Lenore Wolf News

Race and Reckonings on a journey from South Africa  to South Side to South Bronx, January 10 - 13, 2019

The Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. 4th Street) current production of Jacob Gordin's The Jewish King Lear, one of the foundational works of the "Golden Age of American Yiddish theater," closes on Sunday, May 27.   

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. 4th Street) presents Jacob Gordin's The Jewish King Lear, one of the foundational works of the "Golden Age" of American Yiddish theater, in a new English translation by Ruth Gay, from April 27 through May 27, 2018. The play, which had its Lower East Side debut in 1892 and was written as a star vehicle for Jacob Adler, one of the greatest actors of the New York's Yiddish stage. Metropolitan Playhouse welcomes back director Ed Chemaly (The Easiest Way, The Spirit House) to helm the production.

Metropolitan Playhouse (220 E. 4th Street) welcomes back Victorian impresario Augustin Daly with A Marriage Contract now on stage through Sunday, March 18. This riotous 1892 comedy of a marriage caught between the big city and a small town, makes a triumphant return to the New York stage for the first time since its premiere.

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse revives A Marriage Contract, Augustin Daly's uproarious and poignant commentary on marriage, family, and the contrast between county and city life. Staged by Artistic Director Alex Roe at Metropolitan Playhouse, 220 E. 4th Street, New York City. This production marks, to our knowledge, the first time the play is being presented since 1892 premiere. It is worth noting that the script only exists in manuscript form and was never published.

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse revives A Marriage Contract, Augustin Daly's 1892 uproarious and poignant commentary on marriage, family, and the contrast between county and city life. Staged by Artistic Director Alex Roe at Metropolitan Playhouse, 200 E. 4th Street, New York City, this marks, to our knowledge, the first time the play (originally titled A Test Case or Grass Versus Granite) is being presented since its premiere. In fact, it worth noting that the script only exists in manuscript form and was never published.

Arthur Kopit's 1968 critically-acclaimed play INDIANS opens tonight at the Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse. Staged by Artistic Director Alex Roe, performances continue through December 16 at Metropolitan Playhouse at 220 E. 4th Street, New York City.

Metropolitan Playhouse opens its 26th season tonight with Clyde Fitch's sharp satire THE CLIMBERS. Directed by Metropolitan favorite Michael Hardart, the production runs through October 8. Metropolitan Playhouse is located at 220 E. 4th Street.

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse stages THE CLIMBERS, Clyde Fitch's indictment of a decadent and selfish age, directed by Metropolitan favorite Michael Hardart, at the Playhouse: 220 E 4th Street, New York City.

THE CLIMBERS is a sharp satire from the Gilded Age of both vulgar competitors for wealth and status, as well as the censorious critics who resisted them.  In Fitch's incisive eye, the scramble to assert superiority is a curse for all sides in a play that is a welcome appraisal of a divided culture from a century past.  His vote for compassion and empathy is one that should count again.

OBIE Award-winning theater company Metropolitan Playhouse will present its annual EAST SIDE STORIES, a three-week celebration of the life and lore of the East Village featuring four new plays and six new solo performances.

LEAH, THE FORSAKEN is a tale of forbidden love, treachery, and redemption from 1862. Leah, a Jewish refugee fleeing persecution in Hungary, is forbidden by law to pass the night in an Austrian town. But there she wins the love of Rudolf, a Christian citizen. When a particularly zealous persecutor convinces Rudolf she has betrayed him, he quickly renounces her. Leah retreats to her exile, but only after bestowing her and her people's curse on him and his progeny. Can there be any light in such a darkened time, and what could possibly light it?

LEAH, THE FORSAKEN is a tale of forbidden love, treachery, and redemption from 1862. Leah, a Jewish refugee fleeing persecution in Hungary, is forbidden by law to pass the night in an Austrian town. But there she wins the love of Rudolf, a Christian citizen. But when a particularly zealous persecutor convinces Rudolf she will betray him for gold, he quickly renounces her. Bestowing her curse on him and his progeny, Leah retreats to her exile. Five years later, now bound for a better life in America, she finds Rudolf has prospered with his new family, but also become a devoted champion of justice for Austrian Jews. Reconciled to a degree, the couple find grace in forgiveness and contrition, though equality is an elusive treasure.

On Monday, October 24 Metropolitan Playhouse will hold a free public reading of the new stage adaptation of IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE, based on the 1935 novel written by Sinclair Lewis. In 1936, the novel was adapted into a play and theaters across the country opened productions on the same night. To commemorate the 80th anniversary of those productions, regional theaters, universities, and communities across the country will read the new adaptation by Berkeley Repertory Theatre's Artistic Director Tony Taccone and screenwriter Bennett S. Cohen.

Owing to the popularity of this double bill, Metropolitan Playhouse is adding two performances in the final week of June to the run of O'NEILL (UNEXPECTED).

First Draughts is a developmental reading series produced by Amios, a theater collective whose mission is to build community through art. First Draughts is dedicated to expanding first produced at Shotz (Amios' monthly short-play series) into full-length plays over the course of a six-month development process.

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse revives Arthur Richman's never-published hit comedy from 1921: THE AWFUL TRUTH.   Directed by 2-time NYIT Award nominee Michael Hardart at the Playhouse: 220 E 4th Street, New York City

Obie Award winning Metropolitan Playhouse revives Arthur Richman's never-published hit comedy from 1921: THE AWFUL TRUTH.   Directed by 2-time NYIT Award nominee Michael Hardart at the Playhouse: 220 E 4th Street, New York City

The 10th Annual New York Innovative Theatre Awards Ceremony will celebrate the Off-Off-Broadway Theatre community and honor this past season's greatest achievements. The awards will be presented by celebrities from the theatre community at large.

On Monday, July 21, 2014, The New York Innovative Theatre Foundation, the organization who for the past 10 years has been dedicated to celebrating Off-Off-Broadway, announced the 2014 nominees at its annual event. Celebrating ten years and thousands of nominees, the IT PARTY took place at XL Night Club, 512 West 42nd Street.