Who Says Theater Is Dead in New Haven?

A naysayer could look at the theater scene in New Haven and conclude we’re in a deep, dark funk — our nationally-acclaimed Long Wharf Theater has lost its long-time home and is presenting plays in “venues” as small as living rooms and library branches; the only movie theater left in this proudly artistic city is a porn place.

It’s true we’re still waiting for a savior to resurrect movie-showing here. The public and Yalies have to be content with occasional screenings at Yale’s Humanities Quadrangle (“Dr. Strangelove,” “The Remains of the Day.”) But once you look around, there are still exciting opportunities, at least for lovers of live theater.

If you know anything about New Haven’s cultural history, you’re fully aware of its proud stage tradition. The Shubert Theater, which opened in 1914, delivered live performances by the Marx Brothers (“Animal Crackers”), Katharine Hepburn (“The Philadelphia Story”), Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison (“My Fair Lady”), and a young Marlon Brando (“A Streetcar Named Desire.”) The Shubert became known as “the birthplace of the nation’s hits.” If a show was popular here, it went straight to Broadway.

The Shubert, having been saved from demolition in the 1970s and thoroughly renovated, is still with us. These days it’s used for touring road shows (“Annie,” “Hadestown,” etc.)

The Long Wharf Theater has an equally glorious track record. It opened in1965 in an outwardly abysmal location — a vacant warehouse in a food terminal — but its first show was Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible.” When I moved to New Haven in 1977 I discovered what was on my doorstep. Check out what I viewed there: Al Pacino in David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” in 1980; John Lithgow and Richard Dreyfuss in Rod Serling’s “Requiem for a Heavyweight” in 1984; Anna Deavere Smith’s one-woman show “Fires in the Mirror” in 1993; and Sam Waterston in Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” in 2005.

While Long Wharf has lost its site because of the pandemic and rental costs, the Yale Repertory Theater (“Yale Rep”) is still operating downtown, bringing in major talent. My favorite memories there: Jason Robards and Colleen Dewhurst in Eugene O’Neill’s “Ah, Wilderness,” Paul Giamatti delivering Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold…and the Boys” and six plays by August Wilson, including “Fences” and “The Piano Lesson.” Yale Rep’s current show is Caryl Churchill’s “Escaped Alone.” My wife and I are looking forward to seeing it.

When Long Wharf’s executives announced their productions would take place in small libraries and even in living rooms, we figured: “How can that work? Why bother?” But last November we decided to take a chance on “The Year of Magical Thinking,” Joan Didion’s book presented “on stage.” We saw it at the Stetson Library on Dixwell Avenue. There was room for only about 50 chairs; we sat facing the highly-respected actress Kathleen Chalfant. And for more than an hour she spoke as if in a stream of consciousness, telling us about the sudden death of her husband and her life afterward. It was compelling and intimate.

You want intimate? Every show produced by the New Haven Theater Company feels this way because its performance space is a room tucked behind EBM Vintage, a store selling used housewares, clothing, etc. in downtown New Haven. We’ve seen several shows there and have never been disappointed. The most recent was Molly Smith Metzler’s “Cry It Out,” a dark comedy about how three young mothers handle life with their newborns. This is its final weekend and it’s all sold out.

Long Wharf Theater has followed “The Year of Magical Thinking” with a play by the guy who got it all started: Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge,” written in the 1950s. The original setting was the Brooklyn waterfront. The Long Wharf folks had the brilliant idea of staging it this time at the Canal Dock Boathouse on the edge of New Haven Harbor. In addition to the sublime adapted setting, the cast includes Dominic Fumusa, whose combative smoldering presence was reminiscent of — young Marlon Brando at the Shubert!

The show is a hit. Like “Cry It Out,” this is the final weekend of its run and it too is sold out. Things are happening here.