How The Storm Began
The Storm Theatre Company’s 1997 inaugural production of Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot was staged on the altar of the Church of the Holy Cross on 42nd Street in New York City for virtually no money. Since that rather modest beginning, The Storm has produced over 50 plays of astonishing scope and audacious breadth.
The History of The Storm Theatre Company
The name “Storm” was chosen to represent a journey through catharsis and regeneration. Inspired by Elizabethan Theatres such as Shakespeare’s The Globe and The Rose, The Storm Theatre Company proved an apt name for its mission – to reawaken audiences to the awe-inspiring truths of our shared humanity: its beauty and potential.
Such aspirations have led The Storm Theatre Company to produce quite a varied selection of plays over the last quarter century. Our second show, Dion Boucicault’s The Shaughraun, was the first production in New York City in over 100 years, and subsequently lead to a resurgence of this neglected nineteenth century theater genius’s work. The Storm rediscovered other forgotten gems such as Edward Bulwar Lytton’s Money (1840); Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday (1599); Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’ The House of Desires (1683); and George Lillo’s The London Merchant (1731), all produced to great critical success.
In addition, The Storm Theatre Company produced three plays by the French playwright, Paul Claudel. While Claudel is one of France’s most revered, his work is rarely staged in the United States. Storm Theatre produced the epic work The Satin Slipper as well as the mysterious and intriguing Noon Divide; the haunting play, The Tidings Brought to Mary, had two successful Storm Theatre productions.
In 2007, The Storm Theatre Company produced a festival of the work of Polish playwright and actor Karol Wojtyła, including Our God’s Brother, The Jeweler’s Shop, Jeremiah, and Job. Wojtyła seemed destined to become a major theatrical force but instead went on to become canonized Pope John Paul II.
In its 20th season, The Storm Theatre Company mission has inspired productions of an unusual assortment of plays including Marius by Marcel Pagnol (part of his Marseilles trilogy); Terrence Rattigan’s Ross (about Lawrence of Arabia); a rare NYC revival of Saroyan’s The Time of Your Life; a staged version of Graham Greene’s novel The Power and The Glory; Le Cid by Pierre Corneille in a new verse translation by Richard Wilbur; Gillette by William Hauptman; Stewart Parker’s, Spokesong; Jim Nolan’s The Salvage Shop; Stavrogin’s Confession by John Regis (adapted from Dostoevsky’s The Demons); and much more. With Antigone, The Storm Theatre Company returned to Jean Anouilh having produced his Eurydice in May/June of 2000. Interspersed throughout the years, The Storm Theatre Company has delighted audiences with productions of As You Like It, The Tempest, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, featuring of all things, a former Miss America and an NFL Hall of Famer.
Most Recently The Storm Theatre Company has produced original productions of new plays: The Believers by Robert Carrol, Deconstruction and The Fight by Jonathon Leaf; The New York premiere Sister Calling My Name by Buzz McLaughlin and the North American premiere of Collaborators by John Hodge.
We are pleased to have you join us for this particular “Storm” and we hope you’ll join us again for many more.