Maria Swisher

Under the brilliant direction of Judith Feingold, with an exclusive three-performance run at the NuBox Theater (at the John DeSotelle Studio) in Hell's Kitchen, Cocaine is such an unexpectedly powerful piece that brings out the reality of addiction amidst the love of two young people, overcome by the life they are forced to live. As part of the John D. Sotelle Studio Series and exposing the beauty of Pendleton's neglected work, Cocaine is as succinct as it is a beautiful representation of what love looks like in the face of struggle.

Escape for a night in 1916 New York, and the return of a forgotten masterpiece, brought to life in a Hell's Kitchen location from the play's own era a?" Cocaine by Pendleton King running for three performances November 22, 23 and 24 at The NuBox Theater.   

Dirt [contained] Theatre Company (Garden of Delights, Easy Laughter), in association with Long Island City Artists, Inc. (Painted Alice, Stupid F**king Bird), presents Crushing Baby Animals, a semi-autobiographical original play revealing two women's worst nightmare. Written and performed by Tana Sirois and Maria Swisher with assistant direction by Landon Alexander, Crushing Baby Animals blends physical theatre, multimedia and a healthy dose of humor in a unique artistic experience. Coupling visual art and live theater, the play is performed amid a LIC Artists, Inc. fine art exhibition entitled Welcome to the Multiverse, themed specifically to coincide with the production. Crushing Baby Animals will be staged at The Plaxall Gallery, 5-25 46 Avenue in Long Island City, from July 5th-July 21st, 2019. www.licartists.org

Fusion Theatre Company's existentialist drama No Exit debuted this month at at The Theater at 244 in New York City.

Fusion Theatre (www.fusiontheatrenyc.com) will mount an opera-charged version of Jean-Paul Sartre's 'No Exit,' directed by Eilin O'Dea, Artistic Director, from April 5 to 25 as the opening production of a new Off-off Broadway venue, The Theater at 244, located at 244 West 54th Street, 10th floor.

Early in Dirt [Contained]'s production of GARDEN OF DELIGHTS, a caller on a radio show asks Lais (Tana Sirois), the successful but tormented actress at the center of Fernando Arrabal's 1960s play, if she was was really an orphan. When Lais responds in the affirmative, the caller expresses sympathy for her presumed suffering.Lais' response provides the audience what it needs to appreciate (if not exactly to enjoy) what follows, even if Andre Breton, Antonin Artaud, the Theatre of Cruelty, the Panic Movement, and surrealism in general are literary terra incognito (as they were to me, a former English doctoral candidate specializing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). But a little knowledge helps one to appreciate just how ambitious and complex a project this is. (I'm told Ferdando Arrabal, now in his 80s, made a special trip to America to see Dirt [Contained] perform his play. Having seen this extraordinary cast, led by the at once luminous and ferocious Tana Sirois, I can see why.) It may be my bias as a former academic, but the more one brings to GARDEN OF DELIGHTS, the more one gets out of it. My reading of and about Arrabal since the show has retroactively increased my respect for and pleasure in the play. Nathan Gorelick's characterization of Arrabal's work in the journal Discourse is apt: '[His] theater is a wild, brutal, cacophonous and joyously provocative world. In his violence, Arrabal is related to Sade and Artaud. Yet he is doubtless the only writer to have pushed derision as far as he did. Deeply political and merrily playful, his work is the syndrome of our century of barbed wire and Gulags, a manner of finding reprieve.'

GARDEN OF DELIGHTS is a surreal play that takes its audience on a fantastical journey following protagonist Lais, a charming, yet self-loathing actress, through a bizarre look at her sadomasochistic experience of love and art. Isolated in her home with only a caged beast-like partner and flock of infantile sheep to distract her from her troubled past, she spirals down into painful memories and erotic fantasies that blur the line between reality and imagination.

Dirt [contained], in association with Long Island City Artists, has announced that it will present GARDEN OF DELIGHTS, a surreal journey by Fernando Arrabal, directed by Maria Swisher, that dives head first into the psyche of a tortured artist, July 26th - August 13th at Plaxall Gallery (5-25 46 Avenue, Long Island City). www.dirtcontained.com

Fans are set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the reboot of the hit BBC series Doctor Who at a special screening of the Hugo award-nominated episode 'Dalek,' with live commentary from episode writer Robert Shearman today, May 2 at 4pm at The Way Station in Brooklyn.

Dirt [contained] Theatre Company is set for the New York premiere of EASY LAUGHTER, the Sunday Times Award-winning play written by Robert Shearman, a Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award winning author and Hugo-nominated writer for the hit BBC series Doctor Who.

Fans are set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the reboot of the hit BBC series Doctor Who at a special screening of the Hugo award-nominated episode "Dalek," with live commentary from episode writer Robert Shearman on Saturday, May 2 at 4pm at The Way Station in Brooklyn.

Dirt [contained] Theatre Company announced today they will present the New York premiere of EASY LAUGHTER, the Sunday Times Award-winning play written by Robert Shearman, a Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy award winning author and Hugo-nominated writer for the hit BBC series Doctor Who.