Turn down the lights and raise the curtain–uptown's got a brand new theater company!
Inspired by downtown's indie theater scene that got its start in the '60s (La MaMa, etc), a group of uptown writers, actors and directors have joined together to form The National Theater of Uptown. Their hope is to create a similar movement in upper Manhattan, an area they say is "exploding with creative artists."
The ensemble, led by founding artistic director Nathan Cann, plans to produce work that is "visceral, heightened, political, social and immediate for the audience." Productions will be site-specific, staged in unused uptown spaces like vacant storefronts, warehouses and rooftops.
This month the company announced its first production, a play called "Came Tumbling After" starring Claire Brownell and Joe Delafield. The plot revolves around a couple dealing with the wife's serious plans for revenge a year after they were both violently assaulted. It's a comedy, but a very dark one, says Cann, who wrote the script.
The production will be staged inside a historic Hamilton Heights townhouse that's been home to the The Children's Art Carnival, an arts organization founded by MoMA. Since all the action will take place on the parlor floor, only 15 audience members will be allowed inside for each performance. Yes, that means act fast.
Tickets for the play, running from February 8 to March 3, are $25 and can be purchased here.
Images via The National Theater of Uptown
