The Off-Broadway complex 59E59 Theaters will return to in-person programming beginning January 2022 with productions slated from several different theatre companies through the spring.
Kicking off the return to live theatre will be The Civilians' production of Whisper House. The musical ghost story from Duncan Sheik and Kyle Jarrow, originally set to begin at the venue March 12, 2020, will run January 11–February 6. The show was conceived by Keith Powell and is directed by The Civilians Artistic Director Steve Cosson.
59E59 will also be the new artistic home for LABryinth Theater Company, who lost their downtown space during the pandemic. They will present a developmental production of Through the Fire, written and performed by Victor Almanzar, January 15–February 5, as well as their annual Barn Series reading of new plays later in the spring.
Two Headed Rep will present two plays created in response to Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim’s Dulcitius: The Collision and What Came After, or, GUNCH! by Nadja Leonhard-Hooper; and The Martyrdom of the Holy Virgins Agape, Chionia, and Irena, by Hrotsvitha the Nun of Gandersheim, as told throughout the last millennium by the men, women, scholars, monastics, puppets, and theater companies (like this one) who loved her, Or: DULCITIUS, with new text by Amanda Keating and translation by Lizzie Fox. Those productions run January 16–February 5.
Barococo, a devised work of physical comedy by Happenstance Theater, will run February 9–March 6; Geva Theatre Center will bring its production of Gabriel Jason Dean's Heartland to the city for a March 14–April 10 run.
9E59 is also launching several new initiatives to expand its support of non-profit theatre companies. The annual VOLT Festival will present three New York premieres from one writer produced by three different companies, launching with the works of playwright Karen Hartman in its inaugural season. The Directors Company will present The Lucky Star, 59E59's resident theatre company Primary Stages will present New Golden Age, and Mary J. Davis and MBL Productions will produce Goldie, Max and Milk. The VOLT Festival begins April 26.
Other new initiatives include the Makers Series, granting space and financial aid to two BIPOC theatre companies for new work development. Recipient Noor Theatre Company will develop First Down by SEVAN, debuting in February 2022. Similarly, Space Lab will grant free rehearsal space to companies. This year's resident Space Lab companies are The Hearth and The Sống Collective.
Five theatre companies—Less Than Rent, New Light Theater Project, Noor Theatre Company, Hypokrit Theatre Company, and PlayCo.—also received COVID Relief Grants made possible by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation.
