St. Ann's Warehouse Unveils Full 2023-24 Season

St. Ann’s Warehouse, after one of the most successful seasons in its 44-year history—with overall audience attendance at 95% in tumultuous times—has headed into 2023-24. This summer, St. Ann’s artistic leaders Susan Feldman and Erik Wallin hit the road in search of the most compelling new work they could find at adventurous international theaters and festivals. They returned with a spirited season of six American Premieres from Denmark, Ireland, the UK, and South Africa.

St. Ann’s Warehouse Artistic Director Susan Feldman says, “When Erik and I traveled, we found artists (and audiences) out in full force. We were privileged to bear witness, up close, to revelatory artists at work. We saw huge bursts of creativity—works of forgiveness and tolerance, solace, and defiant playfulness. We could imagine them transforming our theater and transporting our audiences to new theatrical experiences here in New York City. Every title has something personal and memorable to offer. Taken together, the season sends messages of empathy and hope to people who might see themselves on that stage. These shows make a strong argument for the continuing power and vitality of theater.”

How to Be a Dancer in Seventy-Two Thousand Easy Lessons (October 21 - November 5) marks acclaimed dance theater-maker Michael Keegan-Dolan’s return to the stage for the first time in 20 years. A hit at both the 2023 Galway International Arts Festival and the 2022 Dublin Theatre Festival, How to Be a Dancer is choreographed and performed by Keegan-Dolan and his longtime collaborator, the “dazzling dancer” (The Guardian) Rachel Poirier, and directed by Poirier and Adam Silverman, who is also the lighting designer. Growing up one of 13 siblings during Ireland’s turbulent decades, How to Be a Dancer weaves a poignant, at times playful and provocative tale about a life in dance from memory’s special concoction of fiction and reality. How to Be a Dancer is a “gorgeous burst of creative freedom” (The Guardian, in a four-star review) from an artist whose “powerful and profound productions always bring you somewhere unexpected” (The Irish Times). The show ends its run this Sunday, November 5th.

The Life & Times of Michael K (November 29 - December 23), adapted by Lara Foot, in collaboration with the Handspring Puppet Company, from J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel, was a runaway hit in this summer’s Galway International Arts Festival and Edinburgh Fringe, where The New York Times deemed it “the standout show.” The production reunites St. Ann’s with South Africa’s Baxter Theatre Center, producer of acclaimed, blistering productions of Mies Julie and The Fall at St. Ann’s, and the Tony Award-winning Handspring Puppet Company (War Horse). Handspring are the creators of Amal, currently on a journey across the United States, following last year’s epic Little Amal Walks NYC, co-produced by St. Ann’s and The Walk Productions. Life & Times of Michael K is the hauntingly beautiful story of a simple man who journeys through war-torn South Africa to return his dying mother to the farm where she was born. He finds strength in his own humanity, his profound connection to the earth, and his unique path, which reveals to him his reason for living. Michael becomes a metaphor for the earth itself—mistreated and neglected in times of political tumult, but gentle and generous in spirit. Adaptor/Director Lara Foot writes that Coetzee’s use of “layer upon layer of metaphor, poetry and meaning…lends itself beautifully to a multi-disciplinary style of theatre.” The Scotsman raved, “Every detail of this perfectly made show is worth treasuring.”

Luke Murphy’s “superbly inventive,” “exhilarating” (The Guardian) Volcano (January 10-21, 2024) spins the story of two men thrust into a social experiment in space. The work, which The Irish Times describes as “like an episode of Black Mirror on steroids,” unfolds in a wrecked living room in a glass-enclosed box, where the men reenact memories and past lives through an array of cultural references, from game shows to standup comedy. Volcano is a four-part mini-series of 45-minute episodes, presented in one continuous, binge-watch-style performance. The Irish Times explains, “[The] structure is borrowed from TV, although the storytelling is driven by physical expression rather than dialogue. Murphy’s choreography showcases the history of modern dance, from tableaux vivants of early-20th-century Greek-obsessed dancers like Raymond and Isadora Duncan through musical-theater solos à la Fred Astaire to the strobe-lit energy of 1990s rave culture.” This unique blend of theater, dance, and sci-fi thriller features dancer Will Thompson as Murphy’s partner in space. St. Ann’s Warehouse presents the U.S. Premiere in association with Irish Arts Center and in partnership with the 2024 Under the Radar Festival (Mark Russell, Festival Director; ArKtype, Festival Producer).

Tobias Menzies (The Crown, Game of Thrones) makes a breathtaking U.S. stage debut in the critically lauded Almeida Theatre production The Hunt (starting February 16, 2024), based on Thomas Vinterberg’s 2012 film Jagten. The Hunt catapults audiences into some of today’s thorniest questions surrounding mob justice. In a performance that has been described as “superb” (Sunday Times), “devastating” (Evening Standard), and “extraordinarily powerful and restrained” (The Stage), Menzies portrays an elementary school teacher accused of misconduct by a child in a rural Danish hunting town. Rupert Goold’s thrilling staging unfolds on Es Devlin’s brilliant set, a literal glass house revolving into anarchy. The Hunt is the second adaptation of a Vinterberg work presented by St. Ann’s Warehouse, following its 2012 U.S. premiere of Grzegorz Jarzyna’s blistering, “viscerally charged” (The New York Times) production of Festen, Vinterberg’s final Dogme 95 film. 

Grenfell: in the words of survivors (April 13–May 12, 2024) is a powerful new production from London’s National Theatreabout the resilient, multicultural North Kensington community who protected and cared for one another before, during, and after a devastating 2017 public housing tower fire. Seventy-two people died in the catastrophe. Compiling haunting testimonies drawn from verbatim interviews with some of the survivors and bereaved, the play—by South African writer and former English PEN President Gillian Slovo—reveals the impact of the multiple failures that led to the national disaster. The production explores the courage of an ill-treated community and their continued campaign for justice and accountability. The North Kensington residents have preserved their community with dignity and commanded a public forum for securing the right to safe housing worldwide. Directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, The Donmar Warehouse’s all-female Shakespeare Trilogy) and Anthony Simpson-Pike (The P Word), this “masterpiece of forensic fury” (The Guardian) leaves the audience awestruck and motivated to join the cause.

Fix + Foxy’s Dark Noon (June 7 - July 7, 2024) took the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm. In it, South African artists including co-director and choreographer Nhlanhla Mahlangu and seven South African actors join forces with acclaimed Danish director Tue Biering and create an exhilarating theatrical experience. Dark Noon turns the myth of the American Wild West, as endlessly glorified by Hollywood westerns of the 1950s, on its head. This time, rather than history being told by the victors, it is told by the vanquished. On a vast bare stage, the skeleton film set of a Western town emerges in real time. The extraordinary actors embody the distinctive characters of America’s past: cowboys, gold seekers, missionaries, enslaved Africans, Chinese workers, Native Americans, prostitutes, Bluecoats, and Confederates. Through playful interpretation, the performers scrutinize the presumptions and misconceptions of the American Frontier. “Dripping with energy, irony and anger,” this “savage and gripping” work “tells the 300-year history of the American west in 100 uproarious minutes” (The Guardian). 

Ticketing Information

How to Be a Dance in Seventy-two Thousand Easy Lessons and Life & Times of Michael K are on sale now. Volcano and The Hunt go on sale to St. Ann’s Warehouse members on November 1, and to the public on November 15. Grenfell: in the words of survivors and Dark Noon go on sale to members December 5, and to the general public on December 14. All tickets can be purchased at stannswarehouse.org.

2023-2024 Schedule and Programming Descriptions

St. Ann’s Warehouse presents

Teac Damsa and Gate Theatre, Dublin

How to Be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons 

By Michael Keegan-Dolan

Choreographed & Performed by Michael Keegan-Dolan & Rachel Poirier

Directed by Rachel Poirier & Adam Silverman

October 21–November 5, 2023

Irish choreographer and director Michael Keegan-Dolan returns to the stage for the first time in 20 years, joined by longtime collaborator, “dazzling dancer” Rachel Poirier (The Guardian). A delicious soundtrack of Stravinsky, Men Without Hats, Talking Heads and more drives this playful and provocative coming-of-age story about a life spent in dance. “So strong, you’ll dance while sitting still” (The Arts Review). 

Supported by Culture Ireland.

St. Ann’s Warehouse presents

Baxter Theatre Centre and Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus

J.M. Coetzee’s

Life & Times of Michael K 

Adapted and directed by Lara Foot 

In collaboration with Handspring Puppet Company

November 29–December 23, 2023

Life & Times of Michael K brings dignity to a humble man who finds solace in nature on an epic journey through a mythical, war-torn landscape. In search of his mother's ancestral home, he finds strength in his own humanity, a profound connection to the earth, and his own unique path. Handspring Puppet Company, who stunned us with War Horse and stole our hearts with Little Amal, joins Cape Town’s Baxter Theatre to transform J.M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning novel into exquisite puppet theater. 
Supported by The Jim Henson Foundation and Maxine Isaacs.

St. Ann’s Warehouse presents
Attic Projects

Volcano

Written, directed & choreographed by Luke Murphy
Performed by Luke Murphy & Will Thompson

January 10–21, 2024

Presented in association with Irish Arts Center

Winner — Best Production, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2020/2021 

Part theater, part dance, part sci-fi thriller, Volcano is a live performance for the mini-series era. Acclaimed director and performer Luke Murphy (Punch Drunk’s Sleep No More) leads us on a voyeuristic journey in a glass-enclosed living room of disrepair somewhere between earth and space, reality and fiction. Two people recreate the greatest hits of their old lives, clinging to memories of a life out of reach.

In partnership with the 2024 Under the Radar Festival (Mark Russell, Festival Director; ArKtype, Festival Producer).

Supported by Culture Ireland and Nancy & Chad Dickerson

St. Ann’s Warehouse presents
The Almeida Theatre

The Hunt

Based on the film Jagten by Thomas Vinterberg & Tobias Lindholm
Adapted for the stage by David Farr
Directed by Rupert Goold
Set design by Es Devlin

Featuring Tobias Menzies

Starts February 16, 2024

A modern day parable, The Hunt is a thriller. A rural hunting community goes mad when a teacher is accused of misconduct by a 6-year-old child. Where guns and drinking songs are the way of life, truth is no match for the impulses unleashed. 

St. Ann’s Warehouse

in association with KPPL Productions presents

The National Theatre production of

Grenfell: in the words of survivors

By Gillian Slovo

Co-directed by Phyllida Lloyd & Anthony Simpson-Pike

April 13–May 12, 2024

“It was my safest place… it was home.” The extraordinarily resilient Grenfell community in London protected and cared for one another before, during, and after a deadly fire many of them foresaw. Crafted from verbatim interviews and public inquiries, the survivors’ haunting recollections, heroic acts, and unspeakable loss amplify a fierce campaign for justice and reform. 

Made possible by support from The National Theatre, National Endowment for the Arts, Jerome L. Greene Foundation, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and the DUMBO BID, Areté Foundation, Miranda Curtis, Dominique Bravo & Eric Sloan, Carol Sellars, Sally Whitehall and Mark Gordon, Con Edison

St. Ann’s Warehouse presents

Fix + Foxy

Dark Noon

Produced by Glynis Henderson Productions | The Pleasance | Alchemation

Written & directed by Tue Biering

Co-directed & choreographed by Nhlanhla Mahlangu

June 7 - July 7, 2024 

The smash hit of Edinburgh Festival 2023, Dark Noon received phenomenal reviews and widespread international interest. This Danish production with seven South African actors is a brutal reimagining of the history of America, through the lens of the American western genre. Turning the story inside out, the myth of the Wild West is all there—the European settlers, the Native Americans, the Chinese slaves, the African slaves—in desperate pursuit of land and home. This is a monstrous, playful and absurd spectacle—a genius mix of irony, energy and brutality. 

"One of the most innovative , provocative, powerful pieces of theatre I have ever seen. This immersive, myth-busting masterpiece had an almighty impact on me which will continue for a very long time “—Phoebe Waller-Bridge

About St. Ann’s Warehouse

St. Ann’s Warehouse plays a vital role on the global cultural landscape as an American artistic home for international companies of distinction, American avant-garde masters, and talented emerging artists ready to work on a grand scale. Located on the waterfront in Brooklyn Bridge Park, the spectacular waterfront theater provides artists with flexible, open space, enabling them to work with unfettered creativity, knowing that the theater can be adapted to suit their needs.

Over its 44-year history, St. Ann’s Warehouse has introduced American audiences to landmark works from a global community of theater-makers including The National Theatre of Scotland (Black Watch, Let the Right One In); Kneehigh (Brief Encounter, Tristan & Yseult); TR Warszawa (Festen, Macbeth); Mark Rylance (Measure for Measure), Daniel Kramer (Woyzeck), Enda Walsh (The Walworth Farce, and Misterman, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, both featuring Cillian Murphy); The Donmar Warehouse (the all-female Shakespeare Trilogy); Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! (2019 Tony Award winner); Good Chance Theatre’s The Jungle; and  Little Amal Walks NYC, a massive public art project co-produced by St. Ann’s and The Walk Productions last season. St. Ann’s also produced Lou Reed’s and John Cale’s Songs for ‘Drella; Lou Reed’s Berlin; legendary Hal Willner tribute concerts, and solo outings by Jeff Buckley, Marianne Faithfull, Aaron Neville, David Bowie, Joe Strummer, and many others. During the pandemic, St. Ann’s deployed its roof and façade for free public art exhibitions and outdoor roof concerts.