DIALOGUE WITH THREE CHORDS Will Present Murder Ballad-Inspired Plays at Industry City

Indie theater company Dialogue with Three Chords (D3C) will continue their Spring 2026 season on April 30 with three plays inspired by the history of murder ballads. Written by Stephen Gracia and directed by Michael LoPorto, the show starts at 8pm, at The Landing at Brooklyn's Industry City, Building 3, 237 36th St, Brooklyn, NY 11232.

Tickets are $10 and are available online or in person at the theatre. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. The show also features a live musical performance by LaMacchia.

The spring season, with additional performances on May 28th and June 25th, marks D3C's 15th year of Original Theatre, and will culminate with the group's 200th original play.

The April 30th performance, "Just Come in and Stay with Me, and No Harm Will Come to You" features three short plays.

In "The Fate of Black Will and Shakebag, Being the Two Hateful Villaines in The Broadside Ballad, The Complaint and Lamentation of Mistresse Arden of Feversham in Kent," two murders wait in a cell to be hanged and discuss the tragic paths that led to their fate.

"Most People They Are Apt of Late to Condemn Strange Things as Lies" finds Isabel alone in a church, hands bloody from murdering a lover, joined by the ghost of Ellen Smith, herself a victim of a similar murder.

Two friends steal the body of country music legend Gram Parsons in "How Will the Dead Remember Us?"

and try to give him a proper send-off while coming to terms with their roles in his life and death.

The upcoming performances feature plays that draw inspiration from the "Nash Vegas" scene and the concept of "Southern Pride" through queer country music.

Just Come in and Stay with Me, and No Harm Will Come to You features: John Caliendo, Emmanuel Elpenord, Marisela Grajeda Gonzalez, Victoria Meade, Sean Meehan, and Patrick Ryan Sullivan. A gallery of photos from over the years is available here.

About D3C:

Dialogue with Three Chords, which applies the do-it-yourself philosophy of punk to the stage and features short plays and live music at every performance, was founded by Stephen Gracia and Michael LoPorto in 2011. Their work has also been produced at HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, Industry City, The SOHO Gallery of Digital Art, Sargent Theatre, Makor Theater, DUMBO Theatre Exchange, Levenson Hall at Brooklyn College, and the Theaters at 45 Bleecker. D3C on Facebook.

D3C formed in the summer of 2011, when Gracia and LoPorto joined forces with the aim of stripping away the barriers between audiences and fresh, Original Theatre, which typically goes through extensive workshopping behind closed doors and requires significant financial support before the public is able to see a performance. By contrast, D3C has a "one-and-done" rehearsal in the week leading up to the performance, lending an immediacy to the work that is often lost during a traditional development period, and allowing for the participation of a diverse and ever-growing group of artists who donate their time and talent to their performances. This 15th D3C season will be the company's third year in residency with bkONE at the Tom Kane Theatre after over a decade of "punk rock basement theatre" performances presented in non-traditional spaces.