Stolen Chair Theatre News

Written by Kiran Rikhye
Directed by Jon Stancato
Dramaturgy & Music by Emily Otto
Stage Combat & Props by Jon Campbell
Lights & Set by David Bengali
Costumes by May Elbaz
Stage Management & Graphic Design by Aviva Meyer

Featuring: Tommy Dickie, Sam Dingman, Cameron J. Oro, Alexia Vernon, & Liza Wade White

Kill Me Like You Mean It's opening weekend was 100% sold out.

Buy your tickets now at killmelikeyoumeanit.com!!!

Don't forget to use the coupon code NOIR for a special discount!!!

"[I]ntriguing...[Kiran] Rikhye, with director Jon Stancato, reveals the parallels between the two seemingly incongruous genres. The script is awash in clipped, often repetitive dialogue that sounds simultaneously like something out of a classic noir B-movie and an absurdist classic. Stancato, in order to replicate the steep camera angles of noir films, sometimes has the actors posture or sit in ways that evoke absurdist performance styles...It’s a tribute to Rikhye’s mystery writing that ultimately we become fascinated by this whodunit...Under Stancato’s shrewd direction, the actors ably perform in noir and absurdist styles...in a play that generally amuses even as it challenges perceptions..."
-Andy Propst, Backstage (Read more here)

If you love the 40's film noirs like THE BIG SLEEP, THE MALTESE FALCON, LAURA, and GILDA, you must see this show. If you love the early plays of French absurdist Eugene Ionesco like THE BALD SOPRANO and THE LESSON, you must see this show. If you love LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS, you must see this show. If you love AMERICA, you must see this show. If you hate ANY or ALL of these, you must see this show.

Presented by:
Horse Trade

The Red Room

85 E. 4th St
(Betw. 2nd and 3rd Ave.)
Third Floor
No Wheelchair Access

Performances:
January 5-7, 11-13, 18-20, & 25-27 at 8pm

Tickets:
Adults $15
Student/Seniors $10.

Purchase tickets online or by phone 212-868-4444

"What we ended up developing was a sociopolitical allegory wrapped up in a 1940s film noir package."

Listen to Co-Artistic Director Jon Stancato's interview on WBAI's "Al Lewis Lives!"

On Saturday, January 6th, Kill Me Like You Mean It's director Jon Stancato was interviewed by Karen Lewis, "the widow of 'Grandpa' Al Lewis, an outspoken television and film personality and former Green Party candidate for governor of New York State. Karen carries on her husband's tradition of passionate discussion on the role of human rights and civil liberties in the modern world."

Listen to this 6-minute clip from the show for background on the Kill Me..'s political origins...

From Brooks Reeves'
The City That Cried Wolf

"It's replete with sex, violence, and a general level of 'bad-assity' that you can't really find in a lot of other forms."

Stolen Chair's interview series continues with playwright Brooks Reeves.

Part 6 of Stolen Chair's 7 (or 8) part film noir interview series has now been posted on the blog. Read them all and stay tuned for the remaining interviews, featuring Christopher Durang's collaborator Sheryl Kaller and Indie theatre visionary Frank Cwiklik.

Also coming soon in blogland: a 3-part Ionesco interview series...

"Tetralogy! That's great; I'm going to do a tetralogy... "

Listen to Co-Artistic Director Kiran Rikhye's roundtable discussion with two other Playing with Canons playwrights (Amnesia Wars' Rob Reese and Obie award-winner John Clancy).

Playing With Canons Authors Roundtable #4 (Episode #67): A conversation with three of the playwrights who are featured in NYTE's new play anthology. Rob Reese adapted Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in a highly theatrical, yet very faithful manner. Kiran Rikhye's The Man Who Laughs is a live "silent film" based on a novel by Victor Hugo. And John Clancy's "grotesque" Fatboy is an update of the Ubu plays of Alfred Jarry. (21:02)

Listen now or subscribe on Itunes.