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Founded in 1996 by three of New York’s the acclaimed downtown theatre artists—director Jim Simpson, designer Kyle Chepulis and playwright Mac Wellman—the award-winning Flea Theater was originally formed out of the purely artistic impulse to create “a joyful hell in a small space”.
Soon a more formal mission was born: to present distinctive work that raises the standards of Off-Off-Broadway for artists & audiences alike.
Non-institutional and resolutely noncommercial, The Flea embodies the spirit of adventure and experiment that has defined Off-Off-Broadway since its inception.
They are one of the only professional theatres in the city that maintains an open-door policy for artists. Part playground, part laboratory, part training ground, The Flea has been home to established artists taking new risks, emerging artists developing their ideas, and mid-career artists building sustained audiences.
Each year The Flea presents and produces dozens of new works in an environment that is professional, welcoming, and intimate. As a testament to their success, Flea artists have been honoured with two OBIE Awards, an Otto Award and, in May 2004, The Flea was given a Drama Desk Award for Distinguished Achievement commending their dedication to adventurous theatre.
Since its founding, The Flea has evolved from a small downtown theatre in the heart of TriBeCa to a bustling multi-disciplinary performance complex that is an active member of its Lower Manhattan community.
Especially known for their early support of emerging innovators such as Sarah East Johnson, Kathy Supové, and Nicholas Leichter, they are also recognised for presenting the experimental work of established artists including Adam Rapp, Len Jenkin, A.R. Gurney, Karen Finley, Will Eno and Elizabeth Swados, among others.
A seminal early production was The Guys, by Anne Nelson, which captured the hearts and minds of New York City after 9/11. With The Flea just a few short blocks from Ground Zero, The Guys turned into an extraordinary community phenomenon and played to 13 months of sold-out houses before being made into a feature film.
By the end of its run, it had featured a rotating cast that included Sigourney Weaver, Bill Murray, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Bill Irwin, Carol Kane, Amy Irving, and Anthony La Paglia, and drew more than 12,000 people. The Guys returned to The Flea in September 2006 for a special five-year-anniversary run.
Production highlights include Oh the Humanity and other exclamations, by Pulitzer finalist Will Eno, starring Marisa Tomei and Brian Hutchison. This transcendent collection of five short plays extended through winter 2008.
Another recent Flea hit was Mrs Farnsworth, a timely political comedy written especially for The Flea by renowned playwright A.R. Gurney. Performed by the incomparable duo of Sigourney Weaver and John Lithgow, Mrs Farnsworth won rave reviews and returned to The Flea for a special encore in the fall.
For two years in a row, The New York Times named a Flea production as one of the best Off-Broadway shows of the season—Mrs. Farnsworth in 2004 and O Jerusalem in 2003.
Recent productions include The Great Recession, six plays commissioned by The Flea exploring the impact of the current economic crisis on the younger generation by Thomas Bradshaw, Sheila Callaghan, Erin Courtney, Will Eno, Itamar Moses and Adam Rapp, Jonathan Reynold’s Girls in Trouble and Bathsheba Doran’s Parents’ Evening.
THE TEAM
Jim Simpson, Artistic Director
Carol Ostrow, Producing Director
Beth Dembrow, Managing Director
Liz Blessing, Technical Director
Penn Genthner, Development Manager
David Sernick, Marketing Associate
Erin Daley, Company Manager
Dominic Spillane, Audience Development Associate
The Flea Theater
41 White Street
New York, NY 10013
jims@theflea.org
Here are few videos reflect some of their work.