Sex, drugs, and condos take center stage in new play by provocateur Thomas Bradshaw.
September 11 – October 19 at The Flea Theater
Thomas Bradshaw (Job, Dawn, Burning, Purity, Prophet) returns to The Flea with FULFILLMENT, a new comedy that will have everyone shouting. Directed by Ethan McSweeny (The Best Man, A Time to Kill), previews start September 11, with opening night slated for Monday, September 21. Fulfillment is a co-world premiere with American Theater Company in Chicago, where it opens under McSweeny’s direction in November.
Michael has a new girlfriend and has just bought the apartment of his dreams. It seems that his life should be perfect. Little does he know that his hell is just beginning. In Fulfillment Bradshaw tackles the question: what makes us happy?
Says Producing Director, Carol Ostrow, “The Flea's season opener is a real eye opener. Bradshaw's work makes you laugh out loud and moments later gasp. You recognize yourself and then have second thoughts. Fulfillment fulfills The Flea's requirements for making you think and this one will have you talking for days.” To that end, The Flea is introducing Tweet Seats during previews of Fulfillment. Interested in live-tweeting the show? Email Ellie Philips at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more or get your $15 Tweet Seat.
FULFILLMENT features Otoja Abit (Stonewall), Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Wire), Jeff Biehl (Machinal), Christian Conn (Tiny Dynamite), Denny Dillon (SNL, My One and Only), Susannah Flood (Scenes from a Marriage, Love and Information), and Peter McCabe (Prophet). The creative team includes Brian Sidney Bembridge (scenic and lighting), Andrea Lauer (costuming), Mikhail Fiksel and Miles Polaski (sound), J. David Brimmer (fight choreography), Yehuda Duenyas (sex choreography), Molly Marinik (assistant director), and Ben Andersen (stage manager).
The Flea Theater continues its commitment to creating theater that is accessible to all. Every production at The Flea has a limited number of $15 tickets available on a first-come-first-served basis. We also will be continuing with our Pay What You Can performances on Monday nights Upstairs at The Flea. Pay What You Can performances of Fulfillment will take effect after opening, with tickets available one hour prior to performance.
FULFILLMENT runs September 11 – October 19, 2015, Wednesday–Monday at 7PM and Sunday at 3PM. Tickets are $15 - $75 with the lowest priced tickets available on a first-come, first-served basis. VIP tickets available for $105. Pay What You Can Mondays at the door. The production includes violence, nudity and sexual situations. The Flea is located at 41 White Street between Church and Broadway, three blocks south of Canal, close to the A/C/E, N/R/Q, 6, J/M/Z and 1 subway lines. Tickets are $20 and are available by calling 212-352-3101 or online at www.theflea.org.
Thomas Bradshaw’s play Carlyle will premiere at The Goodman Theatre as part of their 2015-16 season. His other plays include Intimacy and Burning (New Group); Mary (Goodman Theatre) Job and Dawn (Flea Theater); The Bereaved (Crowded Fire, Partial Comfort and the State Theater of Bielefeld in Germany); Southern Promises (PS122) and many more. He was the recipient of a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2010 Prince Prize, and a 2012 award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Mr. Bradshaw has been featured as one of Time Out New York’s 10 playwrights to watch and was named “Best Provocative Playwright” by the Village Voice. Mr. Bradshaw received his MFA from Mac Wellman’s playwriting program and he is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University.
Ethan McSweeny is based in Brooklyn, New York. He was born in Washington, DC. His twenty year career as a director of new plays, musicals, operas, and revivals has taken him all over the world, most recently to Dublin, Ireland where his production of Brian Friel’s adapatation of Turgenev’s A Month in the Country is running at the Gate Theatre until the end of August. More information is at ethanmcsweeny.com.
The Flea Theater, under Artistic Director Niegel Smith and Producing Director Carol Ostrow, is one of New York's leading off-off-Broadway companies. Winner of a Special Drama Desk Award for outstanding achievement, Obie Awards and an Otto for political theater, The Flea has presented over 100 plays and numerous dance and live music performances since its inception in 1996. Past productions include the premieres by Steven Banks, Thomas Bradshaw, Kim Davies, Bathsheba Doran, Will Eno, Karen Finley, Amy Freed, Sean Graney, A.R. Gurney, Hamish Linklater, Enrique Gutiérrez Ortiz Monasterio, Itamar Moses, Anne Nelson, Qui Nguyen, Adam Rapp, Jonathan Reynolds, Roger Rosenblatt, Elizabeth Swedos, Mac Wellman, and Brian Watkins. Successes include Drama Desk nominated She Kills Monsters, These Seven Sicknesses, Restoration Comedy, The Mysteries and eight World Premieres by A.R. Gurney including the WSJ Best New Play of 2013, Family Furniture.