Knowledge Workings Theater Company

Tag: #comedy

  • Wonder if Reviews Recommending HONOR Are Accurate? Come Judge for Yourself!

    Ed Altman, Alinca Hamilton, and John Blaylock make the story sizzle

    Okay, one more plea to see HONOR at The Gene Frankel Theatre before it closes on October 6th, but this time the recommendation comes from reviews for which we are SOOOO grateful

    Tix at  our.show/honor

    1) “Written and superbly directed by T.J. Elliott…All of these actors are first-rate in their performances.”


    2)  “The play masterfully takes what appears to be an apparent disagreement over a value interpretation of an issue to a place that reveals the complexity of not only the interpretation of the issue but also each of the participant’s values. The ending provides an excellent explication of the complexity of human character in the interpretation of what constitutes personal honor, leaving one with intriguing ideas to contemplate.”from Scotty Bennett, TheaterScene.Net
    Did that work? 

    Click here for Tix

    No? Then read this one…


    3)    “Eloquently and dramatically skewers the current business culture… provocative entertainment.” “Elliott also directed and his physical staging is crisp, well-paced and contains momentum. The personable and talented cast of Ed Altman as Don, and Alinca Hamilton and John Blaylock,as the lawyers, all deliver energetic and authentic performances. This trio shines in the concluding sequence… “


    4)    “Technical and artistic director Gifford Elliott contributes smoothness to the production with balanced lighting and sound. The realistic,simple scenic design consists of a long table, wheelie chairs, a white board on an easel, and a large running wall clock which add a cool real-time dimension to the stated 45-minute proceeding.”from  Darryl Reilly, Encore!      
    Come on, you like theater and this is a well-reviewed relevant piece.

    Click here for tickets to a show that is rollicking and relevant
    Not good enough? How about what…TimeOut says
    “In this dark corporate comedy by writer-director T.J. Elliott, three executives chew over—and perhaps spit out—the results of an investigation into a case of harassment that has been brought against by one of them. Alinca Hamilton, John Blaylock and Ed Altman play the compromised trio.”You need a night out so go to this link for those tickets
    70 minutes of fast-paced fun that surfaces realities all too familiar for many of us in a grand historic theatre in the lively NoHo neighborhood at 7 PM (Sunday at 1 PM)

    Tix at  our.show/honor

    BONUS: Tell us this post persuaded you and we’ll give you a FREE wine or beer in the lobby of the Gene Frankel Theatre

  • Alinca Hamilton: Not to be Missed in HONOR

    Alinca Hamilton — Photo by David Goddard

    Bold assertion: you should go see Alinca Hamilton in HONOR at the Gene Frankel Theatre  running now through October 6th ONLY at the Gene Frankel Theater 24 Bond Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Tix at our.show/honor

    Ronnee (Alinca Hamilton) attempts to referee the constant conflict of Don (Ed Altman) and Ludwig (John Blaylock, seated)

    Why? Her performance compels, charms, and cheers in this comedy of corporate culture in ways that you won’t want to miss. You can read more about Alinca here and you can actually hear her via the Stage Whisper podcast of Andrew Cortes, but what would really be to your advantage is to see and listen to Alinca in this play: she’s terrific! We believe in her so much that we are offering you two (2) complimentary tickets to any of our performances of HONOR. Alinca has to be seen. Just reply to this email with your preferred performance date for your free tickets. Her performance is worth a lot more than that.

    Oh, what’s the play about, the comedy by T.J. Elliott that actress Sean Young called “hilarious and very clever“? In HONOR, three executives (John Blaylock, Alinca Hamilton, and Ed Altman) meet to review the results of an investigation into a charge of bullying against one of them. In the course of a raucous and rollicking meeting, a free-for-all ensues that tests the outer limits of propriety and procedure. With sharp humor and witty tactics, each brings their own concept of “honor” to the table for debate, only to be left wondering what constitutes honor in our present world. The running time of HONOR is just over an hour, which leaves you plenty of time to enjoy the fine restaurants and nightlife in this lively neighborhood.

  • HONOR Gets Honored in Our Very First Review

    We’ve been fortunate enough to have the pleasure of Darryl Reilly reviewing 3 of our Knowledge Workings Theater productions and we are grateful for his considerate criticism of HONOR that you can read in full at this link

    And then this morning we discovered that Time Out magazine has a featured listing for our play. The good news for us is that more people will learn about the opportunity to see 3 excellent actors — Alinca Hamilton, Ed Altman, and John Blaylock — lavish their talents on storytelling that is funny, sharp, and timely. We are only running until October 6: get your tickets now at our.show/honor

  • Broadway World interviews Playwright & Director of HONOR, T.J. Elliott

    We are grateful to Broadway World for its interview of T.J. Elliott, Playwright & Director of HONOR, which opens September 19 at the Gene Frankel Theatre and runs until October 6. You can read the full interview here as Joshua Wright talks to T.J. about his journey from theater to the corporate world and back again to theater in 2018. T.J. also speaks about the importance of Joe Queenan, his collaborator on the plays alms, grudges, genealogy, and the Oracle, in his return to playwrighting as well as the circumstances that prompted him to write this latest play, HONOR. Tickets to honor are available at our.show/honor

  • Sean Young & Joe Queenan agree: HONOR is great!

    Yes, THAT Sean Young!
    Yes, THAT Joe Queenan

    We appreciate the generous and enthusiastic responses of these two audience members from our run at The Chain Winter One-Act Festival this past February, but you should come and see for yourself.

    Tickets for HONOR are available here

    Performances will run September 19th through October 6th at The Gene Frankel Theatre: Wednesday-Saturday @ 7 PM, Sunday @ 1 PM

    The Gene Frankel Theatre
    24 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012

    For more information, email us at knowledgeworkings@gmail.com or visit us on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook

    See the Instagram reel here

  • HONOR TRIUMPHED

  • All honor to Ed Altman in…HONOR: Link to Tix Below

    Tix for HONOR Feb 16, 21,24

    The character — Don Troy — that Ed Altman plays in HONOR is the first one to utter our play’s title word and the way in which Ed delivers its two syllables is like tossing a​ match Into​ a room full of Roman Candles. Explosions ensue yet Ed’s character never flinches. Indeed, this dynamism is just what the play requires: an incendiary presence who flicks and lunges verbally at his two colleagues in this debate about what honor means. The trio proceed to sizzle and sparkle along the way in their storytelling with revelations and accusations, but not apologies.

    Ed’s formidable array of acting experiences served him well in preparing for this role. Past work with Knowledge Workings Theater includes: The Oracle, Keeping Right, Grudges (Narrator). Other recent stage appearances had him in Two Swans, Nowhere Man, Victoria Woodhull (both at Theater for the New City). Also of late screens both big and small have benefited from Ed’s stalwart presence and straightforward style: TV/Streaming: The Good Cop (NTD/Epoch TV), The Vow (HBO), Food that Built America (History Channel), Dragon Meets Eagle(Amazon). His most recent film: The Dummy Detective  is in production right now but earlier efforts include, Biff & Me, Oatmelio’s, Thumbwrestler II, Jazz John, all making the international film festival circuit. Ed was a member of the comedy group Prom Night with whom he wrote and performed at the Westbank Café back in the days of Lewis Black and Rusty McGee. He is also a voiceover artist for commercial and corporate work, and has voiced several audio books. Get your tickets now for one of the three performances upcoming of HONOR at The Chain Theatre Winter One-Act Festival

    Tix for HONOR

  • THE JESTER’S WIFE “light-hearted characters, rhythmic & funny dialogue” ROCKED THE HOUSE!

    Xander Jackson as Stranger, Steve Weatherbee as Jester and Emma Taylor Miller as Wife


    Get to a great new comedy if you act now at this link. The Jester’s Wife runs only until October8th at 312 West 36th Street. Stage Whisper said our show was “Hilarious…Fantastic!”

    Theater Scene’s review noted, “The Jester’s Wife succeeds as a spirited experience due to the grand performances of Weatherbee, Miller, and Jackson, and their palpable rapport.” Forgotten Artist Productions stated, “Very clever writing and directing by T.J. Elliott. Beautifully acted by the cast. Very funny, entertaining, and thought provoking. A great piece of theatre. “

    TDF picked TJW as a top show!

    And Theatre Development Fund just picked The Jester’s Wife as one of “15 exciting, inexpensive, theatre, shows to see off off-broadway this September”

    Jester (Steve Weatherbee) and Wife (Emma Taylor Miller) share a laugh despite the beheaders lurking outside

    Broadway World just welcomed Emma Taylor Miller , our marvelous WIFE, to THE JESTER’S WIFE  cast and now you can see her marvelous performance by going to our Eventbrite page at this link   and purchase seats for your chosen date; the promo code ‘Jester-Besties’ for a 25% discount is automatically applied. Our $20 ticket slides to 15 bucks, a value that is no jest.

    Emma Taylor Miller is The Jester’s Wife

    Buy Tix At This Link For All Performances

    Thursday           9/21/2023 7:00 PM
    Friday                 9/22/2023 7:00 PM
    Saturday            9/23/2023 7:00 PM
    Sunday               9/24/2023 3:00 P
    Wednesday       9/27/2023 7:00 PM
    Thursday           9/28/2023 7:00 PM,
    Friday                 9/29/2023 7:00 PM
    Saturday            9/30/2023 7:00 PM
    Sunday               10/1/2023 3:00 PM
    Wednesday       10/4/2023 7:00 PM
    Thursday           10/5/2023 7:00 PM
    Friday                  10/6/2023 7:00 PM
    Saturday             10/7/2023 7:00 PM
    Sunday                10/8/2023 1:00 PM

     

     

  • Shooting scenes from Alms on July 22-23

    ​These photos are from a reading that we did in April preparing for our upcoming two days of shooting of 4 – okay, it might actually be five – scenes from the very first play produced by​ Knowledge Workings Theater:  Alms​. In the first photograph below, co-authors of that play, T.J. Elliott (center) & Joe Queenan are joined by our cinematographer, Michael Cain (right).

    Aaron Long (Brian) and Lucy McMichael (Sister Catherine Imelda)

    Aarons acts animatedly!

    Below you can see Director Gifford Elliott (far left) with Joe & T.J.

    Ed Altman (Martin) checking his lines alongside Aaron & Lucy

    Stay tuned for the scenes that we hope will serve as a prelude to a restaging of our first success!

  • This Fall TJW Comes to NYC

    The April 20 Reading Went Very Well!

    Immense thanks to the audience who taught us so much about our play and TheaterLab for hosting us. (Go see Orietta there in Let Me Cook For You)

    The playwright Alan Ayckbourn has taught me more about that craft than anyone and his most important lesson might be in this sentence: “Theatre is not about the writing, it’s not about the directing. It is about that, but in the end it’s really about the actors and the audience and most audiences – aside from the cognoscenti who sit there being experts – come to watch a bit of acting.” 
    Our kind (and I must say highly intelligent, sensitive, and aesthetically refined)audience for this reading watching and reacting to ‘that bit of acting’ by Winnie, Steve, and Xander (along with Ed Altman as necessarily noisy narrator) taught us so much about what needs to happen as we move towards fully realizing our work. 
    We anticipated a ninety minute night but the reading came in at exactly ten minutes LONGER, which taught us that we can trim some branches to this story of a woman whose name we never learn without harm to the overall tale. Our TJW actors gained from our audience the advantage of feeling for the first time what the moments between each one of them and the audience can be. As Margaret Atwood has written, the audience is co-creator of any story and at this stage of our work, their presence was felt and appreciated greatly.
    And now…

    The Jester’s Wife, a medieval comedy by T. J. Elliott produced through Knowledge Workings Theater, will prepare for an autumn opening. Our play will seek to realize fully the story of Jester and Wife as confronted by evil and still afraid for their lives they now encounter in their hideout cave a Stranger afflicted with madness. The Jester and Wife (who might have been the original prototypes for Punch and Judy with their hurled blows and one-liners) bicker, banter, and battle through questions of survival, responsibility, and who gets to tell their own story.

    With an original blend of medieval and distinctly Irish tinges, the comedy pits the Jester’s self-preserving pragmatism and entertainer antics against his Wife’s heroic idealism — and her prowess wielding a broom! Their dilemma shifts from figuring out how to keep their heads to contriving how telling the story through a mystery play might be their ticket out of the cave where they live. But which story gets told is up for grabs. The narrative’s examination of myth-making, martyrdom, and survivor’s guilt mingle together in ways familiar to our present lives. 

    So stay tuned as our team brings this tale to full and funny life.

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