About Us
Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1982, the New City is an artist-run, Alternative Theater producing work under the continuous artistic leadership of director John Kazanjian and performer Mary Ewald.
The New City aims to commission and produce language centered plays that engage the socio-political issues of our time and now, in our final artistic movement, expand our repertoire to include bi-annual productions of Shakespeare’s canon. Playwrights have included: Wallace Shawn, Caryl Churchill, Jean Genet, Susan-Lori Parks, Eric Bogosian, Maria Irene Fornes, David Greenspan, Harry Kondoleon, Richard Nelson, Sam Shepard, Neil Labute, David Mamet, Craig Lucas, Christopher Durang, and John O’Keefe.
Since moving into its current and final intimate found space on 18th and Union, Kazanjian & Ewald have staged: Beckett’s HAPPY DAYS, Kushner’s TINY KUSHNER & HOMEBODY, Shakespeare’s HAMLET, Fornes’ MUD, a Poetry and Music Salon & coming in 2016, Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST & Orton’s WHAT THE BUTLER SAW.
HAMLET:
" By stripping away embellishments & keeping everything simple, Kazanjian & company have done something with HAMLET that seems almost impossible - they've made it new." THE STRANGER
MUD:
“This is an amazing little masterwork, rich with acting talent and production ingenuity. Go grab one of those precious 20 seats.” THE SEATTLE WEEKLY
HAPPY DAYS:
"Ewald’s virtuoso work in “Happy Days,” staged meticulously by John Kazanjian …reminds us what a superb interpreter of poetic texts this seasoned Seattle player is.” THE SEATTLE TIMES
HOMEBODY:
“Ewald’s performance is a thrilling exercise in hesitation and restraint…” THE STRANGER
THE DESIGNATED MOURNER:
"Meanwhile, the New City Theater kept quietly producing low-rent, must-see meditations on American society that felt more urgent than anything in either the fringe or regional scenes." THE SEATTLE WEEKLY