Now at Chain Theatre, NYC
Tin Church
Inspired by recurring nightmares and an old Tin Church, Parrish weaves a sultry southern spell that begs the question, can the wheel of generational trauma ever truly stop spinning? Or are families destined to repeat life's tragedies again and again?
The Magnolia smells sweet on the evening breeze, and then it falls and sours, like a secret kept too long.
Tin Church is an unsettling, Southern Gothic exploration of generational trauma and the secrets families keep. The dream and waking world collide in this intensely dark comedy where demons come out to play in the low country south.
Mary (Marguerite Stimpson) is the oldest of three sisters. It seems she
has escaped her small southern town and the monotony of it all for the
big city life.
Mildred (Virginia Wall Gruenert), her mother, has a successful marriage, a big family and an even larger front porch. She spends her days stirring up the sweet tea and gossip.
Younger sisters Linda ( Christina Perry) and Sue (Lilly Tobin) are well woven into the intricate quilt of secrets this family keeps. One remembers. The other spends her days and nights trying to forget.
Through a maze of memories, letters, dreams and the waking world, Tin Church takes us on a thrilling psychological exploration of things unsaid. Is Mildred as perfect as she insists? Did Mary truly escape after all?
what is the secret that binds them?
WHAT PEOPLE SAY
Theatre Beyond Broadway
This production is unique - like the tiny tin church from grandma’s closet. It sparks your imagination and holds on to you. From the page to design to performance, the elements have come together to make something magical .
Electronic Link Offbway
Virginia Wall Gruenert rules the production as the cunning mother. Her presence dominates the stage as much as it dominates her daughters. Marguerite Stimpson as troubled Mary hits all the nuances of her character, drawing us in. Be prepared to enjoy.
Offoffpnline
...in Robyne Parrish’s grim and haunting Tin Church, a nightmare awaits, big and bad as any wolf and capable of swallowing a body whole.
Theatre Beyond Broadway
Whether they’re in dreams or reality, the women are electric when they’re together...The balance and rhythm found in their scenes is a credit to the actors and writer/director Robyne Parrish alike.
Raw & Rising Podcast
The play is beautiful and haunting. It seamlessly moves between reality and dream using the form in its purest sense. The play itself is so well structured and plays with the mystery of the secrets and its effect so deftly. I loved the design. I loved the pacing. I love the trusting of the beats.
Thinking Theater NYC
The cast is equally engrossing as the women's waking selves, compellingly communicating, in each character's distinct manner, the tensions and anger that break through the surface of the usual pleasures and annoyances of being around family.
Showscore
Surreal in a way I haven't often seen attempted on the stage...the elegant staging method brings you with it. If frequently surpises you and disarms you.
*Absorbing
*Great Acting
morethantheplay
This cast, under the direction of the playwright, does a phenomenal job of telling this multi-layered story. They create honest moments and truthful relationships that reveal the underlying story of their experiences.
Tin Church - a new play
Creator - Director
Robyne Parrish
Born in Ohio and raised in the Carolinas, Parrish has lived and worked as an Actor/Director/Playwright in NYC for the better part of twenty years. This is her first commissioned play and her first full length world premiere. Parrish and Off the Wall have a storied past, collaborating on multiple projects, notably Sarah Kane's 4.48 Psychosis, Andrea Lepcio's Looking for the Pony, and The Zero Hour by Madeline George. Parrish cites she's been greatly influenced by playwrights Williams, Letts, McNally, Nottage, Shepard and Shanley, "I have a great deal of admiration for Shanley and have since my college years. I'd say Shanley was instrumental in making my childhood desire to be in New York a reality, by bringing the community into focus and allowing his characters to take huge risks and speak deep secret truths. As Actor/Playwrights, Tracy Letts and Sam Shepard always inspired me to embrace the multi-hyphenate within. They wrote rich and deeply emotional characters, like Nottage and McNally. And of course, Williams, a prolific southern Playwright who was known for using his familial relationships as inspiration for his storytelling."
Meet The Cast
THE
TEAM
Producers
off the WALL Hans H. Gruenert
Wall Stageworks Erika Cuenca
ViVa Holding Juliette Louste
Amelia Heastings - SM
Elizabeth Bays - ASM (production)
Alex Magallanes - ASM (rehearsal)
Rafaella Rossi - Board Operator
Marie Laster - Scenic Designer
Juliette Louste - Lighting Designer
Farid Vargas - Sound Designer
Adia Victoria - Original Music/composition
Jamibeth Margolis - Casting Director
Katie Rosin (Kampfire) - Publicity
Laura Irene Young - Marketing
Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon - Graphic Design