Matt Herzfeld

This pitch-black horror comedy inspired by Poe's original story takes an irreverent, bawdy, and satirical look at the vanity of the wealthy. After the outbreak of a horrific plague, a group of nobles locks themselves away, seeking to banish death. All is well, until a group of displeased nobles inside the abbey start to challenge the wisdom and rule of Prince Prospero...

This play, inspired by the writings of Poe, the Marquis de Sade, Rabelais, Crowley, and others, includes adult subject matter which some may find offensive or tasteless. Others will find it hilarious.

The Fox Sisters, Maggie and Kate, unwittingly changed the world forever by beginning the Spiritualist religious movement, the precursor to many of the psychic and paranormal beliefs held in the world today. Years after their childhood as mediums and spirit-talkers, however, Maggie is now ready to confess that her entire career has been a fraud. Pressured by her domineering husband into confessing before a packed crowd, Maggie is visited by her sisters on the eve of her demonstration in a last attempt to win her back.

Mac, an everyman character, moves to a new town, an idyllic country getaway that he hopes will finally provide him with the peace and relaxation he needs. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the sunny town, whose inhabitants claim that it is free from bad weather, is in fact a never-ending torrent of lightning and thunder, a fact of which the town's eccentric residents are unwilling or unable to acknowledge. Mac, trapped in this absurdist nightmare, finds himself fighting vainly to convince the others, all while struggling to maintain his own sanity.

Sei, a woman of Japanese descent raised in France, goes on an awkward first date. Years later, she is haunted by the memory of the man she met that night, a man who turns out to have later committed an unspeakable crime.

This play is heavily fictionalized, but uses elements from the story of Issei Sagawa, a Japanese man who killed and cannibalized a woman in 1981. It has moments of graphic violence which some people may find disturbing.

Harry, Larry, and Barry don't quite fit in with the rest of the living dead. Sure, they need human flesh to survive, but must the skeleton army so viciously raze its way across the post-apocalytic plain? OK, the living are a festering sore destroying each other and the known world, but is the only solution to wipe them out? And yes, it is an indisputable fact that the dead have risen from their graves, but for what purpose?

Equal parts Bruegel, Beckett, and Three Stooges, Dry Bones is an existential comedy that asks not about the meaning of life, but the meaning of death.

Four recent college graduates housing together in a rapidly gentrifying section of Brooklyn navigate friendships, lovers, and each other in a tragicomic coming-of-age tale inspired by Chekhov. Jan hates people but loves creating chaos. June only wants to be loved, but struggles to return the emotion. April desperately tries to balance her art and boyfriend. And Ember seeks to escape her pain, any way she can…

Holly lost it with Jordan Finer after a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Martin lost it in a parking lot with his middle-aged next-door neighbor. Greg lost it with Claire in her mother’s bed, a towel over the sheets. Through six true stories, ranging from the hilarious to the heartbreaking, What We Lost is a deeply honest theater piece that explores the circumstances, emotions, and complexities of losing it.

Originally performed as a dance piece with monologues in collaboration with director/choreographer Suzanne Karpinski, based on devised work with the original cast. It was originally performed by 6 actors sharing the roles (3 men, 3 women), though casting is flexible.

The story of the evolving relationship between Victorian illustrator Aubrey Beardsley and poet, critic, and self-confessed "invert" Andre Raffalovich, this psycho-sexual drama provides a fascinating look at late-19th century homosexuality, the birth of modern art, and the price paid for being a genius.

Beardsley’s Mentor was a Semi-Finalist for the 2014 National Playwrights Conference at the O’Neill.

Tensions flare between the student workers over the course of one night at Tate University’s annual Phonathon, where jealousies, crushes, and financial worries all collide into a hurricane of undergraduate angst. Into this maelstrom of a “hot-mess” comes Jill, a transfer student trying to find her place in school and life. As Jill’s first phone call approaches, will she be able to put on her mandatory “Tate smile?” This dark satire on the state of higher education asks us: when do we compromise our morals – and does the all-mighty liberal arts degree hasten our (inevitable) descent?

Material for Malcolm Porter is a play about the intersection between life and art. Malcolm Porter, a memoirist, believes in telling the truth. He believes in the truth so much that he’d rather bend real life for a good story than write a lie. This is all good and dandy for him, but when Kathy gets involved, an impressionable young girl he begins dating, things start to get complicated. For her, it’s love, but for Malcolm, there’s a thin line between honest emotional expression and manipulative psychopathy…

Who is John Law? A rogue or a savior? A genius or a gambler? A conman or an innovator? From humble beginnings in Edinburgh, to a sterling reign as France’s Controller General of Finances in the infant years of Louis XV, the epic tale of economist John Law’s rise and fall spans forty years, eight acts, and over one-hundred characters. A bawdy and irreverent comedy about early modern finance, the sensational story of John Law, the inventor of paper money and the architect of the world’s first stock market boom-and-bust cycle, points to a legacy of financial shenanigans which continue to plague the world to this very day.

Flexible casting (while the play has hundreds of characters, it is assumed doubling will be used).