Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Bespoke, unconventionally staged revivals that immerse audiences: Adult Film’s WOYZECK and GoodBadGroup’s THIS LIME TREE BOWER

• By drediman
• August 5, 2026
• No Comments

This summer, I’ve come across a number of fascinating revivals that highlight a recent trend in New York theater — that is, to stage plays in intimate and unconventional spaces (e.g., a defunct sweater factories, an operating pub, a bookstores, etc.) — that endeavor to immerse audiences into the world of each play. Here are my thoughts on two such bespoke, out-of-the-box theatrical experiences.

WOYZECK
Adult Film at Modern Sweater
Through August 15

First up is Adult Film’s revival of Woyzeck (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). Staged at Modern Sweater — a former sweater factory way out in Ridgewood — the production is an industrial, punk-fueled rendition of Georg Büchner’s unfinished 1836 play about the demise of a mentally unstable soldier (the titular Woyzeck), as well as the sexual escapades of his unfaithful wife Marie. Throw into the mix his sadistic captain and an unhinged doctor, and the result is an abstract tragedy that’s more concerned about establishing vibes than it is about narrative precision. As directed by Seth Bockley, the sensual yet brutal staging occasionally breaks the fourth wall simply because there’s no space left for the actors to physically flex. Bockley takes Büchner’s meditation on boredom and our capacity for extremities — which is fleshed out with disarming frankness by John Christopher Jones’ contemporary English translation — to heart, underscoring the play with visceral live music played by a punk band (particularly recalling Sleater-Kinney) and producing a fever dream parade of unfiltered stage pictures. Visually, the production calls to mind the symbolic, Dada-esque aesthetic of William Kentridge’s staging of the opera version of play for the Metropolitan Opera (the highly inventive sculptural set is by Josh Barilla). Across the board, the acting is rigorous yet in-your-face, starting with company artistic director Ryan Czerwonko in the title role. This Woyzeck is unlike anything that’s playing in New York at the moment, and well worth the trip tow Queens for adventurous theatergoers.

THIS LIME TREE BOWER
GoodBadGroup at Quick Eternity
Through August 1

Then it was a beautifully-acted production of Conor McPherson’s early-career play This Lime Tree Bower (RECOMMENDED). Performed at Quick Eternity — a neat little sea-themed pub in the Financial District — immersive storytelling was the name of the game in this rare revival. In short, the three-character play is constructed of a series of interlocking monologues that chronicle the lives of a trio of morally unfocused young men and their adventures in a small, depressed Irish town by the sea. Written just a few years before his masterful breakout play The Weir, McPherson’s sense of psychological nuance here is already keen and detailed. If it doesn’t quite have the uncompromising visionary streak of Adult Film’s aforementioned Woyzeck, the ingenious decision to put on the show in an active bar leans in on the Irish tradition of storytelling and penchant for drinking. Suffice to say, it all works brilliantly in director Christopher Ryan’s unadorned yet atmospheric production. All three performances — courtesy of Patrick Perih, James Broderick, and Forrest Weber — are excellent, beautifully capturing each character’s idiosyncrasies and the play’s Irish humor and overall cultural specificity. Indeed, each are captivating storytellers in their own way, which makes the work’s predictable structure go down easily. Those of you who enjoy storytellung-based plays may want to look into buying tickets for Irish Repertory Theatre’s upcoming Christopher Fitzgerald-led revival of The Good Thief, another little-produced McPherson play that was penned around the same time as This Lime Tree Bower.