Without Consent to Return to Philadelphia for Encore Run

Inferno Productions presents an encore presentation of Philly Fringe hit Without Consent by David Robson, which played to sold-out houses and audience raves. Performances begin Thursday, November 5 and run through Sunday, November 8, 2026, at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 19102. Tickets are available at events.ticketleap.com.

When Lisa, a hospice care nurse, arrives at the elegant Main Line study of Judith Westbrook for what appears to be a routine job interview, neither woman is entirely who she seems. Judith's husband—a disgraced media mogul whose decades of predatory behavior have destroyed countless lives—is dying. As the interview unfolds, both women conceal their true motives, and what begins as a cat-and-mouse game soon builds to shocking twists neither woman sees coming.

Without Consent began with a question, says playwright David Robson. 'How do we compartmentalize the different aspects of our lives so we're able to function in the world? I'm fascinated by the human capacity for looking the other way, especially in times of strain or crisis. I also love a good psychological drama where the stakes rise and rise and the twists keep coming.'

According to actor Lorraine Barrett, who plays Lisa, 'It's the kind of play where you notice something new every time since there are so many layers to the story and the characters.'

Developed at Theatre Exile, InterAct Theatre Company, Penguin Rep Theatre, and Delaware Theatre Company, Without Consent also features Barrymore winner Cathy Simpson. 'David mentioned that he had written the play with me in mind,' says Simpson. 'The writing so intrigued me that I was simply compelled to find a way to make [a production] happen.'

Called 'a masterful piece of theatre' by British theatre critic Paul Smith and 'timely and incisive' by playwright and InterAct Theatre Company artistic director Seth Rozin, Without Consent was recently published in a Polish translation by Kamila Jansen in Pole, a Warsaw literary magazine whose pages have featured the work of Arthur Rimbaud, Antonin Artaud, and Rainer Maria Rilke.

Performance Details

Production: Without Consent

Written by: David Robson

Directed by: Gene Terruso

Featuring: Cathy Simpson and Lorraine Barrett

Venue: Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake, 302 S. Hicks St, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Performances: November 5—November 8.

Tickets: Pay What You Will: events.ticketleap.com

Running Time: Approximately 80 minutes, no intermission

About the Artists

Lorraine Barrett (Lisa): A native New Yorker, Lorraine has called Philly home for 25 years. Former life: original B'way cast, Joseph and the Amazing…, Rags, Stephen Schwartz, director, The Arden, Walnut Street, Act II Playhouse, Chicago's Bailiwick Theatre, Champlain Shakespeare Festival, and six months singing and dancing in a Cairo, Egypt night club. More recent credits: Stagecrafters (Spinning into Butter, A Sherlock Carol), Wilmington Drama League (August: Osage County), Players Club of Swarthmore (Other Desert Cities, Side Man), South Camden Theatre Co (Incorruptible), Steel River Playhouse (Vanya and Sonia…), Town & Country Players (Good People, Rumors), Old Academy (Alabama Story, Buried Child, And Then There Were None), and Allen's Lane (Crossing Delancey). Lorraine is the vocalist for 22 Park Avenue, a 17-piece swing band based in Delaware County.

Cathy Simpson (Judith): Cathy served as a company member of People's Light Theatre Co. for more than 30 years, and a member of the 'Freedom Rising' Company at the National Constitution Center for over 20 years. She has performed extensively in local theatres as well as numerous regional theaters. She is a two-time Helen Hayes Nominee, a four-time Barrymore nominee and a Barrymore winner for the Freedom Theatre production of The Old Settler, a Kevin Kline winner for the St. Louis Black Rep production of A Song for Coretta and the Excellent Performer Award for world competition in Toyama, Japan. Cathy also has numerous film, television, and radio credits.

David Robson (Playwright): Robson's work explores the gap between the stories people tell about themselves and the truths they work hardest to conceal. His play Muleheaded, or Zora and Langston Write a Play recently received two Barrymore Award nominations and broke box office records at Passage Theatre Company following its world premiere in January 2026. His drama Playing the Assassin received its world premiere at InterAct Theatre Company in Philadelphia and Penguin Rep Theater in New York before going on to productions at TheaterWorks Hartford and Delaware Theatre Company, earning praise from The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Hartford Courant.

Gene Terruso (Director): An actor, director and producer, Gene's credits on Broadway include On Golden Pond, Are You Now or Have You Ever Been?, and national tours of 1776 and the National Shakespeare's Othello. His association with legacy institutions includes the artistic directorship of off-Broadway's historic Provincetown Playhouse, the Presidency of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and directorship of the University of the Arts' School of Theatre. He assisted Sanford Meisner at his Hollywood studio and currently teaches his 'Meisner Through the Lens' class in NYC. A two-time Fulbright awardee, Gene founded the B.E.S.T. Divadlo in Europe which has been invited to several of the continent's most distinguished festivals and he's taught at conservatories in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and London, including England's National Theatre. Locally, he has worked at the Arden, Montgomery Theatre, Bristol Riverside and Hedgerow, was a Barrymore nominator and served two terms as president of the Philadelphia Dramatists Center, and as a reviewer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. This fall he returns to Florence, Italy, as Resident Artist for the Franco Zeffirelli Foundation and Lorenzo De Medici International Institute.

Michael X. Zelenak (Dramaturg): Mike has produced, directed, written or translated more than 100 plays, and has taught at Carnegie-Mellon, Yale, Florida State, and Stony Brook universities.