Called “Ingenious” by The New York Times, “Innovative” by TimeOutNY, and “Captivating” by The Huffington Post, Stolen Chair creates original works of theatre that are playful, stylish, and textually acrobatic. We refuse to draw the line between high art and great entertainment or between thinking and feeling. We are New York’s only company committed to the collaboration between a playwright and a director, Stolen Chair’s co-founders and co-artistic directors Kiran Rikhye and Jon Stancato. Stolen Chair’s previous 15 original works include The Man Who Laughs (Drama Desk “Unique Theatrical Experience,” “Outstanding Music in a Play,” and “Outstanding Lighting Design” nominations), The Bachelors’ Tea Party, Kinderspiel, Theatre is Dead & So Are You, and Potion. Stolen Chair is supported, in part, by public funds from NYSCA and The Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York’s Nancy Quinn Fund.

The Man Who Laughs (2003) Cast, Crew & Creative Team
The Man Who Laughs (2013) Cast, Crew & Creative Team

Awards & Recognition

  • Outstanding Music in a Play nomination (Sean Cronin), Drama Desk, Kill Me Like You Mean It
  • Individual Artist Commission (NYSCA), Daniel Winters for Kill Me Like You Mean It
  • Unique Theatre Experience nomination, Drama Desk, The Man Who Laughs
  • Outstanding Lighting Design nomination (Daniel Winters), Drama Desk, The Man Who Laughs
  • Outstanding Music in a Play nomination (Eugene Ma), Drama Desk, The Man Who Laughs
  • Best Actor (Cameron J. Oro), NYIT Awards, Accidental Patriot
  • Best Genre-Bending Theatre Company, New York Press
  • Best Actor nomination (Cameron J. Oro), NYIT Awards, Stage Kiss
  • Best of Off-Off-Broadway, OffOffOnline.com
  • People of the Year, NYTheatre.com

Performance History

  • Potion (PEOPLE Lounge, 2014)
  • The Man Who Laughs (Urban Stages, 2013; The Red Room 2005)
  • The Bachelors’ Tea Party (Lady Mendl’s Tea Salon, 2012)
  • Cut Paste Corset Perfect (Judson Memorial Church, 2011)
  • Commedia Dell’ Artemisia (Ohio Interrupted @ 3LD, 2011; Playwrights Horizons North Studio, 2010; The Underground Zero Festival, Pretentious Festival, Swarthmore College, 2009)
  • Kinderspiel (Wings, 2011; Under St. Marks, 2007)
  • Stage Kiss (Wings, 2011; The Red Room, 2006)
  • Quantum Poetics (The Connelly Theater, 2010)
  • Theatre is Dead and So Are You (The Connelly Theater, 2009)
  • The Accidental Patriot (The Milagro Theater, 2008)
  • Kill Me Like You Mean It (The Brick Theater’s Film Festival: A Theatre Festival, 2008; The Red Room, 2007)
  • Sister Carrie (National Museum of American Jewish History, 2004)
  • Virtuosa (Sanford Meisner Theatre, 2004)
  • Stage Kiss (Creative Place Theater and Print Center, 2003)
  • Portrait of Dora as a Young Man (2003)
  • Fair Ladies at a Game of Fortune (West Side Dance Project, 2002)
  • Dybbuk (Swarthmore College, 2002)