Now celebrating its 43rd season, Theater Breaking Through Barriers – the only professional Off-Broadway theater company dedicated to advancing artists and developing audiences of people with disabilities – will present Out of the Box, the 3rd in its Playmakers’ REDUX series and the first to return live and in person since 2019. The works will be performed this week, from Thursday, May 19-Sunday, May 22, at the Studio Theatre at Theatre Row.
Out of the Box features five short plays created over the past two years during TBTB’s Virtual Playmakers’ Intensive workshop series. Originally written to be performed online, each has been further developed, refined, and adapted for the stage. Creating new work digitally has allowed TBTB to connect with many playwrights and performers from around the world, offering more opportunities for more artists – many with disabilities.
TBTB Artistic Director Nicholas Viselli noted, “Over the past two years, we were so fortunate to have been able to generate over 100 original short works, all of which were designed to be presented online to a virtual audience. During our 3rd Playmakers’ REDUX, aptly titled, Out of the Box, we will attempt to transfer five of our virtual plays to the live stage. This is an exciting challenge for us and we hope you’ll join us . . . to experience this transition of our work from small boxes on your computer screen to live performance. We believe this work will truly embody our passage through the past 26 months, from the isolation of the COVID pandemic to our progressive return to normalcy.”
The plays are:
The Olympians, written by Fareeda Ahmed, directed by Pamela Sabaugh, featuring Clara Francesca, Vick Krishna, and Sean Phillips;
What If You Read My Plays, written by Jeff Tabnick, directed by Richard M. Rose, featuring Richard Lear and Ann Marie Morelli;
The Interview, written by Enrique Huili, directed by Jeff Tabnkick, featuring Aya Ibaraki and John Little;
Love Story, a modern dance piece, featuring binbin Factory’s Satoshi Haga and Rie Fukuzawa;
Do You See What I See, written by Tatiana G. Rivera, directed by Ann Marie Morelli, featuring Jennifer Bradley, John Little, Richard M. Rose, and Gaia Visnar; and
Souls Highway: The Guitar Lesson, written by Anita Hollander, directed by Ann Flanigan, featuring Mieko Gavia, Bree Klauser, and Pamela Sabaugh.
To learn more about TBTB, you can watch the video Meet the Theatre: Theater Breaking Through Barriers, created by the Theater Development Fund in 2019:
Out of the Box plays May 19-22, 2022, at Theater Breaking Through Boundaries, performing at Theatre Row, Studio Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, NYC. Tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance; to RSVP, go online. Everyone must wear a mask at all times when inside the building.
