Potomac Theatre Project is an Off-Broadway powerhouse of veteran and emerging talent creating socially and politically acute theatre for the 21st century. In its 3 1/2 decades, the voices of PTP’s writers have addressed the necessity and difficulty of art, homelessness, censorship, pornography, AIDS, totalitarianism, apartheid and gender wars—always in passionate, deeply human terms. Playwrights whose work is often seen on the company’s stages include Howard Barker, Caryl Churchill, Harold Pinter and Neal Bell; recent seasons included Vaclav Havel & Bertolt Brecht.
by Steven Berkoff
*New York City Premiere*
PTP/NYC’s “Lunch” rich, searing and absorbing
A woman and man, (ostensibly) strangers, engage in a provocative encounter that forces them to recognize their loneliness. Sexy, rude and funny.
“Berkoff is a kind of Shakespeare of invective, writing with a savagery of scorched earth warfare but also an alluring eloquence and imagination.” – New York Times
by Caryl Churchill
Hot Fudge is an explosive short play about greed and self-invention – a bleak, black comedy
“Hot Fudge, is a complete pleasure… the excellent cast gives perfectly calibrated, extremely funny performances.” – Show Showdown
Here We Go is written in three brief scenes. The play drifts from conversations among mourners at a post-funeral party to the dying process of (possibly) the man mourned and finally a wordless sequence with a man and his caregiver.
“Here We Go… is a heart-felt tribute to a deceased man and a vibrant portrait of him…” – Theatre Scene
“Here We Go has the power to invoke strong feelings about quality of life without even whispering a word. Featuring a large, talented cast, PTP/NYC’s production is worth the cost of admission.” – Opplaud.com
“A night of sensual play, manipulation, machinations and tragedy courtesy of two fiery playwrights.” – NY Times
“Sex, aging, work, illness, death. In this evening of shorts, Berkoff and Churchill lay bare the quintessential parts of life and remind us of just how messy, confusing, difficult, and awe-inducing these fundamental inevitabilities are.” – Offoffonline
DOG PLAYS
by Robert Chesley
A VARIANT STRAIN
by Jonathan Adler and Jim Petosa
A pairing of two plays juxtaposes stories of gay men across two pandemics, placing a rarely-performed work from the AIDS era in the United States (DOG PLAYS) alongside a new story for the COVID era (A VARIANT STRAIN). Based on interviews about gay men’s lived experiences of AIDS and COVID, the dialogue between these stories reveals new possibilities for understanding and healing across generations.
“The pairing of these two one-act plays in Reverse Transcription is relevant, stimulating, and vital in our understanding of how we need to connect to survive.” – morethantheplay
“Director Jim Petosa masterfully empowers his talented cast of skilled actors to take the audience on a journey into deep introspection, giving them a new perspective, and building their courage to move forward.” – morethantheplay
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