Indie Theater Now Goes to the Movies

On Oscar Day, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some of the plays on Indie Theater Now that are about the movies.

We’ll start with Misadventures in the Art of Movie-Making, Annie Worden’s funny one-woman play about a young actress who finds herself involved with a bizarre group of indie filmmakers. This one is based on real-life experiences, and offers some hilarious behind-the-scenes tales about the less glamorous side of cinema.

Another solo play, Jimmy: The Story of James Dean, offers a biographical look at one of Hollywood’s great iconic stars. This piece by Jacob Moushey takes place in James Dean’s trailer on the last night of filming Giant. The actor looks back at his life, loves, and career in this engaging, moving work.

Jeff Tabnick’s Something Truly Monstrous deals with another film original, Peter Lorre. In this one-act comedy, Lorre seeks revenge against film mogul Jack Warner, but his plans go awry. Movie stars Paul Henreid and Humphrey Bogart are also characters in this play, which debuted at FringeNYC a few years back.

The golden age of Hollywood was a time when people went back to their local movie houses to catch up the latest episodes of pulpy serials. That’s what Ian W. Hill celebrates in his affectionate pastiche Spacemen From Space! Consisting of six episodes–each with a cliffhanger ending, of course–this play captures the innocence and fun a bygone era.

And finally, nobody writes Hollywood parodies like Todd Michael, and his Vice Girl Confidential is one the funniest of its kind. This play, another FringeNYC alumnus, mashes up gangster flick and exploitation movies of the 1930s and ’40s in a single hilarious act.

So while you’re waiting for the red carpet to be rolled out, check out some of these movie-related plays on Indie Theater Now!