Photos: First Look at Retro Productions' ON THE VERGE

Retro Productions revival of Eric Overmyer's play On the Verge (or the Geography of Yearning) opened at the Gene Frankel Theatre last week. Since its inception in 2005, Retro Productions has been Nominated for 34 New York Innovative Theater Awards including the 2017 recipient of the Caffe Cino Fellowship Award. Sara Thigpen who was awarded the 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Award (NYITA) for Outstanding Director, directs.

On the Verge: or The Geography of Yearning is a whimsical and funny look at how mores, language, and technology changed over the first half of the 20th Century. It is the fantastical journey of three lady explorers from 1888 who, while traveling in Terra Incognita, find themselves traversing time, and end up in 1955 America. Along the way they meet strange and wondrous characters, learn slang, experience artifacts from the future, and debate the appropriateness of a lady wearing pants.

The cast features Kelsea Baker (Rule of 7x7/The Tank), Heather E. Cunningham (White on White/Hoi Polloi - NYTimes Critics Pick), William Franke (The Country House/Morningside Players), and Felicia J. Hudson (Blast Radius/Gideon Productions).

The creative team includes set design by Jeff Stander, costume design by Ben Philipp (2022 Emmy nomination for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), lighting design by Kia Rogers (winner of 2 NYITA for outstanding lighting design), and sound design by Robert A.K. Gonyo.

On the Verge runs September 9 - 24 with performances Thursday - Saturday at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm, with additional performances on Monday September 12 at 8pm and Wednesday, September 21 at 8pm. Running time: 1:40 minutes. The Gene Frankel Theatre is located at 24 Bond Street (Between Lafayette & Bowery), New York, NY 10012. Subways: 6 to Bleecker Street, B/D/F/M to Broadway/Lafayette. Tickets are $22 students/seniors, and $25 for general admission.

Retro's mission is to present works of retro theater, plays that take place in the recent past. The company focuses on telling good theatrical stories which have an historical perspective - with an emphasis on the 20th century - in order to broaden our own understanding of the world we live in. www.retroproductions.org

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