Classic Stage Company
Classic Stage Company, or CSC, is a classical Off-Broadway theater dedicated to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience, presenting plays from the past that speak directly to today's issues. Founded in 1967, Classic Stage Company is one of Off-Broadway's longest-enduring theaters. Its 199-seat theatre is the former Abbey Theatre located at 136 East 13th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City.
Classic Stage Company is led by Artistic Director John Doyle. Its productions have been cited repeatedly by the major Off-Broadway theater awards: Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award and 1999 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.Productions
Recent productions include: Turgenev's A Month in the Country with Peter Dinklage and Taylor Schilling; Rodgers & Hammerstein's Allegro; Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle with Christopher Lloyd, and Galileo with F. Murray Abraham; Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion with Melissa Errico, Judy Kuhn, and Ryan Silverman; Chekhov's Ivanov with Ethan Hawke, The Cherry Orchard with Dianne Wiest and John Turturro, Three Sisters with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hecht, Juliet Rylance and Peter Sarsgaard, Uncle Vanya with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Denis O'Hare, and Peter Sarsgaard, and The Seagull with Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming; David Ives' The Heir Apparent, Venus in Fur with Nina Arianda, The School for Lies with Hamish Linklater, and New Jerusalem with Richard Easton; Unnatural Acts, conceived by Tony Speciale; Anne Carson's An Oresteia; and Shakespeare's Hamlet with Peter Sarsgaard, The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin, A Midsummer Night's Dream with Bebe Neuwirth, and Richard III, Richard II, and Hamlet with Michael Cumpsty.
Prominent artists who have worked at Classic Stage Company include F. Murray Abraham, Wes Bentley, Zoe Caldwell, Kathleen Chalfant, Alan Cumming, Peter Dinklage, Mamie Gummer, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Amy Irving, Bill Irwin, Cherry Jones, Ron Leibman, Taylor Mac, Camryn Manheim, Frances McDormand, Kate Mulgrew, Bebe Neuwirth, Cynthia Nixon, Chris Noth, Mandy Patinkin, Christina Ricci, Joely Richardson, Juliet Rylance, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard Liev Schreiber, Taylor Schilling, Tony Shalhoub, Mira Sorvino, Jean Stapleton, David Strathairn, Michael Stuhlbarg, Jason Sudeikis, John Douglas Thompson, Uma Thurman, Stanley Tucci, and John Turturro.Artistic directors
- Christopher Martin
- Carey Perloff
- David Esbjornson
- Barry Edelstein
- Brian Kulick
- John Doyle
Awards
Classic Stage Company has won awards for many of its productions.
- Actors' Equity Award for Performance, Suzanne Bertish for The Heir Apparent
- Actors' Equity Award for Performance, Paxton Whitehead for The Heir Apparent
- Artios Award for The Cherry Orchard, New York Theatre – Comedy or Musical, James Calleri
- Artios Award for Venus in Fur, New York Broadway Theatre – Comedy, James Calleri, Nancy Piccione
- Lucille Lortel Award for The Cherry Orchard, Outstanding Revival
- Henry Hewes Design Award for The School for Lies, Costume Design, William Ivey Long
- Artios Award for Three Sisters, Off Broadway Casting, James Calleri
- Village Voice OBIE Award for The School for Lies, Performance, Hamish Linklater
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Three Sisters, Direction, Austin Pendleton
- PEN award for poetry in translation for An Oresteia, Anne Carson
- Falstaff Award for The Tempest, Performance, Elisabeth Waterston
- St. Clair Bayfield Award for The Tempest, Performance, Stark Sands
- Actors' Equity Award for The Seagull, Performance, David Rasche
- Artios Award for The Seagull, Off Broadway Casting, James Calleri
- Dramatist Guild Hull-Warriner Award for New Jerusalem author David Ives
- Henry Hewes Design Award for Richard III, Scenic Design, Mark Wendland
- Falstaff Award for Richard III, Performance, Michael Potts
- Falstaff Award for Richard III, Performance, Roberta Maxwell
- St. Clair Bayfield Award for Richard II, Performance, George Morfogen
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Hamlet, Performance, Michael Cumpsty
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Monster, Performance, Christopher Donahue
- Village Award from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Texts for Nothing, Set Design, Douglas Stein
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Texts for Nothing, Performance, Bill Irwin
- Village Voice OBIE Award for I Will Bear Witness, Performance, George Bartenieff
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Race and I Will Bear Witness, Set Design, Neil Patel
- Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Costume Design, Martin Pakledinaz, The Misanthrope
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Direction, David Esbjornson, Thérèse Raquin
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Performance, Elizabeth Marvel, Thérèse Raquin
- Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival, Entertaining Mr. Sloane
- Village Voice OBIE Award for Outstanding Achievement
- Village Voice OBIE for Performance, Peter Francis James, Amphitryon
- Outer Critics Circle Citation for Sustained Excellence
- Village Voice OBIE for Lighting Design, Brian MacDevitt, The Maids, The Illusion and Triumph of Love
