Morality Plays
that smash the mirror
By ferociously exploring plays that toy with ethics, laws and social construct,
Thursday Night Theater Club
mirrors some of the resounding issues humanity faces today.
2019 Season
The Elephant man
By BERNARD POMERANCE Directed By ROBYN COHEN
March 20th-April 14th
The Elephant Man is based on the life of John Merrick who lived in London during the latter part of the 19th Century. A horribly deformed young man who has been a freak attraction in traveling side shows, John is found abandoned and helpless and is admitted for observation to Whitechapel, a prestigious London hospital. Under the care of the famous young doctor, Fredrick Treves, Merrick is educated and introduced to London society. Through their eyes, he is changed from sensational object of pity, to an urbane and witty favorite of the aristocracy and literati. It his dream that he will become a man like any other…but unbeknownst to him, he exceeds even that.
“The Elephant Man is great. A giant of a play. Wonderful, moving and purely theatrical.”- Clive Barnes, The New York Post.
“An enthralling and luminous play. Haunting, splendid…”- Richard Eder, The New York Times.
Nuts by Tom Topor
A Broadway hit, Nuts has been called the best courtroom melodrama since Witness for the Prosecution and The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. Set in a courtroom in New York's Bellevue Hospital, the story follows a high-priced call girl incarcerated on a charge for killing a violent "john". The State, represented by a court appointed psychiatrist and an aggressive prosecutor, say Claudia Faith Draper is unfit to stand trial. As testimony from experts, physicians and her parents unfolds, with her psyche and childhood dissected, she proves to the judge that she isn't "nuts" and stands legally sane at trial for manslaughter.
