Members click HERE for discounted tickets!

An Award-Winning Play by Michelle Kholos Brooks

Directed by Sarah Norris

Featuring Hallie Griffin, MaryKathryn Kopp, Kaitlin Paige Longoria, and Hannah Mae Sturges

Inspired by true events.

Just because you align yourself with a dictator doesn’t mean you get a pass. It’s Germany in 1943 and three times a day, every day, a group of young German women have the opportunity to die for their country. They are Adolf Hitler’s food tasters. And what do girls discuss as they wait to see if they will live through another meal? Like all girls, throughout time, they gossip and dream, they question and dance. They want to love, laugh, and above all they want to survive.

History has revealed that Margot Woelk was a German secretary who, among 15 young women in 1942, were selected to taste German leader Adolf Hitler’s food at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia for two-and-a-half years in order to confirm that it was safe to eat. She was the only one of the 15 to survive World War II, and her background as Hitler’s food taster was not revealed until a newspaper interview on her 95th birthday in December 2012. (Wikipedia)

“One of the best evenings I’ve spent in the theater in a long time. It was interesting, entertaining, upsetting, and it made you think.”- Susan Stroman, Legendary Director and Choreographer

Hitler’s Tasters made its World Premiere on April 6, 2018 at Centenary Stage, Hackettstown, NJ, with Sarah Norris as the Director and Catherine Rust as the Producing Director. The play made its New York City premiere on October 5, 2018 with New Light Theater Project. It is the recipient of 2017 Women Playwrights Series, Susan Glaspell Award, named ‘Best of Fringe’ by The Stage UK and was a sell-out show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Hitler’s Tasters premiere at Centenary Stage Co. was done so with additional developmental support from Pacific Resident Theatre, The Boston Court Theatre, Geffen Playhouse and Wordsmyth Theatre. New Light Theater Project’s production of Hitler’s Tasters was originally presented at IRT Theater in the fall 2018, followed by limited runs at The North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (Skokie, IL), The E2E Festival at 59E59 Theaters (NYC) and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, all in the summer of 2019.

Concessions are available at our new eAT Coffee Bar.

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THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER. Guests attending any INDOOR John Drew Theater programs must show proof of FULL vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater.  Face coverings are required indoors for all guests over the age of two, regardless of vaccinated status.

Click HERE for full COVID-19 information to review prior to your visit.

DUE TO THE FORECAST FOR RAIN THIS PROGRAM WILL NOW TAKE PLACE INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER.

With consideration for the safety of guests and staff, when attending any indoor John Drew Theater program guests must show proof of full vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater, with the exception of children under the age of 12. Scroll down for more info.

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Staged Reading of
THE HEIDI CHRONICLES

Followed by a talkback led by Erika Rundle

Directed by Jackson Gay
Dramaturg: Erika Rundle
Musical Director: Bobby Peterson
Costumes: Fabian Aguilar
Cast: Joanna Feuer, Frank Harts, Quinn Jackson, Nate Janis, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Addison Takefman, Shelley Thomas, Georgia Warner

During her prolific career, which spanned nearly four decades, playwright Wendy Wasserstein wrote eleven plays, winning a Tony Award, a Pulitzer Prize, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, a Drama Desk Award, and an Outer Critics Circle Award. She was also a member of Guild Hall’s Academy of the Arts, where she accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. Her stunning accomplishments include such monumental works as The Heidi Chronicles, The Sisters Rosensweig and An American Daughter; along with a robust assortment of shorter, lesser known plays that all manage to capture her uniquely warm, irreverent and very human voice. We are delighted to present this mini-fest of Wendy’s plays – two separate, distinctive evenings filled with smart and shining treats from the voice of one of America’s most beloved playwrights, and a great friend and neighbor to Guild Hall.

The plot of THE HEIDI CHRONICLES follows Heidi Holland from high school in the 1960s to her career as a successful art historian more than twenty years later. The play’s main themes deal with the changing role of women during this time period, describing both Heidi’s ardent feminism during the 1970s and her eventual sense of betrayal during the 1980s.

Though most of the characters are women, there are two important male characters; Peter Patrone, a gay pediatrician who is arguably Heidi’s best friend, and Scoop Rosenbaum, a magazine editor who marries and has many affairs, and with whom Heidi has a tense friendship. Heidi meets Scoop at a Eugene McCarthy rally where he tries to woo her with knowledge and wit. She seems unenthused, but she realizes Scoop is a very intelligent, attractive man despite his egotistical ways. Although their romantic relationship is unsuccessful, the chemistry between Scoop and Heidi is insatiable, and they become lifelong friends.

Heidi realizes that remaining unmarried does not mean she cannot be a mother, and she chooses to adopt a child on her own.

THE HEIDI CHRONICLES won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as Tony, Drama Desk and NY Drama Critic’s Circle Awards for Best New Play.

Run time: Approx. 90 minutes

June 4^th will feature an evening of 6 short plays with music – Bette and Me, Tender Offer, Workout, Medea, Boy Meets Girl, and The Man in a Case.

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*IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING PROGRAMS INDOORS IN THE JOHN DREW THEATER

Guests attending any indoor John Drew Theater program must show proof of full vaccination. At this time, only fully vaccinated guests are permitted to attend programs in the indoor theater. Children under 12 do not require vaccination.

In order to attend programs indoors in the John Drew Theater, guests will be responsible for displaying proof of one of the following on arrival*:

• Completed vaccination card or digital application proving both doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has been received at least 14 days prior to the day of the program.
• Current Clear Pass or New York State Excelsior Pass with proof of full vaccination. Click HERE to download the free Excelsior Pass app for seamless entry.

*In accordance with current New York State guidelines, fully vaccinated attendees may be spaced directly next to one another at 100 percent capacity instead of 6 feet apart. Masks are optional. Venues must verify vaccination status to take advantage of reduced social distancing requirements. Children under the age of 12 who are not yet vaccine eligible, and under the age of 16 who have not yet been able to be vaccinated, may accompany and be seated with a vaccinated adult.

Updated as of June 3, 2021.