Cast Set for #CHEKHOVBURLESK: Scenes from Theatrikal Life Reading in NYC

#CHEKHOVBURLESK: Scenes from Theatrikal Life, written by John Robert Tillotson will present a free reading on Monday, July 27, 2026, at 7:30 PM in The Ellington Room. Seating is limited, free and available 30 minutes before performance. This is the first time the seven play cycle has been performed in its entirety. Running time is approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes including interval.

The all Manhattan Plaza cast stars Matt W. Cody (Regional: Clue, Blithe Spirit, Sleuth), Steven Hauck (TV: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Broadway: Irena's Vow), Andrew Hovelson (Broadway: Stranger Things: The First Shadow, The Public: Mother of the Maid), Peter Macklin (Playwright: Bullethead, upcoming), Grant Neale (Artistic Director Nomad Theatrical Co., Met: Porgy and Bess), Lawrence Stallings (Broadway: Book of Mormon, Hair, Passing Strange), and Jeffery V. Thompson (Out of the Box Artistic Director, Broadway: Eubie, Ain't Nothin' But The Blues).

#CHEKHOVBURLESK: Scenes from Theatrical Life is a collection of seven monologues adapted from short plays and stories by the master Russian playwright and storyteller Anton Chekhov. The introductory play, The Harmfulness of Electronic Devices in the Theatre, observes a beleaguered stage manager, asked to give a pre-show performance speech, which goes awry. Next, Weight of the World, a theater marketing director relates a single day, traveling from his Long Island home into the city to do a little office work, after being tasked with other people's needs. Then, in An Equivocator, an actor is caught in a compromising position when he reveals a little too much truth to an unknown audience at a theatre social function. In Confinement in Ulster County, a poor playwright makes a bet with a rich producer to remain cloistered for 15 years in exchange for two million dollars. In Last Words, an actor accidentally sneezes on a well-known casting director at a performance, and to avoid career disaster cannot apologize enough. In The Drowning Man, a performance artist pleads for audience remuneration in exchange for a showing of his latest piece. And finally, in Ghost Light, an aging actor finds himself abandoned in an empty theatre examining his career and preparing to walk into his next act.