony winner Susan Stroman (The Producers), direction by Prince himself, and new songs by three-time Tony winner Jason Robert Brown (The Bridges of Madison County).

Heisenberg

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 11th, 2016

Amidst the bustle of a crowded London train station, Georgie spots Alex, a much older man, and plants a kiss on his neck. This electric encounter thrusts these two strangers into a fascinating and life-changing game. Directed by Drama Desk Award winner Mark Brokaw (The Lyons, How I Learned to Drive), Heisenberg brings to blazing, theatrical life the uncertain and often comical sparring match that is human connection.

Internationally renowned for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, visionary playwright Simon Stephens returns to the New York stage with this sharply original world premiere starring Denis Arndt (The Night Alive, Basic Instinct) and Tony® and Emmy® winner Mary-Louise Parker (Proof, “Weeds”).

Fool for Love

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 13th, 2015

Check out what critics are saying about Fool for Love!

“A KNOCKOUT. NINA ARIANDA and SAM ROCKWELL EXUDE THE SORT OF CHEMISTRY FROM WHICH NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS ARE MADE.” –The New York Times

NOW EXTENDED THROUGH 12/13!

Broadway Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Acclaimed Play
Directed by Daniel Aukin 
Starring Nina Arianda, Sam Rockwell
Tom Pelphrey, Gordon Joseph Weiss

Holed up in a seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert, two former lovers unpack the deep secrets and dark desires of their tangled relationship, passionately tearing each other apart. Beaten down by ill-fated love and a ruthless struggle for identity, can they ultimately live with, or without, each other? Led by director Daniel Aukin (Back Back Back at MTC, 4,000 Miles), Tony Award winner Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur at MTC, Born Yesterday) and Sam Rockwell (A Behanding in Spokane, The Way Way Back) bring an explosive intensity to Sam Shepard’s (Buried Child, True West) landmark myth of the new Wild West.

Fool for Love is presented in association with Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Running time: 75 minutes with no intermission.

The Country House

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 23rd, 2014

THE COUNTRY HOUSE:
A First Look

World premiere play by Donald Margulies
Directed by Daniel Sullivan

with Blythe Danner, Kate Jennings Grant, Eric Lange, David Rasche, Sarah Steele, Daniel Sunjata

“One of the MOST SATISFYING NEW AMERICAN PLAYS to reach Broadway in the past decade.” -The Wall Street Journal

Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies (Time Stands Still, Sight Unseen) returns to Broadway with his tenth MTC production, a new comedy about a deeply dramatic family.

Tony and Emmy winner Blythe Danner (The Commons of Pensacola, Meet the Parents) stars as Anna Patterson, the matriarch of a brood of famous and longing-to-be-famous creative artists who have gathered at their Berkshires summerhouse during the Williamstown Theatre Festival. But when the weekend takes an unexpected turn, everyone is forced to improvise… inciting a series of simmering jealousies, romantic outbursts and passionate soul-searching.

This witty and compelling new play provides a piercing look at a family of performers coming to terms with the roles they play in each other’s lives. Tony winner Daniel Sullivan (The Columnist, Good People, Time Stands Still) directs.

THE COUNTRY HOUSE is a co-production with The Geffen Playhouse. THE COUNTRY HOUSE was commissioned by MTC through the U.S. Trust New American Play Commissioning Program. Special thanks to The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust for supporting Manhattan Theatre Club.

Taking Care of Baby

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 8th, 2013

60 Seconds with TAKING CARE OF BABY Playwright Dennis Kelly

American premiere play by Dennis Kelly
Directed by Erica Schmidt

with Francois Battiste, Reed Birney, Kristen Bush, Amelia Campbell, Margaret Colin, Michael Crane, Ethan Phillips, Zach Shaffer

An unspeakable tragedy. A shattered family. An accusation of murder. TAKING CARE OF BABY is a provocative new drama that boldly explores the elusive nature of truth and the depths we’ll go to expose it.

Francois Battiste (Magic/Bird), Reed Birney (Blasted, Our Leading Lady), Kristen Bush (Kin, The Common Pursuit), Amelia Campbell (A Streetcar Named Desire, Our Country’s Good), Margaret Colin (The Columnist, “Gossip Girl”), Michael Crane (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Off-Broadway), Ethan Phillips (Golden Age) and Zach Shaffer (“Smash”) star in this American premiere by Tony Award® winner Dennis Kelly, directed by Erica Schmidt (Humor Abuse, Invasion!).

An Enemy of the People

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 18th, 2012

An Enemy of the People Montage

By Henrik Ibsen
A new version by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Directed by Doug Hughes

with Boyd Gaines, Richard Thomas, Maïté Alina, Gerry Bamman, Kathleen McNenny, Randall Newsome, John Procaccino, Michael Siberry and James Waterston

This fall on Broadway, the political is about to get very personal.

In this fast-paced, two-hour thriller, Dr. Thomas Stockmann (Boyd Gaines) discovers a toxic secret that threatens the health of his entire community. The doctor expects to be hailed as a hero, but his brother, Mayor Peter Stockmann (Richard Thomas), believes the information will destroy the town, forcing the men into a passionate confrontation of political will and personal ethics.

4-time Tony winner Boyd Gaines (The Columnist, Contact) and Emmy winner Richard Thomas (Race, Fifth of July, “The Waltons”) play the clashing brothers in this scintillating, and often surprisingly humorous, new version of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People by one of Britain’s most exciting writers, Rebecca Lenkiewicz.

Tony winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, The Royal Family, The Whipping Man) returns to MTC to direct an exceptional ensemble cast that also includes Maïté Alina, Gerry Bamman, Kathleen McNenny, Randall Newsome, John Procaccino, Michael Siberry and James Waterston.

Close Up Space

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS January 20th, 2012

CLOSE UP SPACE Teaser

Tony Award® and 4-time Emmy Award® winner David Hyde Pierce brings his signature wit back to the MTC stage in the World Premiere of Close Up Space by Molly Smith Metzler. Pierce stars as Paul Barrow, an obsessive book editor on a major deadline. With an assistant (Chernus) who’s been camping in the office, a famous author (Perez) threatening to bail on him and an intern (DiGiovanni) who is no help at all, Paul’s just about had it! But when his fiery daughter (Minifie) shows up and lambasts him in Russian, Paul faces a glaring personal error that can’t be corrected with red ink. Leigh Silverman (Well, From Up Here, Chinglish) returns to MTC to direct this funny and poignant new play about how hard it can be to communicate… in any language.

Spirit Control

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 5th, 2010

A Taste of the Scintillating First Scene of Spirit Control

The new play from Beau Willimon, the young talent behind Farragut North, revolves around Adam Wyatt, who has the perfect family and a perfect record as an air traffic controller. When the pilot of a small plane suffers a heart attack, Adam must talk a terrified passenger through an emergency landing. What happens next will link him inextricably to a woman he’s never met and set the life he once knew irrevocably adrift. SPIRIT CONTROL is a chilling and mesmerizing look at how we navigate a crisis, and the demons that haunt us long after.

The Royal Family

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 13th, 2009

By George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber
Directed by Doug Hughes
 
with Ana Gasteyer, John Glover, Rosemary Harris, Jan Maxwell, Larry Pine, Tony Roberts, Reg Rogers

In this thinly veiled parody of the Barrymore family circa 1927, a flamboyant theatrical family must cope with the dumbfounding fact that one of them wishes to marry someone outside of show business.

To Be or Not To Be

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 16th, 2008

By Nick Whitby
Directed by Casey Nicholaw
 
with Peter Benson, Robert Dorfman, Steve Kazee, Peter Maloney, Jan Maxwell, Michael McCarty, Kristine Nielsen, Brandon Perler, David Rasche, Rocco Sisto, Jimmy Smagula, Marina Squerciati, Mark J. Sullivan

Based on Ernst Lubitsch’s 1942 film, Nick Whitby’s dark comedy follows a troupe of Polish actors who use their performance skills to outsmart the Nazis during Hitler’s invasion.

Mauritius

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 25th, 2007

By Theresa Rebeck
Directed by Doug Hughes

with F. Murray Abraham, Dylan Baker, Bobby Cannavale, Katie Finneran, Alison Pill

Following their mother’s death, two half-sisters inherit a stamp collection that could prove valuable. They fight over ownership as they explore the surprisingly seedy underbelly of philately: stamp collecting.

Losing Louie

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS November 26th, 2006

By Simon Mendes da Costa
Directed Jerry Zaks
 
with Matthew Arkin, Scott Cohen, Rebecca Creskoff, Patricia Kalember, Mark Linn-Baker, Michele Pawk, Jama Williamson

Playwright Simon Mendes da Costa explores the effects of childhood and the impact of another generation’s mistakes as two generations of family members work things out in the same bedroom, 50 years apart.

Absurd Person Singular

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 4th, 2005

By Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by John Tillinger

with Mireille Enos, Clea Lewis, Sam Robards, Alan Ruck, Deborah Rush, Paxton Whitehead

The radically shifting fortunes of three married couples are examined as they come together for some dubious merriment on three consecutive Christmas Eves.

Five By Tenn

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 19th, 2004

By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Michael Kahn

with Kathleen Chalfant, Cameron Folmar, Penny Fuller, Hunter Gimore, Jeremy Lawrence, David Rasche, Robert Sella, Myk Watford

Four of the five one acts in Five by Tenn were found several years ago by scholars Nick Moschovakis and David Roessel in Austin while doing research for an edition of Williams’ collected poems. Moschovakis and Roessel brought the plays, along with a dozen others, to director Michael Kahn’s attention, and Kahn found Summer at the Lake, And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens, The Fat Man’s Wife and Adam and Eve on a Ferry especially stageworthy. Presented with the Williams gem, I Can’t Imagine Tomorrow, they comprise Five by Tenn.

The Violet Hour

FINAL PERFORMANCE WAS December 21st, 2003

By Richard Greenberg
Directed by Evan Yionoulis

with Mario Cantone, Dagmara Dominczyk, Scott Foley, Robert Sean Leonard, Robin Miles

A young publisher struggles to choose his next project while dealing with the appearance of a strange machine that spits out manuscript pages with information about his future.