House Closed: Theater We Saw

Theatre We Saw: Have You Ever Thought About and 73 Seconds

It's that time of year: the 2026-27 season announcements are rolling in, and Scully and Sims have… mixed feelings. They work through the latest reveals from Classic Stage Company, The Public Theater, and more, weighing what's exciting, what's puzzling, and what's making them question the state of the city's mid-size institutions. Plus they discuss two science-based shows: Have You Ever Thought About at the Bushwick Starr, written and performed by Michael Oluokun alongside Myles Madden—an interactive science-class-gone-solo-show—and 73 Seconds, En Garde Arts' new piece written and performed by Jared Mezzocchi and directed by Aya Ogawa, staged inside a sixty-four-seat planetarium.

Theater We Saw: Cumulo, End of Days, Kenrex

This week, Sims & Scully are joined by dramaturg, cultural commentator, and TikToker Grace Walker (NotKristenBell) for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with the ongoing discourse around theater influencers, free tickets, and who's actually telling the truth online—and whether any of that is the scummiest thing Broadway producers are doing anyway. Connor battles the rain to catch Cumulo, Emily Batsford's wordless puppet piece at Mitu 580 in Gowanus, in which a figure named Plum free-falls through a sky full of sentient clouds and monsters. All three also caught End of Days by Nile Harris and Dyer Rhoades, a durational performance piece at the Whitney Biennial where a man is drilled out of a crate and delivers a monologue in Russian about a Birkin bag possibly made of human skin. Finally, the group takes on Kenrex at the Lucille Lortel—an Olivier-winning true crime solo piece. Fair warning: the sound quality this episode is a little rough. We won't be accepting any Oliviers for sound design anytime soon—but we promise we're getting better. Thanks for growing with us! For more information on the shows discussed: Cumulo: https://www.cumuloshow.com/ End of Days: https://whitney.org/events/end-of-days Kenrex: https://kenrextheplay.com/

Theater We Saw: No Singing in The Navy & The Adding Machine

Scully and Sims are joined by theater critic and TikTok commentator Joe Weinberg (aka @overthinkingtheater) to break down a pair of very different, very unsettling shows: No Singing in the Navy at Playwrights Horizons and The Adding Machine at The New Group. Scully and Sims are joined by theater critic and TikTok commentator Joe Weinberg (aka @overthinkingtheater) to break down a pair of very different, very unsettling shows: No Singing in the Navy at Playwrights Horizons and The Adding Machine at The New Group. They get into what worked, what didn’t, and why both shows left them feeling a little off. Along the way: Olivier Awards discourse, Octet casting reactions, and the question—what play should get the all-puppet treatment?

Theater We Saw: An Ark & Burnout Paradise

Scully and Sims took off their shoes at The Shed and put on some glasses for An Ark, Simon Stephens' mixed reality experiment; then laced them back up for Burnout Paradise, where they got put to work. Other important questions being asked include: what's the deal with The Shed?

Theater We Saw: Without Mirrors & Cold War Choir Practice

In their first episode, Joey and Connor break down Without Mirrors and Cold War Choir Practice—and spiral into thoughts on puppetry, how dark a theater should actually be, and whether children should even be allowed to act. Follow them at @houseclosedpod on instagram.