Kinderspiel

Directed by: Jon Stancato

Set in the demimonde of Weimar Berlin, one cabaret offers access to the ultimate taboo: watching adults play as children. The Stolen Chair Theatre Company presents the world's greatest children's story, told exclusively for an adult audience. After all, why should childhood be wasted on the young?
In the seedy and seditious demimonde of Weimar B erlin, five lost souls find each other (and sold-out audiences) when they create a scandalous club where adults play like children... and customers pay to watch. KINDERSPIEL tells the story of how a burnt-out expressionistic dancer, a jaded Jew, a trendsetting lesbian journalist, a conservative widow and a utopian communist turn a curious fetish into a revolutionary theater movement..

The Stolen Chair Theatre Company is dedicated to the theft, recycling, and reexamination of historical performance styles. Using collaborative techniques, the company endeavors to create visually stunning and uniquely contemporary theater where the earnest and the ironic happily co-exist. Since it inception in 2002, Stolen Chair has created 10 original works including the absurdist noir play Kill Me Like You Mean It, the cross-gendered comedy Stage Kiss and the masked farce Commedia dell' Artemisia. Their 2005 silent film for the stage The Man Who Laughs was published in New York Theater Experience's anthology Playing With Canons: Explosive New Works from Great Literature by America's Indie Playwright. They have been Resident Artists at Horse Trade since 2005.

“[A]wfully clever...The play not only stands as a testament to the insane depression of the Weimar era, but illustrates the similarity between genius and insanity, and the odd power of art to transform one's perception of reality...” - Aaron Riccio, New Theatre Corps

“...brilliantly developed and performed by the talented cast...” - Stephan Paschalides, Flavorpill


Horse Trade Theater Group is currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary Season. Operating a trio of spaces (The Kraine Theater and The Red Room at 85 East 4th Street and Under St. Marks at 94 St. Marks Place), Horse Trade was founded in 1998 by two Central Park Handsome Cab ( a.k.a. horse-drawn carriage) drivers. They have seen the success of hundreds of Off-Off Broadway artists, and proudly continue to play a part in fueling and supporting the ever-evolving indie theater scene.