59E59 Theaters is a venue presenting a year-round curated program of live theater. The three theater building is located in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It shows both

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

(in Theater A) and

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

plays (in Theaters B and C). The complex is owned and operated by the Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation.

History

The Elysabeth Kleinhans Theatrical Foundation was established by Founding Artistic Director, Elysabeth Kleinhans to create a new theater complex in East Midtown Manhattan. In 2002, the building at 59 East 59th Street was donated to the Foundation. The building was then gut renovated, creating three new theaters, Theater A, Theater B, and Theater C, designed by architect, Leo Modrcin. Under the leadership of Founding Artistic Director Elysabeth Kleinhans and Executive Producer Peter Tear, 59E59 Theaters opened its inaugural season in February 2004 with a production of The Stendhal Syndrome produced by then resident company, Primary Stages, in the largest of its three spaces, Theater A. Shortly following, in April 2004, the other two spaces, Theater B and Theater C opened their doors with productions of Sun Is Shining, by the ground breaking British-Chinese Mu Lan Theatre Company, and My Arm,

Tim Crouch Tim Crouch (born 18 March 1964) is a British experimental theatre maker, actor, writer and director. His plays include ''My Arm'', ''An Oak Tree'', ''ENGLAND'', and ''The Author''. These take various forms, but all reject theatrical conventions ...

's critically-acclaimed hour-long solo show from the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

, during the Theaters' first annual Brits Off Broadway—a season dedicated to premiering new work by Off Broadway-style UK companies. Since 2004, the theaters have been continuously occupied with shows running from three to seven weeks. In 2017, Elysabeth Kleinhans and Peter Tear stepped down from their roles, and Val Day, a longtime agent with William Morris and ICM, was appointed as Artistic Director. With the addition of a new Artistic Director, 59E59 Theaters moved to the final phase of transitioning from the founding team to a traditional theater management structure, begun in 2012 with the appointment of Brian Beirne as Managing Director.

Recognition

In 2008, 59E59 Theaters was awarded a

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Excellence in Theater.

Brits Off Broadway Season

Brits Off Broadway is an annual Season showcasing work from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The Season usually takes place during the months of April, May, and June and comprises between 6 and 8 productions across the three theater spaces. In 2006,

Charles Isherwood Charles Splaine Isherwood Jr. (born October 1964) is an American theater critic. Career A graduate of Stanford University, Isherwood wrote for '' Backstage West'' in Los Angeles. In 1993, he joined the staff of '' Variety'', where he was promote ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' hailed the festival as "a highlight of the theatrical year in New York." Past seasons have seen work by

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2:1 BSc Hons. He the ...

(''

One Man, Two Guvnors ''One Man, Two Guvnors'' is a play by Richard Bean, an English adaptation of ''The'' ''Servant of Two Masters'' (), a 1743 commedia dell'arte-style comedy play by the Italian playwright, Carlo Goldoni. The play replaces the Italian period ...

'') and

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. As of 2025, he has written and produced 90 full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen ...

(''

The Norman Conquests ''The Norman Conquests'' is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house. ''Table Manners'' is set in the dining room, ''Living Tog ...

'', ''

Bedroom Farce A bedroom farce or sex farce is a type of light comedy focusing on the sexual pairings and recombinations of characters as they move through improbable plots and slamming doors. Overview Georges Feydeau plays, presented in Paris in the 1890s, a ...

'') amongst other notable British playwrights. 59E59 also hosts an annual festival called East to Edinburgh, a preview of new plays going to the

from North America.

References

External links

59E59 Website

Primary Stages Website
* Theatres in Manhattan Non-profit organizations based in New York City Off-Broadway theaters 59th Street (Manhattan) {{Manhattan-struct-stub