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.

Alexia Vernon (Performer) Alexia is a performer, educator, speaker, and life/business coach. She is touring her performance piece The Joy of Lex, most recently to HERE Arts Center’s TALR Festival, Initiation International in Singapore, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Alexia produces the New York City Student Shakespeare Festival and is an adjunct professor at John Jay College and New Jersey City University. She is published in Melody Berger’s book, We Don’t Need Another Wave and featured in Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards’s book, Grassroots: A Field Guide for Feminist Activism. Alexia holds an MA in Experimental Theatre and Gender Studies from NYU.

Aviva Meyer (Stage Manager) Aviva graduated from Swarthmore College and received a Masters in Public Health from Columbia. Her endeavors include origami, knitting, web and graphic design, and electing progressively-minded musicians to Congress. She brings her eclectic interests and skills to the tasks of stage management and graphic design.

Cameron J. Oro (Performer) Cameron graduated with a BFA in Drama from NYU, where he trained with The Atlantic Theater Company and The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. NYU credits include: The Merchant of Venice (RADA), a student-directed production of The Country Club , and the mainstage The Three Sisters. Cameron also had the great fortune of training with Anne Bogart and The SITI Company during the summer of 2004. Since graduating in 2005, Cameron has performed in the Manhattan Repertory Theater's Summerfest and the 2006 NY Fringe Festival production of Fay Lindsay-Jones Story.

David Bengali (Set Designer) David graduated from Princeton University, where his theater studies focused on lighting design, directing, and writing, and is particularly interested in Commedia and its relationship to modern street performance and other site-specific art. He has worked recently on projects with Prospect Theatre Company, Pig Iron Theater Company, New Jersey Opera Theater, The Jamal Jackson Dance Company, Women's InterArts, and Princeton Summer Theater.

Emily Otto (Dramaturg) Emily is a dramaturg, musician, and composer based in New York City. Past dramaturgy credits include Dido, Queen of Carthage, directed by Neil Bartlett, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Martha Clarke, both at the American Repertory Theatre, and the world premiere of Philip Glass's Appomattox, directed by Robert Woodruff, at the San Francisco Opera. Emily holds an MFA in dramaturgy from the American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre's Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.

Jon Stancato (Director) Jon has co-created and directed all of Stolen Chair's productions since he co-founded the company in 2002. He has trained with Thomas Richards at the Grotowski Workcenter, Anne Bogart and The SITI Company, Antonio Fava, and The Roving Classical Commedia University, and in the techniques of Jacques Lecoq. He teaches playwriting, directing, acting, and physical theatre techniques throughout the tri-state area and is a commentator and teaching artist for the NYC Student Shakespeare Festival. He holds a Theatre Studies BA from Swarthmore College.

Kiran Rikhye (Writer) Kiran is Stolen Chair’s resident playwright, and has penned nine plays for the company since she co-founded it in 2002. Her playwriting has been praised for its "literary and poetical pyrotechnics" (Martin Denton, NYtheatre.com) and her adaptation of Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs has been published by the New York Theatre Experience in Playing with Canons. Kiran holds an MA in English Literature at Columbia University and a BA in Theatre Studies and English from Swarthmore College.

Layna Fisher (Performer) Layna Fisher is an artist performing around New York with companies such as Studio 42, The Faux-Real Theater Co, Theatre Faction and her own company LawnFish. LawnFish has produced such works as the play sKIN, Subversions, vignettes on the subway, Stare an opportunity to, Aparkments, blueprints in the park and Truncated, an inquiry into the diamond trade of Sierra Leone which was performed at the Public Theater. Layna has trained with Raïna von Waldenburg of ETW, David Cady, Dani Super, Brette Goldstein, The Oxford School of Drama, AADA and UCB. She has attended residencies with The Field and ACA with master artists Vik Muniz and Eric Bogosian.

Liza Wade White (Performer) Liza is originally from Myrtle Beach, SC. She attended high school at North Carolina School of the Arts and went on to earn a B.A. from LIU’s Friends World Program where she worked extensively in London, Northern Ireland, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. New York credits include Faust and the Furious (Culture Project), Guys and Dolls (Heights Player’s) and actor/teacher (Creative Arts Team). Liza can be seen bustin' a move in a Cingular commercial. Favorite roles: Sheila in The Boys Next Door, featured dancer in Unto These Hills, and Mute in The Fantastics. Liza also fancies herself a playwright, educator, and proud auntie.

Merav Elbaz (Costume Designer) Merav Elbaz is a costume designer in the making. Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Merav has been working in New York as a costume and wardrobe loyal servant for the past 4 years. Credits as a designer include 4 theatre productions in New York, 2 PSAs on Public Television, a Sprint commercial, transitions for Nick Jr. and numerous music videos, short films and internet spots. A big fan of clothes, Merav got her first shot as a stylist last December for Venus Magazine. Merav earned her BA in January 2005 from Hunter College in Film and Theatre, and is presently attending classes at FIT.

Sam Dingman (Performer) Sam Dingman holds a BA in Theatre Studies with an Honors Concentration in Acting from Swarthmore College, and has also studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, and Studio Dante. He is a founding member of Stolen Chair, and co-created its inaugural production, A Portrait of Dora as a Young Man. He has also appeared as a co-creator and performer in Pennybacker at the People’s Improv Theater. Other recent credits include Hugging the Shoulder in NYCFringe, I Wish I Was Woody Allen at TSI, and the independent film Trick.