The Other Place

Current Projects: Stage 2012

THE OTHER PLACE
A new play developed in association with Matt Olin

Now being produced throughout North America and internationally.

The Other Place concluded a Tony-nominated Broadway run on 3/3/13
December 11, 2012  – March 3, 2013 at MTC’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

2011 World Premiere with MCC Theater at The Lucille Lortel Theatre (NYC)
starring Laurie Metcalf  |  directed by Joe Mantello  |  written by Sharr White

Emmy Award winner Laurie Metcalf (November, “Roseanne”) teamed with Tony Award winning director Joe Mantello (The Pride, Glengarry Glen Ross) to stage the World Premiere of this new emotional thriller originally developed in association with Matt Olin. The Other Place opened on March 28, 2010 in New York City during MCC Theater’s 25th Anniversary Season, and enjoyed a critically-acclaimed and extended run. The play also garnered a number of award nominations and wins, including The Lucille Lortel Awards (1 win and 3 nominations), Obie Awards (1 win), Drama Desk Awards (1 nomination) and Outer Critics Circle Awards (2 nominations, including OUTSTANDING NEW OFF-BROADWAY PLAY). The play then transferred to Broadway as a part of Manhattan Theatre Club’s 2012-13 season, where is was extended by popular demand and nominated for a Tony Award. The Other Place is now being produced at regional theatres throughout North America and internationally. Here is a small sampling of rave reviews that the show has received:

“Sometimes that endless process of script development actually works…this mysterious play is so cleverly constructed (and subtly helmed by Joe Mantello) that the nature and depth of the problem isn’t revealed until the last shattering scene…Should it go on? Looks good.”  -Variety

“Laurie Metcalf is a knockout…(her) performance is an undisputable star turn.”  -CurtainUp

“Theatre at its best winnows its way under your skin and into your heart. But it’s rare, at least outside the catalog of Tom Stoppard, to find a work that also burrows so far into your brain that it controls your every thought — and even your every breath. The Other Place…attains this trifecta so subtly and so effortlessly, you won’t realize how remarkable a play it truly is until it’s completely taken you over from the inside out. With the help of Joe Mantello, doing hands-down the best job of his directing career, and Laurie Metcalf unleashing a tour-de-force performance of domineering ferocity, your transformation from innocent theatregoer to blubbering onlooker does not take long. In fact, the whole evening requires only 85 minutes, by far the briskest and most rewarding hour and a half of the season to date.”   “Laurie Metcalf proves yet again that she is one of our finest actors in her raw and riveting portrayal…(a) taut, incisive puzzle play…combines an inventive structure with first-rate character observation. Under Joe Mantello’s disciplined, keenly intuitive direction, the 80-minute show takes nary a false step as it comes together piece by piece to form a harrowing and moving tale…(The) climactic scene…(is) a breathtakingly original and beautifully written scene.”  –Backstage

“The emotional wallop it delivers is almost shocking. Joe Mantello directs and keeps the action pulsing nonstop. (Metcalf) occupies every scene and is by turns brittle, vulnerable and quietly devastating…(she) has never looked more put together or come undone with such stirring potency.”  -NY Daily News

“Metcalf at the head of the class…She’s giving such a fierce performance that you can’t avert your eyes from the slowly unfolding drama…We may be in the middle of an exceptionally rich spring season at the theater, but it’d be a shame if this tour de force got lost in the fray.”  -NY Post

“A compelling, at times scarily intense performance from Laurie Metcalf…The Other Place is fluidly directed by Joe Mantello…Ms. Matcalf’s commanding performance keeps us involved in the crisis that envelops Juliana.”  -The New York Times

“A gripping psychosexual mystery/medical drama.”  -Entertainment Weekly

“The play is so layered in mystery that it isn’t until the last scene that we learn exactly what kind of lecture Juliana is giving – or understand the full circumstances behind it. In the meantime, Metcalf presents a sequence of dazzling, often contradictory versions of her complex character…Metcalf’s impassioned performance is amazing, but so is (her character of) Juliana.”  -Variety

“The Other Place works on several levels — as a psychological thriller, a scientific mystery and a heart gripping family drama. There’s no shortage of plot twists… The Other Place is a gift to the actress playing the central role. Laurie Metcalf proves herself to be more than worthy of that gift, so much so that she may well find herself a frontrunner for several ‘Best Actress in an Off-Broadway Play’ awards… Joe Mantello expertly and sensitively directs this tricky play…Interesting, well staged and superbly acted. Don’t miss this!”  -CurtainUp

“The most engrossing new mystery of the season. (Only Stoppard’s own Arcadia, now in revival on Broadway, tops it.) But the characters…are even more gripping than the story…Mantello’s conducting of the script’s symphonic shifting between countries, cities, and even states of mind, is masterful…Metcalf tops them all…Every moment she ignites is unforgettable…With the help of Mantello, Metcalf, and everyone else involved, The Other Place takes you to another place: that transcendent level you can only reach in the theatre when the heart, mind, nerves, and soul operate in perfect concert.”  -Talkin Broadway