Winter 2018 UPDATE: this excellent play has been extended for a run at the East Village Playhouse. Visit http://www.thebenchplay.com for tickets and more information. Seeing The Bench is absolutely the best thing you can do on a Friday night in New York City.
EAST VILLAGE PLAYHOUSE
340 East 6th Street, East Village NYC
January 26th thru April 13th
Every Friday Night, 9pm Curtain
Off-Broadway’s The Bench play is a memorable theatrical treat. With deft acting chops that evoke the transformative versatility of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey, Rob Galinsky brings five diverse characters to life on stage in a heart-rending tale of love, heroics, fate, and homelessness in the 1980s. Based on real characters and their true stories, the personal tales and tribulations of the various characters who find themselves homeless can resonate with everyone. The Bench underscores how love forces us to be braver and to stretch beyond our comfort zone – even when that comfort zone is found on a bench.
Directed by Jay O. Sanders (Sneaky Pete, True Detective, JFK, Day After Tomorrow) and produced by Chris Noth (Sex & the City, The Good Wife), Barry “Shabaka” Henley (Collateral, Better Call Saul, Jitney) and Tony Award-winning producer Terry Schnuck (Fun Home, More, Hair, Sunset Boulevard), this play was written by the multi-talented Rob Galinsky, who performs in it as well as its sole actor. Full of humor and highlighting the best of humanity in the worst of circumstances, this play will help you view your fellow citizens through softer, kinder lens, which is much needed in our current era. The Bench’s’ set is comprised of apt graphic novel art from Daphne Arthur, and the production is scored live by composer and multi-instrumentalist Deep Singh.
The play is an hour and there’s no intermission – but you won’t need one because you’ll be thoroughly mesmerized by this original story and the acting.
Here are some video clip reactions to the play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nuxTUx5TIw
