(ENGLEWOOD, NJ) -- Black Box's next main stage show is an under-produced masterwork: Edward Albee's The Play About The Baby. This hysterically funny yet mysterious and poignant play features a young couple and the absurdist interruption when a strange man and woman appear. Performances take place November 10-13, 17-20, 26-27, and December 1-4. All performances are at 8:00pm.
The production features Michael Gardiner, Danielle MacMath, Jeremy Niles, and Ilana Schimmel. The play is directed by Matt Okin.
Tickets are available for purchase online or at the door (cash only). Late seating is at the discretion of the management. Masks are always welcome but not required. Since Summer of 2020, BBPAC has offered live theater against all odds by implementing a fluctuating number of safety measures to keep all actors, staff, and audiences safe. BBPAC reserves the right to adjust any health and safety protocols as needed or as might be requested by select guest artists. Please check ticketing links before attending to see if any protocols have changed prior to your visit.
In the piece's few original incarnations, circa 1999 and 2000, critics raved:
“An invaluable self-portrait of sorts from one of the few genuinely great living American dramatists…BABY rockets into that special corner of theater heaven where words shoot off like fireworks into dazzling patterns and hues.” — NY Times
“An exhilarating, wicked, devastating piece of emotional terrorism.” — NY Newsday
“A frequently funny and ultimately devastating battle of wills, which is unquestionably the main event of the Off-Broadway season…Albee’s play is revealed here to be among his very finest.” — Variety
Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928, and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include THE ZOO STORY (1958), THE DEATH OF BESSIE SMITH (1959), THE SANDBOX (1959), THE AMERICAN DREAM (1960), WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1961-62, Tony Award), TINY ALICE (1964), A DELICATE BALANCE (1966, Pulitzer Prize; 1996, Tony Award), ALL OVER (1971), SEASCAPE (1974, Pulitzer Prize), LISTENING (1975), COUNTING THE WAYS (1975), THE LADY FROM DUBUQUE (1977-78), THE MAN WHO HAD THREE ARMS (1981), FINDING THE SUN (1982), MARRIAGE PLAY (1986-87), THREE TALL WOMEN (1991, Pulitzer Prize), FRAGMENTS (1993), THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY (1997), THE GOAT OR, WHO IS SYLVIA? (2000, 2002 Tony Award), OCCUPANT (2001), AT HOME AT THE ZOO: (ACT 1, HOMELIFE. ACT 2, THE ZOO STORY.) (2004), and ME, MYSELF & I (2008). He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council, and President of The Edward F. Albee Foundation. Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980. In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts. In 2005, he was awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
As the intimate Northern NJ space strives for survival, the rest of The Black Box's season is filled with other under-produced gems, from the Estates of world class artists as well as in collaboration with writers for world or regional premieres. To start off 2023, the unique musical Three Postcards by Craig Lucas and Craig Carnelia will have its NJ premiere, followed by another area premiere of a different sort: Nicky Silver's side-splitting comedy The Agony And The Agony. Continuing on the Main Stage, the East Coast premiere of a comedy by Daniel Handler is being scheduled for March, followed by the world premiere production of Ken Levine's Guilty Pleasures.
Also slated for 2023 is a number of special workshops and staged readings, including: a rare stage adaptation of I.B. Singer's select autobiographical writing adapted into Singer of Warsaw by Michael Gurin and in partnership with the Estate; a vital new play by Migdalia Cruz, Never Moscow; and John Lahr's Nobody's Angels, with stage reading performances soon to be announced! Meanwhile, world renowned percussionist/filmmaker Billy Martin recently began The Black Box's first residency by an artist of other disciplines, with an upcoming solo show on November 5.
Black Box will also be performing in New York City in 2023. Eric Bogosian's 1+1, which was fully produced by The Black Box in late '21 and early '22 before headlining The Chain Play Festival in NYC this past July, is scheduled for an Off-Broadway premiere in Soho featuring the same cast and creative team. Additionally, two alternating programs of select short works by Sam Shepard, showcasing some of the late writer/actor's rarest early pieces, will start at The Black Box in NJ before heading to an intimate NYC venue for a limited run this Spring.
This unique slate of programming is the result of The Black Box's unprecedented "pandemic pivot," designed to ensure that the voices of some of the country's greatest artists will endure and all audiences to discover the power of unsurpassable modern theater. All of this will benefit from immediate support of established artists and producers, as well as from long-standing members of The Black Box community.
The Black Box is located at 49 East Palisade Avenue in Englewood, New Jersey. The Black Box is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
