PURGATORY Returns to Tribeca October 23 With Telos Ensemble

The international reading series returns to Pluto's Loft on October 23rd with new work by Dan Blick and Tora Hallström.

Telos Ensemble's developmental reading series Purgatory will return to Pluto's Loft in Tribeca on Friday, October 23 at 8pm for its ninth edition. The evening will feature readings of Wasters, a new work by resident playwright Dan Blick, and Androphobia by associate producer Tora Hallström. Full casting will be announced on October 16. The reading will be followed by conversation and drinks.

Purgatory offers audiences an intimate, limited-seating look at new, original works being developed by Telos Ensemble for the stage and screen, read by professional actors. Casting is by Dorie Magowan, a New York-based casting professional whose credits include You (Netflix), Countdown (Amazon Prime) and The Acting Company's US National Tour.

The October edition marks the series' return to Pluto's Loft. Its sixth edition there in April gave the first public reading of Blick's psychological drama Ellipsis, starring Galen Hopper and Cameron Andre.

Purgatory launched in December 2024 at PRIV.Y Gallery in Manhattan. It has since played the Omnibus Theatre in London, Unit J in Brooklyn and Pluto's Loft in New York. This summer it made its California debut with a sold-out night at Little Boxes Theater in San Francisco, followed by a performance at The Earl Gallery in Los Angeles. One piece first heard at Purgatory, Blick's Concupiscence, was later selected for the Chain Theatre's One-Act Festival in 2025.

"[Placeholder quote from Dan Blick, e.g.] Purgatory exists to let audiences into the room while a play is still finding out what it is. Coming back to Tribeca after taking the series across the country this summer feels like coming home, and it's a particular pleasure to share Tora's writing alongside my own."

Telos Ensemble is a theatre and film company operating across New York, London and Stockholm. It was co-founded by Dan Blick and Mitchell Pope, who met while training in the Meisner technique under Suzanne Esper at the William Esper Studio in New York. Since its first production in 2023, the company has staged seven original works across three countries. These include Telos and Lake George at New York's Chain Theatre, and Castles at the Omnibus Theatre in London and PIK Vasastan in Stockholm.

Blick serves as Artistic Director and Head of Writing, and Pope as Managing Director and Head of Production. In Europe they are joined by Associate Producers Tora Hallström and Skyler Adams, both Stockholm-based and trained at the William Esper Studio. The company's debut feature film, Black Lake, is written and directed by Blick and adapted from his stage play Lake George. It stars Hallström and Pope and is currently on the international festival circuit, having completed post-production in March 2026.

Performance Details
Purgatory: A Series of Readings