Category: Past productions

Playground 3: One Night Stand centered around the topic of couples, both odd and ordinary, finding themselves thrown together in places challenging their sense of borders and intimacy.

In the One Night Stand universe, situations quickly turned from the usual to the unusual, in unexpected ways, as our delightful duos found their relationships tested in unfamiliar ways.

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Playground 3: One Night Stand Played on:

February 19, 20, 26 & 27
20:15
De Nieuwe Anita
Frederik Hendrikstraat 111, 1052 HN Amsterdam

The plays:

NAP TIME
by Denis Burke
Have you ever been in a panic that you couldn’t tell the living from the dead? Welcome to Michael’s world, hopefully his old band mate Harry can help get him out of this jam.

With Ben Evans, Andy Cowie & Quin Mero
Directed by Quin Mero
This amateur production is presented by donation from Denis Burke

THE SEVEN MEN OF HANUKKAH
by Sharon Cooper
Stephanie loves animals. Phil hasn’t gone to an audition in a long time and isn’t so sure that he’s at one now. So where the hell is this story going?

With Brian Ligthart & Katharina Olsen
Directed by Andy Cowie
This amateur production is presented royalty free by CRY HAVOC (www.cryhavoccompany.org).

REMOTE
by Eric Coble
After a disappointing sales pitch, Emma and Charlie’s bad luck isn’t over just yet. These two now find themselves trapped between a hostage situation next door and each other!
Pillow Talk

With Christine Blakeley & Abigail Levene
Directed by Quin Mero
This amateur production is presented by donation from Eric Coble

PILLOW TALK
by Peter Tolan
Doug & Aaron are enjoying a road trip across the US. But unexpectedly having to share a bed one night forces them to examine their feelings about friendship & initmacy a little too closely for comfort. A comedy double act with two straight men.

With Charles Bird & Chris Grabski
Directed by Ben Evans
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited

Poster design: Victoria Prokhorova @nika_prokhor
All photos courtesy of Arjen Veldt

Downstage Left presented Don’t Dress for Dinner, by Marc Camoletti, adapted by Robin Hawdon in November 2019.

Bernard has high hopes for a steamy weekend away with his mistress. He has hired a gourmet chef for the occasion. His friend Robert is ready to cover for him. His wife, Jacqueline, is on her way to her mother’s house. The plan seems too good to be true. It is. Oversights lead to hasty improvisations, which, in turn, lead to hilarious disaster. This show is relentlessly funny.

Don’t Dress for Dinner played on
November 14-17, 2019 at Het Polanentheater, Polanenstraat 174, 1013WC Amsterdam

Praise for Don’t Dress for Dinner

Hilarious! A must see!
– Patricia

One dinner party you’ll never forget!
– Svetka

Really Great show! Congratulations, everyone!
– Jackie

Echt een aanrader! Hilarisch verhaal, supergoed gespeeld, in een leuk theater. Everyone do see this play! You’ll enjoy it, in a cosy theatre
– Hans

A fantastic and truly hilarious show, not to be missed!!! Amazing set, fabulous direction and excellent actors… Well done to all the crew involved and keep entertaining us Downstage Left!
– Delphine

Whatever you might see for English-speaking plays in 2019, this one you shouldn’t miss. A fast moving, immensely funny and well-written play, you will find yourself often laughing and enjoying this high-spirited craziness. The director, set designer and all the actors did a tremendous job. Treat yourself to a feast of hilarious comedy. Well worth seeing!
– Michael

Poster design: Victoria Prokhorova @nika_prokhor
Photos courtesy of Jess Graham, all rights reserved.

This amateur production of “Don’t Dress for Dinner” was presented by special arrangement
with Samuel French LTD, a Concord Theatricals Company.

Playground 2: Crossed Wires played at De Nieuwe Anita in June, 2019. This evening of one acts was all about people getting their wires crossed, relatable but infuriating misunderstandings, and finding love in confusing places.

Praise

“A great fun evening of theater”

– George

“Don’t miss this fresh, fun and inspiring performance. I enjoyed it a lot. Well done Downstage Left Amsterdam”

– Daniela

“I laughed, I cried, I had a great night. Original writing and truthful acting. A mere 10 euro well spent”

–Peppy

“Saw this last night and thoroughly enjoyed all three pieces. Congratulations to all!”

–Michael

The plays:

“Alan Alba and the Black Friday Panic” by Denis Burke
(with Christine Blakely, Andy Cowie, Brian Ligthart, Türkü Köksel and Paddy O’Connell).
Directed by João Calado.
A popular TV show examines mass hysteria by faking disaster situations. When its star presenter is seen shopping moments before reports of a terrorist attack, no one takes him or the situation seriously, leaving him with nothing but panic and well-meaning fools for company.

“DMV Tyrant” by Chris Durang (with Christine Blakely and Ben Evans).
Directed by João Calado.
Renewing your driving license is rarely easy. It shouldn’t be this hard. The play features just two characters. We have all met one of them and we have all been the other.

“I’m Home” by Denis Burke (with Borislava Todorova, Quin Mero and Denis Burke).
Directed by Annika van der Vegt and Denis Burke.
After a heavy night of drinking, Lily forgets that she recently moved house and barges into her old apartment. Her unplanned visit (or break in, depending on how you view it) leaves new resident Francesca bewildered, but allows her flat mate Neill a chance to finally get something off his chest.

Photos courtesy of Arjen Veldt, all rights reserved.

A 2016 Love Story was a great success. We had lots of fun. Photos from the talented Arjen Veldt

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An original farce, by playwright Denis Burke, A 2016 Love Story plunges us straight back into that tumultuous year. Embroiled in a madcap world of fake news, celebrity deaths and political mayhem, a chance meeting between implacable enemies hints that all is not lost and that, perhaps, love really does conquer all.

Photos courtesy of Arjen Veldt, all rights reserved.

Playground is Downstage Left’s latest venture: the beginning of a series of experimental performances, based on topics we all can recognise. We started with perhaps the most universal theme of them all: love, or the lack thereof, and the age old question: How can you make love stay?

Downstage Left welcomes you to an evening of entertainment, laughter and possibly a few (happy) tears. We present a hand-picked selection of one-acts, sourced from five inspiring playwrights, from the well-versed Christopher Durang and the versatile Michael Frayn, to a troop of lesser-known, aspiring young writers from the New York based CRY HAVOC collective: Kitt Lavoie, Sharon E. Cooper and Jerzy Gwiazdowski.

Where and when?
Love in Pieces played on January 17 & 24, 2019, at De Nieuwe Anita

The running order:

[pwnd] (K. Lavoie):
With João Calado, Brian Ligthart & Katharina Olsen.
Directed by Ben Evans

Pig in the Middle (M. Frayn):
With Silvia Pietrosanti & Ben Evans
Directed by Andy Cowie

In the Meantime (S. E. Cooper):
With Borislava Todorova & Andy Cowie
Directed by Ben Evans

All Over Me (J. Gwiazdowski):
With Silvia Pietrosanti & Denis Burke
Directed by Andy Cowie

Wanda’s Visit (C. Durang):
With Borislava Todorova, Denis Burke, Katharina Olsen, Brian Ligthart, Ben Evans & Andy Cowie
Directed by João Calado

[Stage and backstage: Yulia Prokhorova and Annika Van Der Vegt]

The plays All over Me, [pwnd] & In the Meantime were developed with The CRY HAVOC Company (www.cryhavoccompany.org).

Wanda’s Visit is a short play by Christopher Durang (1986). This amateur production is presented by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Limited

Praise:

“Love in Pieces” was a feast of entertainment. Five one-act plays about the struggles and absurdities of love. All the acting and directing was marvelous! The second play “Pig in the Middle” was language-wise the most eloquent. Ben Evans and Silvia Pietrosanti found exactly the right tone to communicate their miscommunication. The last play “Wanda’s Visit” took the house down with a stunningly funny bubbling and surprising Borislava Todorova who stole the show. Playing a self-invited failed sex bomb invading the house of her former high-school boyfriend, played very subtly and cooly by Denis Burke, locked in a boring middle class marriage, we watch a storm of feminine manipulation, as the folder says, “rock like a hurricane”.

– Michael

Thought I was just going to see my study mate on stage and didn’t have any expectations but the play turned out amazing! So if you’re in Amsterdam and you like theater (and even if you do not yet), I really recommend seeing it. Touching, funny, well played and well written! Not to mention the amazing location

– Marina

Funny, witty, original and talented bunch of people.

– Dimitar