Thirdwing Returns to the United Nations in ths new darkly comic political drama.
November 21 - December 10 at 154 on Christopher
Rating: 97%. "Smart, funny, serious, uplifting, irreverent, insulting, educational, depressing, and extremely thought provoking, so much so that you’ll be contemplating the ideas and view points expressed on stage for a long time to come... Human foibles clashing with self-proclaimed self-importance that both entertains and educates makes for a great evening of theater." -- David Walters, Front Row Center
"A workplace comedy with a global scope and an astute satirical edge... equally sure-footed whether its reference points are the IMF or the Barbie movie, and its humor, rich contextualization, and probing intelligence make it a pleasure to be locked in a room with its characters for a few hours." -- John R. Ziegler and Leah Richards, Thinking Theater NYC
Thirdwing in association with Out of the Box Theatrics will present the World Premiere of UNITED NATIONS: THE OTHER WEST. Written and directed by Cameron Darwin Bossert, this new darkly comedic drama begins previews November 21 at the new 154 on Christopher (formerly New Ohio and Wings). Opening night is set for Sunday, November 26. Thirdwing is an innovative new hybrid theater company that has been presenting bold new works both live and streaming under a subscription model (like Hulu or Netflix) since January 2020.
UNITED NATIONS: THE OTHER WEST is set within the UN Headquarters in New York. Charles Kabre is new in town as the ambassador for the military junta in Burkina Faso in West Africa. When climate activists force a lockdown, he’s trapped with the Russian and German representatives, Agata and Rudolph, who are both eager to exert their influence on him and have their own strange relationship with each other. All three are implored to stay put by a UN staffer out of her depth, and so the global battle for power in Africa rages just outside the UN cafeteria.
This new play is a follow up to Thirdwng’s acclaimed 2022 play United Nations: The Border and The Coast. It is supplemented by a host of related streaming stories on Thirdwing’s platform including the original 2020 web series The United Nations, a 2022 streaming adaptation of The Border and The Coast, and the upcoming new series Tribes, with its premiere episode airing in November.
UNITED NATIONS: THE OTHER WEST stars Matthew Sanders, Yelena Shmulenson, Wesli Spencer, and Siobhan Crystal. The production features costumes by Yolanda Balaña, lighting by Clayton Mack, set by Ella Schol, and an original score by Deeba Montazeri.
UNITED NATIONS: THE OTHER WEST runs November 21 – December 10 with performances daily at 8pm except for Nov. 23, 28, Dec 5 & 7, with additional performances Sundays at 5pm. Running time is 85 minutes. 154 on Christopher is located at 154 Christopher Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets in the West Village. Tickets are $25 at www.thirdwing.info. Patrons can also purchase a 1-year membership to Thirdwing for $49 (or $4.99/month) which includes 2 tickets to the show, 1 ticket to an upcoming production, and access to all content on their streaming platform.
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Cameron Darwin Bossert is the founder of Thirdwing, whose directing credits include Burbank, The Fairest, The Female Genius by Rachel Carey, Television, The United Nations: The Border and the Coast, and feature films The Last 48 and Jewtah. He designed the opening sequence for John Turturro’s feature film Fading Gigolo and the multimedia/film elements for Yasmina Reza’s A Spanish Play at Classic Stage Company. As an actor he appeared in Bambi Everson’s The Thin Man in the Cherry Orchard (FringeNYC) and Rachel Carey’s The Disciple. Bossert is also a composer whose work has been performed by the American Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, DaCapo Chamber Players, and the JACK Quartet, for which he was commissioned by the Utah Symphony Orchestra as part of the 2008 Meet the Composer Series.
Launched in January 2020, Thirdwing is a hybrid theater and streaming company taking inspiration from the classic mid-century teleplays pioneered by Paddy Chayefsky and Harold Pinter. Their mission is to bridge theater and film to tell expansive, world-building stories and make traditional in-person theatergoing more affordable with a subscription model offering new content every month, either online, in-person, or both. Thirdwing’s first narrative offering, The Female Genius, by Rachel Carey, had its first episode premiere on March 8th, 2020, presenting a new streaming theater experience 4 days before the NYC Covid lockdown. The rest of the series was released in April 2020, as the first new streaming play with full staging, lighting, and costumes. Since then, Thirdwing has premiered four more hybrid shows. Their in-person offerings include Burbank, Television, The Disciple, The Fairest, and The United Nations: The Border and the Coast. Upcoming projects include Doctors vs. Lawyers, mixing a traditional soap opera online with in-person productions bringing the audience into the courtroom, and Renegade Speakeasy, a hybrid streaming and stage play about affinity spaces in New York City.
Out of the Box Theatrics (OOTB) is an Off-Broadway Non-For-Profit committed to lifting the voices of marginalized communities through the stories they tell. OOTB challenges audiences to experience work outside of their expectations and strives to diversify American theater by providing an inclusive and accessible platform for artists and patrons. OOTB was founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Flemming. Past productions include the Drama League nominated The Last Five Years, The Pink Unicorn, Baby (Drama Desk Outstanding Revival nominee, Off-Broadway Alliance Best Revival nominee), “Master Harold” ...and the Boys, Songs for a New World, Shoes & Baggage, ...Charlie Brown, Nocturne, and Into the Woods. In addition to mainstage programming, OOTB offers the new works initiative Building the Box, which started in 2017. FB, IG, Twitter @ootbtheatrics www.ootbtheatrics.com
Programming of 154 has been made possible by an arrangement with ChaShaMa. Since 1995, ChaShaMa has partnered with property owners to transform unused real estate for 30,000 artists and over 150 small businesses, hosted 4,000 public art events, provided 1,500 classes in under-served communities, and reached audiences of nearly a million.