Staff Picks No. 98
Pleasure Faire : Pussypaws Puppetry
Center for Performance Research
May 29th-May 30th 2025
I love me a fucking puppet, and apparently the puppets will fuck in this one? Pussypaws Puppetry, an inclusive marionette troupe in-residence at CPR, will present two nights of marionette mischief involving erotica, hookups, dalliances and amour. And fairytales and silliness and the brilliant craft that is puppetry, one of theater’s greatest forms because aren’t we all, at heart, seekers of the simulacra?
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Kinstillatory Mappings in Light and Dark Matter : Maria Bauman, Emily Johnson, Kai Recollet
Abrons Arts Center
Thursday May 22nd 2025
For eight(!) years, scholar, curator, choreographer, artist, activists Emily Johnson and Kai Recollet have been organizing and hosting monthly fire ceremonies on Abrons Art Center’s front stoop. Anchored in Indigenous practice, the gathering is a welcoming soft sharing of presentations, performances, and readings from multi-hyphenate artists and thinkers.
I, sadly, can rarely attend, but this week my early evening is open! I’m stoked and grateful to experience Johnson and Recollet’s smarts and wisdom, along with offerings from guest artist, mover and community organizer, Maria Bauman. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Summerworks : Milo Cramer, Mara Nelson-Greenberg, Ro Reddick
Wild Project
May 14th-July 1st 2025
Okay people, it's that time of year: SUMMERWORKS!!! Clubbed Thumb's annual mouthpiece for how the American theater should be. There are three shows and you are sure to find magic. It's also at Wild Project, which seems to survive another day. I thought, "Should I pitch a Modern Love *about* Wild Project?" There are condoms in the bathroom, it's right next to a cool book bar, and it gives the East Village, thank god, some edge. Seeing a Summerworks show is scientifically proven to offer the same sensation as when kids "touch grass."
***Editorial Note - As of posting, the Clubbed Thumb site was not loading, so I linked to a Broadway World article
Staffer : Billy McEntee
Bad Stars : Amanda Horowitz, Max Mooney
Collapsable Hole
May 29th-June 8th 2025
Sam Shepard is very much back in vogue, though in more and more interesting contexts every day.
Staffer: kanishk pandey
THAT SHOW hosted by Chris Gethard, 24 Hour MARATHON : MANY
UCB/Livestreamed
Sunday May 25th 2025
For those looking to watch zany comedy as the sun rises, hopefully see a butthole, and definitely give to a good cause: Chris Gethard’s THAT SHOW is going 24-hours this month to raise funds for Laughing Together. You can see the full lineup on @chrisgeth on the IG, and acts that particularly catch my eye include “Connor Ratliff’s Acting Class,” “Ninjas,” and - of course - Hannah Mitchell at 8:30am.
***https://laughingtogether.org/
Staffer: Matthew Antoci
The Counterfeit Opera : Dustin Wills, Kate Tarker, Daniel Schlosberg
Little Island
May 29th-June 15th 2025
Why go to Shakespeare in the Park when you can…do something fun? Dustin Wills’ production of The Marriage of Figaro last year blew my mind, and was one of the best theatrical nights of my life. The children! The throat camera! That fucking orchestra! So to see him tackle a new version of The Beggar’s Opera, with a book by the scribe of THUNDERBODIES and MONTAG, and a score from one of New York’s greatest musical minds…I am seated? Duh-doy. (And all tix are $25. That’s right, every seat.)
Staffer: Reuven Glezer