LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES to Make World Premiere at East Village Basement

Crawl Space Plays will present Michael Gardner's world premiere theatrical adaptation of Jean Cocteau's scandalous novella, Les Enfants Terribles, directed by Gardner, running September 10 - October 4, 2026 for 21 performances in a limited engagement at East Village Basement, located at 321 East 9th Street in New York City. Opening night is September 12 at 7pm.

Paul and Elisabeth, two emotionally-sheltered teenage siblings, seclude themselves in a spiritual fiction of their own creation. A fantasy organized by rules and rituals only children understand. As they vie for dominance, the 'enfants' play cruel games amongst themselves and upon their adoring companions, Gerard and Agatha. Reality creeps in, fantasies spin out and the borders of their worlds collapse. Is tragedy inevitable? And divine?

Michael Gardner says, 'Jean Cocteau's novella, Les Enfants Terribles, feels like one of those subversive secrets you discover at some point in your reading life. It guts and delights you and breaks all the rules in a way you thought was not allowed. Sexy and verboten, heartbreaking and wrong. It reminds you of a time in your youth when playtime was more real than reality. And playtime had just as many rules. The book cries out for theatricality, describing the children's 'room' as the set of a stage drama upon which they all play. I've been longing to create a literalization of their 'play' for years. And the themes of cruelty, persecution and mythomania couldn't be more timely.'

The cast includes Caroline (Lina) DeFazio, Victor Gao, Maysie Jane Kilgore and Rutger Scott.

Hannah Kunce is Intimacy Director and Bethany Qian is Production Stage Manager.

Performances are Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. Run time is approximately 100 minutes. Ages 18+. Tickets are $25 and $15 for students. To purchase tickets and for more info visit https://www.enfantsplay.com.

Michael Gardner (https://www.michaelgardnerdirects.com) is a playmaker and filmmaker and the proprietor of Crawl Space Plays, LLC. He is a Founder and former Artistic Director of The Brick Theater (2002 to 2019). Recent film projects (written & directed) include I Watch Buildings and kintsugi: a VR theatre experience. Directorial works for stage include Breakfast at Blooms (segments), Brandywine Distillery Fire (2015 NYITA nominee 'Outstanding Performance Art Production'), Notes from Underground and Vaclav Havel's Mountain Hotel (English Language premiere). Adapted and directed: The Ninja Cherry Orchard, The Kung Fu Importance of Being Earnest, Memoirs of My Nervous Illness and In a Strange Room (Top Ten Plays, 2004-Time Out NY).

Crawl Space Plays, LLC is a production company, a venue and place for developing experimental and non-traditional artworks. Performance, film, VR and other arts are presented at their BedStuy studio, crawlspace, and in other traditional and non-traditional theater spaces. The company was born during the pandemic, and is not currently divided into seasons. Les Enfants Terribles will be the fourth production produced by the company, following Breakfast at Blooms (an adaptation of Molly's chapter from James Joyce's Ulysses), ghost light: a VR theatre experience, and enfants (a workshop precursor to Les Enfants Terribles).

Don't Miss a Off-Off-Broadway News Story
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...