Axial Theatre is a Grant Award Winner! Thank you ArtsWestchester for selecting us for the Matching Grant and two program grants!
Axial Theater is an ensemble based not-for-profit theater company currently in its 24th season. We are dedicated to supporting the professional development of playwrights and actors through presenting staged workshops, development readings, and full productions.
SAFEHOUSE:
The Axial Playwrights Series
safehouse (n) - a place where one may engage in personal, secret activities or take refuge - a shelter or haven
The SAFEHOUSE program was created and developed by Axial Artistic Director Cady McClain, playwright and Artistic Director of Shades Repertory Theater Samuel Harps, Axial Associate Artistic Director/director Nate Flower and playwright Evelyn Mertens for the purpose of creating a safe environment for playwrights to develop their work.
Join us for a full length reading of a new play in development followed by a guided moderation with special guests.
Full length plays read include:
"In the Cervix of Others" by Alice Eve Cohen
"Professor Sycorax" by Cheryl Davis
"1 Letter Shy of Coincidence" by Chima Chikazunga
"The Park" by Eric Conger
"A Story About a Girl" by Jacquelyn Reingold
"King Shotaway" by Samuel Harps
"The Old Man on the Ice" by Tara Meddaugh
"The Subway Play" by Youlim Nam
More Axial Playwrights
Axial Theatre is dedicated to supporting and spotlighting the work of playwrights, whether through private development workshops of works in progress or through readings of classic plays by great writers.
PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT READINGS INCLUDE:
Jacquelyn Reingold's "About a Girl" directed by Cady McClain (private development reading)
Howard Meyer's "Triple Womb" directed by Steven Williford and "Raising the Ground, Lowering the Sky" directed by Cady McClain (private development reading)
Steven Louis Grush's "Feet of Clay" directed by Cady McClain (private development reading)
PUBLIC READINGS INCLUDE:
Aaron Mark's "Deer" directed by William Roudebush (NuBox Theater, NYC)
Craig Lucas's "Ode to Joy" directed by Nathan Flower (St John's Episcopal, Pleasantville, NY)
John Patrick Shanley's "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea" directed by Cady McClain (St John's Episcopal, Pleasantville, NY)
Youlim Nam's "a connected place" directed by Cady McClain (The Dramatists Guild, NYC)
Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love" directed by Rachel Jones (St John's Episcopal, Pleasantville, NY)
Steven Seiffert's "The Atomic View Motel" directed by Cady McClain (Zoom)
Cactus Flowers
in 2022-2023 Axial Theatre read short plays in development online to a National audience, followed by productions of The Best of Cactus Flowers - monologues in December of 2023 and The Best of Cactus Flowers - short plays in September of 2024
Plays included:
"X, Y, & Z" by Christopher Goutman
"Tantarus v Rhodadanthus" by Scott Sickles
"I See You" by Serena Norr
"Handless" by Linda Giuliano
"Is Nothing Sacred" by Evelyn Mertens
"Folding Danica" by Chima Chikazunga
"Civil Disobedience" by Lori M. Myers
"Last Birthday" by Youlim Nam
"Like Miriam" by Jacquelyn Reingold
"Constituent" by Karin Diann Williams
"Headless" by Linda Giuliano
"Rolling My Own" by John Patrick Bray
"The Audition" by Dominic Hoffman
"The Parallel" by Jeff Gould
"Native Language" by John Mabey
"The Wish" by Justice Hehir, Dena Igusti, Phanesia Pharel, Nia Akilah Robinson, Julia Specht, with dramaturg May Treuhaft-Ali
"That Way" by Evelyn Mertens
"Pluto" by Howard Meyer
"Frame Within a Frame" by Judy Klass
"Finding Mother Courage" by Pamela Kingsley
"Disability on Love" by Val Stulman
"Arcana" by Carson Grace Becker
"Punctuation Play" by Nayna Agrawal
"Flat Meat Society" by Tom Coash
"Not Like Us" by Mark Harvey Levine
"Chicken Fried Catfish" by Donna Latham
"When Life Gives You Lemons" by Pamela Morgan
"As The Dust Settles" by Morgan Fears
"Days of Awe" by Alice Eve Cohen
"Good Times, Bad Times" by Diana Burbano
"Today I Met the Pacific Ocean" by Rita Anderson
"Tippy Toes" by Linda Bergman
"Undiscovered Country" by Dana Leslie Goldstein
"Constituent" by Karin Diann Williams
"The Interview" by Steven Baluzy
FILMED THEATRE
In 2022, Axial Theatre co-produced a short film directed by Cady McClain titled "Robust Admixture" - compiled from work by Westchester poet Laureate B.K. Fischer's novella of poems, "Ceive." The film shares the power of poetry to inspire works of art that bring awareness to the issues of climate change, gun violence, and viral pandemics.
The film is now complete and available on our website. If you are interested in showing the film, please reach out to our Artistic Director at cadymcclain@axialtheatre.org. Shared with permission of BOA Editions.
"Robust Admixture" is a compilation of work drawn from "Ceive" by BK Fischer.
On set photo by Brittany Grenado of Axial Ensemble Member Sandy Rooney
Author BK Fischer
Axial Theatre Presents "Robust Admixture"a short film based on the work of Westchester Poet Laureate BK Fischer (below). Directed by Cady McClain and featuring the work of the Axial Ensemble
"Robust Admixture" is a short film based on the work of Westchester poet laureate BK Fischer and her novella-in-verse "Ceive." It is a profound and remarkable poetic interpretation of Noah's arc that allows us to reflect on the impact of climate change on the individual, the family, and society.
If you are interested in showing this film at your school, library, organization or institution, please contact cadymcclain@axialtheatre.org