Atlantic Theater Company

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Atlantic Theater Company
AtlanticTheatreCompanyLogo.jpg
Official company logo
Atlantic Theatre Company Linda Gross Theatre.jpg
Atlantic Theater Company
Address336 West 20th Street
Manhattan, New York City
United States
Coordinates 40°44′38″N74°00′07″W / 40.743912°N 74.001819°W / 40.743912; -74.001819
TypeOff-Broadway
Capacity 199 – Linda Gross Theater
99 – Stage 2
Opened1985
Website
atlantictheater.org

Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater. [1] The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their acting students from New York University, inspired by the historical examples of the Group Theatre and Stanislavski. The theater is currently led by Artistic Director Neil Pepe. [2]

Contents

The company operates two theaters in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. There is the 199-seat mainstage Linda Gross Theater, which is located at 336 West 20th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, in the parish hall of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, built in 1854 and renovated in 2012. [3] [4] Additionally, the 99-seat black-box theater, Stage 2, is located at 330 West 16th Street, also between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, in the former Port Authority building. Stage 2, which opened in June 2006, is the home of Atlantic’s development program for new plays, which encompasses the commissioning of new works, readings, workshops, and fully staged productions. [5]

Productions

Since its inception, Atlantic has produced more than 200 plays, including the Tony Award winning productions of Spring Awakening , [6] The Band's Visit and Kimberly Akimbo , David Mamet’s adaptation of The Voysey Inheritance by Harley Granville Barker, Mamet’s Romance, Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange , Dublin Carol by Conor McPherson, Woody Allen’s Writer’s Block, the revival of Hobson's Choice , the revivals of Mamet's American Buffalo , The Woods , and Edmond, Dangerous Corner by J. B. Priestley, The Cider House Rules , adapted by Peter Parnell, Celebration, The Room and The Hothouse by Harold Pinter, Mojo by Jez Butterworth, the New York premieres of Howard Korder’s Boys’ Life and The Lights at Lincoln Center Theater, Kevin Heelan’s Distant Fires, Quincy Long’s The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite and Shaker Heights, Tom Donaghy’s Minutes From The Blue Route, Edwin Sánchez’ Trafficking in Broken Hearts, and Missing Persons by Craig Lucas.

Atlantic has also had a notable collaboration with the Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, having premiered four of his plays in New York: Hangmen (2018), The Cripple of Inishmaan (2008), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2006) and The Beauty Queen of Leenane (1998). The latter two transferred to Broadway.

The entrance to Stage 2, at 330 West 16th Street Atlantic Stage 2 closeup.jpg
The entrance to Stage 2, at 330 West 16th Street

Other Mamet productions by Atlantic include his adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters, and his own plays The Blue Hour, Yes, But So What?, Revenge of the Space Pandas, The Poet and the Rent, Vermont Sketches, Reunion, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, The Duck Variations, The Water Engine, Home, School, and Keep Your Pantheon. In February 2017, Mamet's play The Penitent started its previews leading to its premiere at the end of February.

In other recent productions, Atlantic has produced On the Shore of the Wide World by Simon Stephens, Describe the Night by Rajiv Joseph, The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu, The Great Leap by Lauren Yee, and This Ain't No Disco with music and lyrics by Stephen Trask and Peter Yanowitz.

Acting school

The Atlantic Acting School operates as both a private conservatory and an undergraduate program in conjunction with the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. [7] The school focuses on the Practical Aesthetics, a philosophy and acting technique that grew out of a series of NYU summer workshops in Vermont in 1983 and 1984 with playwright David Mamet and actor William H. Macy.

A number of theater companies have been formed by former students of Atlantic Acting School, including Pipeline Theatre Company, Bluebird Theatre Company, The Joust Theatre Company, Harvard Sailing Team, Crashbox Theatre Company, Cake Productions, 3rd Kulture Kids, Acorn Pictures, Aggrocrag, Lesser America, Foolish Gentlemen Films, and The Plinth. [8]

2025 Labor Dispute

The stagehands of the Atlantic went on strike on January 12, 2025 at 2pm [9] with IATSE and Actor's Equity Association's support. IATSE contends that the company failed to negotiate in good faith after employees vote to join the union in February 2024, employing stalling techniques.

As a result, the company cancelled the remainder of the productions of Grief Camp and I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan until further notice. As of now [ needs update ], the strike is ongoing. [10]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Atlantic Theater Company. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Atlantic Theater Company". Guidestar. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  3. ↑ Healy, Patrick (July 12, 2010). "Atlantic Theater Company Announces New Season". The New York Times . Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  4. ↑ Fullerton, Krissie (October 2, 2012). "Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Raúl Esparza, Richard Kind and More Celebrate Reopening of Atlantic's Linda Gross Theater". Playbill . Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  5. ↑ Robertson, Campbell (August 16, 2006). "The Atlantic Theater Company Trades One Coveted Chelsea Space for Another". The New York Times . Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  6. ↑ Healy, Patrick (August 30, 2010). "Nonprofit Theaters Take On Bold Broadway Ventures This Fall". The New York Times . Retrieved September 23, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Atlantic Theater Company Acting School". New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Alumni Formed Theater Companies". Atlantic Theater Company. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  9. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (13 January 2025). "Atlantic Theater Company Backstage Workers Go on Strike; Grief Camp, I'm Assuming You Know David Greenspan Postponed". Playbill. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  10. ↑ Paulson, Michael (12 January 2025). "Stagehands Walk Off the Job at Atlantic Theater Company". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
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