Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Off-Off-Broadway, intimate solo shows of note: Anthony Rapp in TOUCH and John Kevin Jones in KILLING AN EVENING

• By drediman
• April 7, 2026
• No Comments

More often than not, I find that the intimate settings bring out the best in one person shows, giving viewers close up vantage points from which to access the storytelling and the performance. Such was the case with a pair of now shuttered Off-Off-Broadway solo plays that I recently had the privilege of catching. Here are my thoughts on them.

TOUCH
East Village Basement
Closed

For a very limited run, Anthony Rapp showed off his considerable acting chops in Kenny Finkle’s Touch (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED), a new solo show about anxiety, mediocrity, and misunderstanding. As subtly directed by former and longtime Keen Company Artistic Director Jonathan Silverstein at East Village Basement (the production is a reunion for Finkle and Silverstein, who previously collaborated on Finkle’s 1993), it was a special treat to witness the Rent star’s beautifully calibrated turn in such intimate quarters, which only seats approximately 40 audience members. More specifically, the play is a painstaking portrait of Syd Blatter, a gay, jaded middle-aged 5th grade teacher — and failed aspiring writer — who becomes infatuated with a former student of his from an after-school theater class. Suffice to say, things don’t end up well as he navigates his desires and mulls over the regrets in life. In Syd, Finkle has created an compellingly exasperating and morally ambiguous anti-hero who can’t help but spin his wheels and drive himself into downward spirals. Seeing Rapp dive deep into the frustrated and frustrating character is at once tough, hilarious, and exhilarating to watch. It’s a raw and emotionally draining performance that amounts to one of the more compelling solo shows I’ve seen since David Cale’s stunning turn in Blue Cowboy, which I caught earlier this season at the Bushwick Starr.

KILLING AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE
Merchant’s House Museum
Closed

Also recently concluding its run was the return of John Kevin Jones in Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe (RECOMMENDED), a night of music, tasty beverages, and most importantly immersive and grimly evocative storytelling (at certain evenings, the performance is preceded by a reception in the home’s 19th century kitchen). Cozily presented in the stunningly preserved double parlor of the historic Merchant’s House Museum in NoHo, Jones summons the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe — who when living lived only a few blocks away on Amity Street (now West 3rd Street) — in a séance-like gathering, in hopes of infusing the storytelling with the writer’s macabre spirit. Mounted in conjunction with Summoners Ensemble Theatre and unobtrusively staged by Dr. Rhonda Dodd, Killing an Evening with Edgar Allan Poe is essentially a briskly-paced dramatic recitation of three of Poe’s most recognizable short literary works — “The Tell-Tale Heart”, “The Cask of Amontillado”, and “The Raven”. Jones, who also recites Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol at the Merchant’s House during the holiday season, is clearly an enthusiastic fan of Poe’s work. His performance is at once gregarious and detailed, completely embracing the pitch black underpinnings of Poe’s disturbed views of human nature. Complete with several subtle lighting and sound effects, the atmospheric evening is an immersive, personalized experience for those for whom most horror flicks and haunted houses lack the sufficient psychological nuance to truly terrorize the mind.