Things Unseen Theatre began with Nightfall with Edgar Allan Poe in 2011. Since then, we have produced at least three plays a year. Each of the plays we produce focuses on themes that audiences may not be exposed to through other media or even other theatrical productions or entertainment outlets.
Written by: John Pielmeier
Directed by: Becky Robinson
"Summoned to a convent, Dr. Martha Livingstone, a court-appointed psychiatrist, is charged with assessing the sanity of a novice accused of murdering her newborn. Miriam Ruth, the Mother Superior, determinedly keeps young Agnes from the doctor, further arousing Livingstone’s suspicions. Who killed the infant, and who fathered the tiny victim? Livingstone’s questions force all three women to re-examine the meaning of faith and the power of love, leading to a dramatic, compelling climax.”
Written by: Karen Weinberg, Chloe Johnston, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, and Andy Bayiates
Directed by: Matt Michrina
"46 Plays for 46 Presidents is exactly what it sounds like, but every turn it takes is entirely unexpected. In each of these espresso shots of American history, a member of the flexible ensemble dons the star-spangled coat of the presidency and the group explores a surprising aspect of that administration. The short plays run on a spectrum from elections to impeachments, from personal stories to political battles, and from funny to tragic. Whether it's a comedy roast of Thomas Jefferson, a nuanced monologue about social upheaval during the Johnson administration, or a mini-musical about George Bush Sr., you're never going to know what's coming next. A unique, thought-provoking, and wildly entertaining evening of theatre.”
Written by William Mastrosimone; Directed by Aaron James and Leila McCrumb
Rose, a shy dimestore salesgirl whose life centers around reveries and daydreams, lives in a dreary Philadelphia apartment. Into her life saunters Cliff, a hardworking, hard-drinking truck driver. He is rough and witty and just as starved for love as she is.
Written by Tim Kelly; Directed by David Rutter
This laugh-oriented, old-fashioned melodrama is based on Wilkie Collins' classic, and it is wild, fast, and funny. It features a disreputable (and hilarious) villain who dispatches his adversaries with nefarious ease, seals his wife in a madhouse to steal her vast fortune, and battles a wicked countess in one of the most uproarious fight scenes ever staged. When all else fails, he engineers mock funerals. But he's scared of the mysterious "Woman In White" who's escaped from the asylum to seek him out.
by Jonathan Marc Sherman
May 25-27 & 28, 2023
Three adult brothers are living together once again in their childhood apartment, struggling to redefine themselves while pursuing their desires and coping with the void left by their parents’ deaths. Drastic shifts in their dynamics occur after a neighbor named Stella becomes a part of their lives. A sweet and sour look at the illusions we have about what makes us happy—and what is within our power to change. Although called a “dark comedy,” this show deals with difficult and sensitive subjects including suicide, alcoholism, and drug use as well as sexually explicit language.
November 10-13, 2022
By Edward Albee
Directed by David Rutter
Peter, a publishing executive, is reading on his favorite bench in New York City’s Central Park. Suddenly he is approached by a stranger named Jerry, who makes his entrance with the announcement “I’ve been to the zoo!” Jerry is intent on claiming the bench for himself, and proceeds to probe deep into Peter’s life.
By John Guare
Directed by Aaron James and Leila McCrumb
He and She first meet when She is feeding pigeons in the park, and He asks her for the plastic favor at the bottom of the Crackerjack box. He tells her that his wife takes all his money, bends the coins in her teeth, and shoots at his feet with a rifle with a blue silencer. She doesn’t know what to make of him, but they begin to meet regularly, and gradually more of his story comes out.
By Allan Knee
Directed by Aaron James and Leila McCrumb
By Jessica Swale
Directed by Jerry Cox
September 8-11, 2022
“Nell Gwynn” is a comedic play with music and dance about the life of Nell Gwynn who became one of the first women on the English stage in a time, the 17th century, when men played all the female roles in theatre. Nell causes bawdy havoc as she rises from her roots in the slums to become the favorite mistress of King Charles II. All the characters are real people from history, and the events in the play are based, with embellishments, on real life.
June 16-19, 2022
By Kenneth Lonergan
Directed by Emily Evey and Matt Michrina
Gladys, the elderly matriarch of the Green family, has run an art gallery in a small Greenwich Village hotel for many years. The management wants to replace her less-than-thriving gallery with a coffee shop. Always irascible but now increasingly erratic, Gladys is a cause of concern to her daughter, her son-in-law, and her grandson, from whose point of view this poignant memory play is told. A wacky and heartrending look at the effect of senility on a family, "The Waverly Gallery" was a success in its premiere at New York’s Promenade Theatre, winning an Obie for legendary Eileen Heckart in the role of Gladys. Nineteen years later, the play premiered on Broadway, earning a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play and a Tony Award for 86-year-old leading actress Elaine May.
By Cheryl Strayed, adapted by Nia Vardalos
Directed by Richard McGarvey
December 16-19, 2021
Things Unseen Theatre will be presenting the play “Tiny Beautiful Things” based on the book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. The show includes actual letters received by Ms. Strayed when she took over an unpaid, anonymous position of advice columnist and called herself “Sugar.”. Many of the letters are heartbreaking, but there are also many humorous moments. The play has adult subject matter and language as Sugar advises people on such diverse struggles as miscarriage, infidelity, poverty and love, drawing from her own experiences and empathy.
July 30-August 1, 2021
By Sheri Wilner
Directed by George Baumer
In “Relative Strangers” a young airline passenger decides that the woman seated next to her might be the mother she never had. As the flight progresses, they form an alliance helped by a wacky flight attendant.
By Jerry Mayer
Directed by Matt Michrina
“2 Across” follows Janet and Josh, two supposedly mature people, on a bus trip during which they discover their differences and possibly find love.
October 15-18, 2020
By Andy Bayiates, Sean Benjamin, Genevra Gallo-Bayiates, Chloe Johnston, and Karen Weinberg
Directed by Matt Michrina
45 Plays for 45 Presidents is exactly what it sounds like, but every turn it takes is entirely unexpected. In each of these espresso shots of American history, a member of the flexible ensemble dons the star-spangled coat of the presidency and the group explores a surprising aspect of that administration. The short plays run on a spectrum from elections to impeachments, from personal stories to political battles, and from funny to tragic. Whether it's a comedy roast of Thomas Jefferson, a nuanced monologue about social upheaval during the Johnson administration, or a mini-musical about George Bush Sr., you're never going to know what's coming next. This is unique, thought-provoking, and wildly entertaining theatre.
February 6-9, 2020
Written by Marsha Norman
Directed by Rich McGarvey
What would you do if someone you loved sat down with you one night and calmly told you that they were going to end their life before morning? Early in this 90-minute drama, Jessie calmly reveals to her mother that by the end of the evening she is going to lock her bedroom door and shoot herself. She wants them to have a pleasant last night together while she does her mother’s nails, replenishes the candy jars and organizes the junk drawer.
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Emily Evey
November 7-10, 2019
“She Kills Monsters” is comedic-romp set in Ohio during 1995 and the dungeons and dragons universe. Two sisters, who could be no less alike, deal with the grief of death throughout out the show. One sister, Agnes, is 24 and boring. Her teenage sister, Tilly, is a huge nerd with her own full life in the local dungeons and dragons culture. When Tilly suddenly dies, Agnes is forced to learn how to play dungeons and dragons in order to learn more about her sister that she barely knew in real life. She plays the game along side her ‘ghost sister’ and learns a lot about her sister, herself, and how to accept the unacceptable.
July 18-21, 2019
By Jez Butterworth
Directed by Matt Michrina
On a moonless night in August when the sea trout are ready to run, a man brings his new girlfriend to the remote family cabin where he has come fly fish since he was a boy. But she's not the only woman he has brought here - or indeed the last.
June 6-9, 2019
By Sam Bobrick
Directed by Alice Oswald
Sara Hastings is a successful lawyer with no time for love. Aunt Martha, however, is determined to see her niece down the aisle. Getting Sara Married is an up-beat comedy that intrudes upon the life of Sara as she deals with her aunt’s over-the-top, slightly insane plans to find her a match. Will Sara find love when Brandon Cates is brought to her door, or will Martha have to lure her chiropractor next? Will Sara make it down the aisle, or will a meddling aunt end up in jail for kidnapping? This hilarious show investigates many different dating stereotypes that most can relate to whether they’re the ones in relationships or the ones avoiding them.
March 8-10, 2019
By Jean-Paul Sartre
Directed by Haley Holt
Three souls are trapped together forever.
An original play written and directed by Pam Young
Four friends gather to discuss their pasts.
by Rajiv Joseph
Directed by Rich McGarvey
Apr. 12 - 15 2018
Set in Baghdad in 2003, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo uses the Iraq War to explore such themes as redemption and the never-ending cycle of violence, which is already in effect by the beginning of the play, and which will almost certainly continue after the curtain closes.
Written & Directed by FJ Hartland
May 17, 19, 20, 24, & 26 2018
Set in 1984, this play written by a local playwright follows a family’s adjustments when the bread-winner finds himself unemployed and his wife returns to work, sending their traditional lifestyle sideways.
by Yasmina Reza
Translated by Christopher Hampton
Directed by Tom Liszka
Oct. 13 - 16 2018
The story of two sets of parents in the aftermath of a fight between their sons on the playground. At first diplomatic, their conversations progress and devolve. Tensions emerge and the gloves come off, leaving the couples with more than their principles in tatters.
by Sarah Treem
Directed by Robin Reese
Dec. 6 - 9, 2018
This bittersweet comedy is about a girl who knows what she wants (to be a great composer), but not quite sure how to get it. Her parents are getting divorced, her fiancé is almost famous, her first love reappears, and there’s a lot of noise in her head, but none of it is music.
by Bernard Slade
Directed by Robin Reese
Apr. 20 - 22, 29, & 30 2017
Same Time, Next Year follows a love affair between two people, Doris and George, married to others, who rendezvous once a year. Twenty-five years of manners and morals are hilariously and touchingly played out by the lovers.
by Lee Blessing
Directed by Courtney Edmundson
June 23 - 25, 30 & July 1, 2017
The two rooms of the title are a windowless cubicle in Beirut, where an American hostage is being held by Arab terrorists, and a room in his home in the United States, which his wife has stripped of furniture so that, at least symbolically, she can share his ordeal. In fact the same room serves for both and is also the locale for imaginary conversations between the hostage and his wife, plus the setting for the real talks she has with a reporter and a State Department official.
by Marc Camoletti
Directed by Matt Michrina & Alice Oswald
Aug. 18 - 20, 25, & 26 2017
Bernard has a flat in Paris and three attractive stewardesses all engaged to him without knowing about each other. But Bernard’s life gets bumpy when his friend Robert comes to stay, and a new, speedier Boeing jet disrupts his careful planning. Soon all three stewardesses are in the city simultaneously, timid Robert forgets which lies to tell to whom, and catastrophe looms.
by Susan Miller
Featuring Sherry Dilling
Jan. 29 & 30, 2016
A searingly honest solo piece about a woman's humorous and moving encounters with relationships, parenthood, cancer, and her ever-changing self.
by Jenny Laird
Directed by Tara Enedy
July 15 - 17, 22 & 23, 2016
A passionate World War II drama about the women known as WASPs who were military pilots during the war. They were classified as civil servants and were unable to get full military status until 1977. The play tells the tale of 5 young female fliers struggling for dignity and equality at a Texas Air Force base.
by Joshua Harmon
Directed by Bronwyn Katdare
Sept. 9 - 11, 16, & 17, 2016
A fierce biting comedy about family, faith, and what you choose to believe. Three cousins fight over a family heirloom.
by Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Tom Liszka
November 4, 5, 6, 11 & 12
An imaginative, quirky comedy that explores the paradox of modern technology's ability to both unite and isolate people in the digital age. The play was awarded a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding New Play.
by Paula Vogel
Feb. 27 & 28, March 1, 6 & 7, 2015
Directed by Robin Reese
A tale of survival told with humor and wit - the story of a woman who learns the rules of the road and life from behind the wheel.
by Sam Shepard
Directed by Richard Gray
May 22 - 24, 29 & 30, 2015
A tale of two brothers - Austin, a budding screenwriter, and Lee, a nomadic desperado who has decided to return home after years in the desert. The simmering sibling rivalry boils over when Lee suddenly steals all of Austin’s creative thunder, and physical mayhem ensues.
by Scott Wollschleger
June 19, 2015
Featuring Kevin Sims, Abby Minor, Bryan Ferlez, and Martha Hoffman. A new experimental percussion monodrama which explores our precarious past and an even more precarious future.
by Amy Liszka
June 19, 2015
Featuring Amy Liszka and Deanna Henson. A two-woman one-act play portraying two struggling waitress/actresses in NY discussing their lives and futures.
by Moises Kaufman & Members of the Tectonic Theatre Project
Directed by Zachary Bracken
July 31, Aug. 1 & 2, 2015
The true story of the murder in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming. The Tectonic Theater Project made six trips to Laramie over the course of a year and a half in the aftermath of the murder and during the trial of the two young men accused of killing Shepard, constructing a deeply moving theatrical experience from interviews and their own experiences.
by Martin Crimp
Directed by Russell Stiles
Sept. 11 - 13, 18 & 19, 2015
Richard and Corinne are a middle-class couple who have fled the city in search of rural calm. Their peace is shattered when Richard, a doctor, brings home a girl in the middle of the night whom he claims to have found sprawled unconscious by the roadside.
by Tennessee Williams
Directed by Robin Reese
Nov. 13 - 15, 2015
After Jake, a shady, middle-aged cotton gin owner, burns down rival Silva Vicarro's mill, Vicarro attempts to enact vengeance by enacting "The Good Neighbor Policy," which involves Jake's delicate young wife, Flora. Called a "Mississippi Delta comedy," it's a taut and chilling drama about greed, lust, and men who consider women as commodities, possessions to be bought and sold.
by Connor McPherson
Directed by Russell Stiles
March 14 - 16, 21, & 22, 2014
As the night (and the amount of liquor) progresses, each local from the bar starts to tell a tale of ghostly happenings in the town. What starts as innocent braggadocio between the men turns into a real fright when Valerie reveals a real, haunted tale of her own from the past. Examining chances of missed opportunity and the loneliness that results in it, The Weir is a haunting play with its roots in Irish folklore.
by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Jorden Heitkamp
June 13, 14, 19 - 21, 2014
A writer in an unnamed totalitarian state is being interrogated about the gruesome content of his short stories and their similarities to a series of child murders. A complex dark comedy about life and art, about fact and illusion, about politics, society, cruelty, and creativity.
by Neil LaBute
Directed by Tara Enedy
Sept. 5, 6, 12 & 13, 2014
In this one-act play, Ben and Abby explore the choices available to them the day after September 11, 2001, but can their relationship survive? We see them engage in a different kind of terrorism - the painful warfare we often wage on those we profess to love.
by Martin McDonagh
Directed by Russell Stiles
Oct. 24 - 26, & 31, Nov. 1, 2014
A dark comedy in McDonagh's style, gives new meaning to dysfunctional family.
Written & Directed by Robin Reese
Dec. 11 & 12, 2014
A dark comedy that questions the greater importance of sex, love, goodness and selfless acts in a world where we're not sure where God is.
by Diana Son
Directed by Russell Stiles
Jan. 25 & 26, Feb. 1 & 2, 2013
Two young women, Callie and Sara, are friends who fall unexpectedly in love. On the night of their first, tentative kiss, they are brutally attacked. With scenes alternating before and after the assault, this beautiful piece will make you laugh, cry, sigh and cheer, while examining if progress has been made since its 1998 debut.
by George Brant
Directed by Steve Helsel
March 20, April 12 & 13, 2013
A dramatization of the heart-wrenching true story of a circus troupe caught in the crosshairs of a small southern town when Mary, the largest elephant in the world, kills her handler and the townsfolk demand that she be killed. Staged by Altoona Community Theatre, who took this production to the state community theatre competition on March 23 and the regional competition on April 19-21. They took second place at both.
by Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron
Directed by Jody Hesley
June 6 - 9, 2013
A play of monologues and ensemble pieces about women, clothes and memory, covering all the important subjects - mothers, prom dresses, mothers, buying bras, mothers, hating purses, and why we only wear black. Featuring roles played by volunteer community members.
by Henrik Ibsen
Directed by Tom Liszka
Dec. 6, 7, 13 & 14, 2013
The classic story of Nora, a woman in the late 1800’s who rejects a smothering marriage and life in a "doll's house."
by David Mamet
Directed by Val Stratton
Oct. 12 - 20, 2012
Oleanna is a two-character play by David Mamet, about the power struggle between a university professor and one of his female students, who accuses him of sexual exploitation and, by doing so, spoils his chances of being accorded tenure.
by Shel Silverstein
Directed by Mike Manfred
Aug. 2 - 4, 2012
Welcome to the darkly comic world of Shel Silverstein, a world where nothing is as it seems and where the most innocent conversation can turn menacing in an instant. The ten imaginative plays in this collection range widely in content, but the style is unmistakable.
by Joan Holden
Directed by Jody Hesley
Jan. 27 - 29, Feb. 3 & 4, 2012
Can a middle-aged, middle-class woman survive, when she suddenly has to make beds all day in a hotel and live on $7 an hour? Maybe. But one $7-an-hour job won’t pay the rent: she’ll have to do back-to-back shifts, as a chambermaid and a waitress.
by Eric Coble
Directed by Haley Hawk
Oct. 29 & 31, 2011
Edgar Allan Poe stands alone in the flickering darkness of his mind, trying desperately to convince himself - and us - that he's not mad. The spell he weaves brings us a highly theatrical adaptation of four of Poe's best tales. Enter the world of Poe and check your heartbeat at the door.
