Indie Theater Highlights – October 18
We share upcoming indie theater shows/productions happening in New York City. These are submitted by members of the IndieSpace community.
Do you have an upcoming show to share? Use the Show/Production Sharing Form to share the details of your show/production with IndieSpace so that we can share with the community.
Our preview image is of the FRIGID New York, which is available for rentals.
Shadowboxing in Blue
Location: HAVEN Boxing (Brooklyn)
Date: October 18 and 25
HAVEN Boxing and local dance company Danse Theatre Surreality present October performances of Shadowboxing in Blue, on Saturday, October 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2025 at HAVEN Boxing (65 Scholes Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11206).
The performance on the 18th will be a Spanish-English bilingual show. Tickets are $10 and are available at https://bit.ly/shadowboxing_october.
Lauren Hlubny and Kyra Hauck, Artistic Directors of Danse Theatre Surreality (DTS), active in NYC and Paris, invite audiences to experience the World Premiere of Shadowboxing in Blue. This innovative work, conceived and directed by Hlubny, takes place in a boxing gym and merges dance, theater, and live music with the intensity of combat training to explore the inner struggles we all face. Paired with a boxing therapy workshop, Shadowboxing is more than just a performance-it’s a resource for the community.
Shadowboxing in Blue is an innovative, multidimensional project weaving dance, music, and boxing. This collaboration between dancers, boxers, and musicians explores an individual facing inner adversaries at different life stages. With the goal of fostering diversity, both in casting and artistic expression, the project seeks to deliver a powerful message that challenges norms and redefines the intersection of art, sports, and self-healing. Don't forget to wear clothes you feel comfortable moving in for the workshop!
This is an accessible event. All shows will have ASL interpretation and braille programs.
(un)conditional
Location: Soho Playhouse
Dates: Now through October 26
Fantasies are harmless, right? But what happens when your spouse wants to take a dark fantasy from the realm of imagination firmly into your bedroom? For two couples, the boundaries of compromise, communication, and unconditional love are tested to their breaking point, and seven-year-old Mia is getting caught in the crossfire.
The Infinite Wrench
Location: The Second City
Dates: Fridays and Saturdays in October
Use code HOT20 for $5 off General Admission
The Infinite Wrench is the NY Neo-Futurists' ever-changing attempt to perform 30 original plays in about an hour. Over 1,000 weeks and 7,500 plays and counting!
The NY Neo-Futurists continue to craft new & vibrant work in The Infinite Wrench at The Second City. Dive into a bold and unpredictable fusion of theater, storytelling, and sport with the New York Neo-Futurists every Friday and Saturday. For each show, the Neos take on the challenge of performing 30 original plays in roughly an hour. Through their unconventional storytelling, they deliver quick, powerful slices of life—crafted from the ensemble's own experiences—at times funny, profound, elegant, gross, topical, irrelevant, or even downright absurd. Every show is different, and with new plays every week, they have created over 7,500 new plays!
"Show Up, Kids!"
Location: The Rat
Dates: October 18 and 25
Save 50% with code: CHICKEN
This acclaimed, long-running, interactive musical show for kids 3-10 years old puts a wildly comedic twist on the traditional kids’ show. When the main attraction doesn’t show up, the host enlists the help of the kids (and their grownups) to control everything from plot to props, characters to costumes, and settings to sound in a one-of-a-kind, 45-minute laughfest.
EVERY BODY IN THE HOUSE
Location: Theaterlab
Date: October 18
This show is free!
This fall, we’re inviting you to join us at Theaterlab for FREE. Draped in participatory conversations, each month Theaterlab opens its doors to unforgettable moments of community.
Tied together with a common thread of impeccable artistry in the making, EVERY BODY IN THE HOUSE casts doubt on loneliness and invites us all to mend our wounds. On select Saturdays, you’ll have the opportunity to move throughout our spaces and discover something new. From performance explorations, intimate moments of story sharing, visual art installations, works-in-progress, and more – these moments will begin to weave a new narrative of how we all exist together.
Although the artists working in the space will change each month, you’ll be able to count on some things persisting; giving us a chance to build upon our story together, month after month. So, in addition to experiencing the art, you’re welcome, and encouraged, to join in both the community conversation and mending sessions every time you stop by.
OPEN STUDIOS – Start at noon. Drop by any time. Explore what’s happening in the Gallery, Atelier, and Theater.
MENDING SESSIONS – We’ll provide the supplies, instruction, and help along the way – you bring your item(s) that needs care and love.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION – Each month will conclude with a community conversation with the artists. We’ll start around 4pm.
Brownstone Steps Play Festival
Location: Commons Theatre
Dates: October 18 and 19
BFEST 2025 brings you a slate of new plays performed by local artists from NYC's theater scene. No AI, this is live on stage, full of peace love and theater!
Introducing the works of 5 local playwrights, performed with veteran and emerging theater artists for dramatic tales with comedic beats. Presenting:
THE RHYTHM OF BLU by Alicia Foxworth
When the opportunity to become a music star finally presents itself to Jay Oliver, it appears he is not the one being courted after all, turning his career, his relationships and his world upside down.
HEY YOU by Justine J. Hall/Ryan Sett
Exploring love and addiction. Meeting your soulmate. You get married and everything is wonderful, and then BAM addiction walks in. A drama with poetry, and self-expression minimalist dancing.
THE DRUMS OF FREEDOM by Christopher Bello
Isaiah and Samuel wrestle with joining the Army.
MY MOMENT by Malissa Dean
A man processes the life-changing news in the midst of busy foot traffic at a local supermarket.
JUST the 3 of US from the play, Ghost Writer by Alicia Foxworth
A very funny love triangle will emerge when young Madison gets up the nerve to ask out Sandra Gayle, only to have her longtime friend Auguste, emerge from the shadows.
ONE-MAN EXORCISM: The Tale of Francis Grey and the Case of Demonic Possession
Location: Under St. Marks
Dates: October 19, 23 and 27
In the chilling aftermath of “ONE-MAN WHODUNNIT: The Tale of Francis Grey and the Case of His Dead Boyfriend,” the shadows of Mistyfield Hospital for the Criminally Insane loom ominously. Rebecca, ensnared within its cold, echoing walls for her sinister attempt to end Jimmy’s life, leaves Francis with a sense of fleeting respite. His peace is shattered by the haunting realization of Rebecca’s decades-long scheme to unravel his existence. As Francis steps into the hospital’s dimly lit corridors, he encounters not just the twisted remnants of his former friend, but a malevolent entity—a centuries-old demon, its eyes gleaming with a promise of eternal torment. Desperate to save his life and soul from this dark force, Francis must confront the demon that now inhabits Rebecca, questioning his own sanity as he whispers, “What would Buffy do?”
Conformitarianism
Location: Brooklyn Art Haus
Dates: October 22 & 23
An aerial play that questions the correlation between the rise of conformity in a far right, authoritarian world, while exploring womanhood, and what it means to be an Ideal Woman by today’s beauty standards. It is a fight for authenticity within an conformitarian society.
FIRST DATE
Location: The Secret Theatre
Dates: October 22, 25, & 31
In the not distant future, dating becomes even weirder, and so does sleeping.
Jean invites Riley to their first date at a Pro Sleep League event, where athletes compete to see who can sleep the deepest. In a data-driven society, can you find LOVE when everything is filtered through profiles and analytics?
Ever After Hours
Location: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Dates: October 22 and 23
Ever After Hours is a love letter to the nights when the air feels heavy with wonder and heat, and every shadow holds a sexy secret. Join Morpheus aEver After Hours is a love letter to the nights when the air feels heavy with wonder and heat, and every shadow holds a sexy secret. Join Morpheus and Titania as they celebrate their annual vow renewal with song, dance, burlesque and comedy.
Performed in a hidden location revealed only to ticket holders, this immersive performance invites you into a living storybook. Dancers emerge from the trees where fairy tales and folklore are brought to life in an intimate evening of whimsy, beauty, and enchantment.
Tickets are limited. 21+ Show.
General Admission tickets come with 2 refreshments. The VIP Loveseat comes with one complimentary bottle and surprise treats!
Bring Your Own Gender Ideology
Location: 9 Bob Note
Date: October 23
The Gay Agenda(TM) Wants YOU to: Dance, join the queens, and BYOGI for a night of gender fuckery. The federal government told us we can’t “promote gender ideology” but we took it to the courts and won! So let’s keep giving democracy, bitches.
21+ Show.
Put on your stilettos and bowties to give us your best or worst Election chic. Featuring Malai as the one and only DRAG ZOHRAN competing against Tuna Melt and Bertha Vanayshun as other Dragged Out Candidates, ready to reign over this city!
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Location: Brooklyn Art Haus
Dates: October 23 – November 2
FRANKIEFAN ($10 off)
Kitchen Sink Theatre Company and Brooklyn Art Haus present the most tantalizing experience of The Rocky Horror Picture Show you've ever encountered! Step into the film with 360-degree projection mapping, a LIVE shadow cast, re-imagined costumes and choreography, all in our immersive Transylvaian oasis at Brooklyn Art Haus! Whether you're a veteran or a virgin of the LIVE Rocky Horror experience, this one promises to be perhaps the greatest pleasure you'll ever experience...
HAUNTED: A CREEPY CABARET!
Location: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Date: October 29
The Love Show NYC
presents
HAUNTED: A CREEPY CABARET!
A creepy, intimate cabaret full of sexy surprises. An evening of dark delights in our secret dollhouse!
Welcome to HAUNTED: A CREEPY CABARET! Come into our secret jewelry box meets Rococo Disco for a raucous evening of dark and sexy dance, burlesque and song. More than a show, it's an experience that happens one night only and there is nothing else like it. Come dressed in your most haunting attire and prepare for an intimate evening you won't forget. The adventure starts the minute you purchase your ticket. Exact location and directions provided upon ticket purchase. Each ticket includes 1 refreshment.
Radio Violence
Location: YA Mystery podcast (online)
Dates: October 31 through December 5
A missing pop star with a penchant for hidden messages. A 12 y/o superfan (+ Dad) follow the tracks. A 6-part YA mystery beginning Halloween, with 25 min episodes releasing weekly wherever you podcast and an accompanying EP with clues. Recorded live to bring the energy of live theatre to the audio drama world.
L’Alliance New York Announces By Heart in association with BAM 2025 Crossing The Line Festival
Location: L'Alliance New York
Dates: November 3 and 4
Returning to Crossing The Line after his directorial work on last year’s Catarina and the Beauty of Killing Fascists, Tiago Rodrigues presents another internationally acclaimed performance—only this time, he’s directing his audience. Ten audience members come together onstage for an act of collective memorization, learning a Shakespearean sonnet by heart. The results are, according to a New York Times Critic’s Pick review, “miraculous … [a] communal act of translation,” performed while Rodrigues offers direction and commentary on the transformative personal and political dimensions of memorization.
All in your head
Location: Arts on Site
Date: November 6 and 7
This multimedia dance performance offers a series of solos and duets threaded together by visual art to form one continuous experience. All in your head draws on the ambiguity of perception in a time when we can barely agree on a shared reality. It attempts to create a shared reality—if only for an hour—where our experiences may differ, but we can agree: something happened here, and it was real. Or at least, it felt that way.
Now & Then
Location: Reverie Room
Date: November 7
Beloved opera, musical theatre, & pop songs with personal stories along the way
Escalation Time
Location: Studio 17
Date: November 7-23
Escalation Time is a new play about Zev (Scott Shepherd) and Kate (Francesca Root-Dodson), two married professors at Columbia University who always assumed they shared the same ethical framework. But after the events of October 7th, the couple unexpectedly finds themselves on opposite sides of the conflict. As each becomes involved in their respective campus protest movements, their disagreement threatens to engulf them—with devastating consequences.
Foes of a Minimum Wage Guard
Location: United Solo Festival at Theatre Row
Date: November 8
When a complacent retail guard is called in on his day off and abruptly reassigned to an undesirable position under the hostile supervision of a feared manager, he must confront not only the absurdity of corporate life but also his own untapped strength. Through a fast-paced mix of comedy, drama, and richly drawn characters, Harris delivers a performance that captures the hidden battles faced by countless workers in retail and service industries.
Directed with simplicity to keep the spotlight on storytelling and character work, Foes of a Minimum Wage Guard invites audiences to laugh, reflect, and maybe even see a little of themselves in the struggles onstage.
Presented at the United Solo Theatre Festival last Spring, this play offers a rare, authentic glimpse into the gritty, often hilarious world behind the cash registers and security doors.
Actor and Playwright: Ken Harris
Producer: Angela Grout of “BAM productions”
Director: Michael Buster McMahon of “Are you Going To Finish Those Fries Productions”
Mick Gorley – Technical Director
Running Time: 65 minutes
Just Little Women
Location: The Vino Theater, Brooklyn, NYV
Date: November 20-23
Just LITTLE WOMEN reimagines Louisa May Alcott’s iconic story as a concert-play-musical hybrid, with the March sisters fronting a family rock band. Jo’s the bassist and main songwriter—too much, too intense, but all about the passion. Meg’s the lead singer and guitarist—center-stage and craving peace of mind in the crowd. Amy’s the second lead and electric guitarist—brilliant, underestimated, and plotting the life she deserves. And Beth—sweet Beth—anchors them on the piano, holding her chaotic sisters together with music, love, and quiet strength.