Spotlight On: 59E59

59E59 is an Off-Broadway venue that focuses on bringing new and innovative works to its New York audience. 59E59 is a Drama Desk Award-winning theatre—even its bar is award-winning (who knows what bar awards are called?). The culmination of these accolades is a lively scene filled with a curious and engaged audience.

The three spaces here are small and simple—and rightly so. The emphasis is on the text, on the work, on the ideas. Each year, there is a festival of new British plays (Brits Off Broadway), a workshop of shows heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (East to Edinburgh), and currently they are hosting their first Irish Festival.

Closing this past weekend was Spinning the Times, a collection of five monologues written by Irish female playwrights. It was story telling at its essence and the miniscule space brought intimacy and realism to each monologue. Oh. And the Irish accents didn’t hurt…

Keep in mind these current and upcoming shows:

• The Night Watcher (through 10.31.09)
• The Pride of Parnell Street (through 10.4.09)
• Luck (through 10.11.09)
• Good Bobby (10.8.09-11.8.09)
• Ghost Light (10.14.09-10.31.09)

The pick I’m most anticipating is Good Bobby, by Brian Lee Franklin—a piece about Robert F. Kennedy as a young adult finding his own place in his family.

Image via 59E59