In the center of the New York City Theater District, acclaimed Broadway set designer Christine Jones publicly debuts “Theatre for One”, a four foot by nine foot portable theater with one performer playing to one audience member. The uniquely intimate theatrical experience will be available to anyone on a first-come, first-served basis between May 14 and 23, 2010 in Times Square.

Theatre for One may be very small, but it is fully operational with computer controlled lights and sound, stage and audience doors and solid sliding “curtain” in a proscenium to start and end the performances. A stage manager runs the show while a house manager guides the guests into the red velvet interior which includes an actual peep booth seat. Jones was inspired by peep show booths of Times Square’s past in development of this new type of theatrical space to intensify the audience and performer relationship that is being lost in the new digital Times Square. Collaborating with Jones, Lot-ek Architects utilized the pebbled black walls and steel edged construction of the theatrical roadshow boxes for a new architectural expression. The theater was built for a workshop at Princeton University in 2007.

A few of the artists scheduled to be featured in Theatre for One include:

Steve Cuiffo (Magician and Actor). A few of his theater credits include Radiohole’s Fluke; Major Bang (Foundry Theater), Steve Cuiffo Is Lenny Bruce at Joe’s Pub/Public Theater; and Rinne Groff’s Orange, Lemon, Egg, Canary at P.S. 122.

Courtney Baron (Playwright). Her plays have been has been produced at many theaters across the country including MCC, the Guthrie and Actors Theater of Louisville.

Phyllis Chen (Toy Piano Musician). She was the featured solo musician for the world premiere of Stephen Merritt’s Off-Broadway production, Coraline, in May 2009, and Nathan Davis’s work for toy piano and clock chimes that premiered at Symphony Space.

Dallas Roberts (Actor). He is a film and off-Broadway actor with roles in Michael Cunningham’s A Home at the End of the World, Walk the Line and The Notorious Bettie Page, and the Showtime drama The L Word.

Frank Wood (Actor). He won a Tony Award in 1999 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Side Man and is currently known for his role as Greg on the HBO series Flight Of The Conchords.