off the WALL productions at Carnegie Stage A Pittsburgh Theater

What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one.   Let''s have a look back at the past five years and then... May 2014    Inky Written by: Rinne Groff Directed by Ingrid Sonnichsen With:  Tony Bingham*  (Greg), Abby Quatro* (Inky), Adrienne Wehr* (Barbara), and on alternating nights Evangelina Paul & Layla Wyoming (Allison) A love-starved Manhattanite husband and wife struggle to satisfy their child-like desire to "have it all" during the high-rolling, morally skewed 1980s. When they take in Inky, a young Slavic nanny who's obsessed with Muhammad Ali, to care for their nine-year-old daughter and infant son, they are forced to face both their limitations and their potential for change. Inky is a darkly comic story about the importance of fighting back. Reviews: "One of the most interesting productions I’ve seen for a while simply because just when you thought you had each o...

March 2014         A Feminine Ending Written by Sarah Treem Directed by Matt Morrow With: Erika Cuenca*, Ingrid Sonnichsen*, Weston Blakesley*, Shaun Cameron Hall, Andrew Wind* Amanda wants to be a great composer, but she’s in a profession that only recognizes famous men. At the moment, she's living in New York City and writing advertising jingles to pay the rent while her almost-famous fiancé, Jack, pursues his singing career. Her parents are getting divorced, her first love reappears, and there's a lot of noise in her head, but none of it is music. Until the end. A gentle, bittersweet comedy about a young woman who knows what she wants but not quite how to get it. Reviews: "...the play is really a showcase for Erika Cuenca as Amanda, who, in a mammoth performance of intense focus and rock-ribbed conviction, keeps reminding us of the humanity deep inside Treem’s compelling script." - Ted Hoover - City Paper “... the electricity between them and the...

What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one.   Let''s have a look back at the past five years and then... December 2013          Well Written by Lisa Kron Directed by: Melissa Hill Grande With: Daina Michelle Griffith* as Lisa & Virginia Wall Gruenert* as Ann Ensemble: Tony Bingham*,  Alan Bomar Jones*, Linda Haston*, Susie McGregor-Laine* Lisa Kron’s insightful 2006 Tony Award-nominated play is a cheeky, fourth-wall-smashing seriocomedy about the collision of art and life, exploring the dynamics of health, family and community. With this story of her mother’s extraordinary ability to heal a changing neighborhood, despite her inability to heal herself, Kron is left to contemplate the notion that wellness lies in our ability to embrace the complexities and contradictions of life. Well is a surprising and riotously funny play that ultimately acknowledges the hea...

What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one.   Let''s have a look back at the past five years and then... March 2013    Looking For The Pony  Karen Baum - Cameron Knight A Pittsburgh Theater Regional Premiere Written by: Andrea Lepcio Directed by: Robyne Parrish Starring: Theo Allyn*, Karen Baum*, Daina Michelle Griffith*, Cameron Knight*. Original music by EMay Finalist Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award Finalist for the NEA Outstanding New American Play Award. There once were two children who could see the bright side of any situation. One day, they are put in a room filled with manure. Hours later they are discovered laughing, scooping up the manure, digging underneath. "What on earth are you doing?" the children are asked. With beaming smiles they answer, "All this poop, there has to be a pony in here somewhere." Eloisa is finally ready to leave a lifeless career in fin...

What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one.   Read original post here     December 2012          Gruesome Playground Injuries A Pittsburgh Theater Premiere Written by: Rajiv Joseph Directed by: Maggie Balsley With: Erika Cuenca* and Tony Bingham* Original music by Ryan McMasters Love hurts, and that’s the point. Two eight-year-olds’ lives collide in the nurse’s office. Then over the course of 30 years, the lives of Kayleen and Doug intersect at the most bizarre intervals, leading the two childhood friends to compare scars and the physical calamities that keep drawing them together. As they mature from accident-prone kids to self-destructive adults, their broken hearts and broken bones draw them ever closer. These two rebels may only be fit for one another - but how far can one person go to heal another’s wounds? Reviews:   ”…terrific p...

 What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one.   Read original post here December 2012  -  Our second  play in Allegheny County The Speed Queen Written and performed by Anne Stockton Directed by Austin Pendleton. Based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan Convicted murderer Marjorie Standiford has agreed to spend her last hours on Death Row talking into a tape recorder, answering questions posed by a celebrated author about her involvement in a killing spree, her drug addiction, wild sex life, and why she is where she is. Adapted from the novel by Stewart O'Nan and starring Anne Stockton, this harrowing one-woman tour de force won for Outstanding Performance - Solo Show at the 2007 NYC Midtown International Theater Festival. Reviews: "a gripping one-woman show" Bob Hoover - Post Gazette  "...both satisfying and frightening...she's captured Marjorie's innocence and insanity." ...

Season twelve of “alternative theater for grownups” includes great plays, bold choices, and talented artists.  off the WALL Productions is excited to announce its 2018-19 season, featuring one World premiere, one U.S. premiere, and one Pittsburgh premiere in the Acting Company’s three-play program. Purchase tickets online at www.insideoffthewall.com, or call our box office at (724) -873-3576, Ext. 1. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol  World Premiere                                                               Conceived, co-adapted and performed by Mark Coffin Co-adapted and directed by Heidi Mueller Smith In this adaptation of Dickens’ best-known work, with its themes of inequity and renewal just as relevant in our society today as they were in 1843, the arc of the story is experienced through the mind and heart...

What do we want to be when we grow up?  For us this has become an existential question in more ways than one. off the WALL productions (OTW) was founded July 1, 2007 in Washington County and relocated to Allegheny County in July 2012. Since 2012, OTW has produced and staged 25 productions of either new plays or regional premieres.  We have employed and paid (as per Union contracts) 25 directors and 101 professional actors. In addition, each show employed set, sound/music, lighting and costume designers, plus stagehands and front-of house-personnel, adding another 125 part-time jobs with the employees being paid a living wage of a minimum of $15.00 per hour. This we cannot sustain without your support. Our focus on diversity in theater, especially by supporting female artists, has put us on a very special list; The International Center for Women Playwrights has honored us for five continuous years with the 50/50 Applause Award. More details here But, we are also on anoth...