CAUSE CELEBRE PRODUCTIONS


	All the World's a Stage This series includes plays about social issues, as well as mental and physical health problems. The plays were written by award-winning writers A.R. Gurney, Harold Pinter, Tom Fontana, Neil and Danny Simon,Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Dorothy Parker, Christopher Durant, Joseph Stein, Tandy Cronyn, and Susan Charlotte. They were directed by Antony Marsellis, Christopher Hart, and John Shea *Someone Is Sending a Message* (2024,2025) Based on a true story, this staged reading explores courage, grief, and the mysteries of connection. After the sudden death of her friend Nick, a quadruple amputee, Paralympic champion, and global advocate and artist, Sheila is pulled into a surreal journey through memory and meaning. When cryptic messages begin appearing on her Facebook page, she is forced to confront unresolved loss, leading to an unexpected discovery: life goes on. *The Hairdresser* (2015,2021) Set in a hair salon, this play explores mortality, aging, and loss through emotionally charged exchanges. Originally staged in a working salon, the 2021 production was adapted for traditional theatre and streamed via Zoom due to the pandemic *When Truth Is Not Enough* (2012,2016) Taking place on Election Day 2012 in the Deep South, this play follows an elderly Black woman who may be denied the right to vote. Inspired by real events, every performance included on-site voter registration to turn awareness into action *She's of a Certain Age* (2012) How old is "a certain age"? No one's certain, except that it keeps rising. Three women and one man tackle life's twists with wit and warmth, discovering that every age brings its own trials and triumphs *The Pretty Trap* (2011) A one-act adaptation of The Glass Menagerie that delves into the psychological toll of complex parent-child relationships, highlighting how family dynamics - especially the burden of expectation and the fear of disappointment - shape identity and mental well-being *The Shoemaker* (2011) Set in a Hell's Kitchen shoe repair shop on September 11, 2001, this play follows Giuseppe, an Italian Jew who fled the Holocaust as a child. As the day's tragedy unfolds, he confronts grief - past and present - haunted by his father's memory and a fractured relationship with his absent daughter *Love Divided By Times Three* (2010) Honoree: Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation A trilogy set to the pulse of tango, where memory is lost to one woman, a dancer with Alzheimer's and repressed by another, a mother haunted by painful memories of her children. Step by step, through the power of dance, the two women begin to connect with themselves and each other. Based on Love Divided By, produced Off-Broadway and adapted into a film scored by PHillip Glass that was selected to reopen MoMA's Titus II Theatre. *Recipe for Life, Parts One & Two* (2010) Honoree: Tina's Wish Held at The Players to benefit The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation (Tina's Wish), Recipe for Life included a range of works inspired by Brozman's love of cooking and her courage in facing ovarian cancer. The program blended food-themed plays like The Dining Roomand Tallulah Finds Her Kitchen, with poignant selections, including Wit and Susan Charlotte's The Laziest of Summers. *Persistence of Memory* (2009) Honoree: Columbia Psychiatry From the witty, self-aware musings of Christopher Durang's Mrs. Sorken, to the poignant debates over memory and aging in Arthur Miller's I Can't Remember Anything, to the healing power of movement and shared pasts in Susan Charlotte's Tango Finish. This evening of one-acts explores how we remember, what we forget, and the ways we reconnect with ourselves and others. The blend of humor, heart, and dance becomes a moving celebration of life's complexity. *Battle of Wills: Internal and External* (2009) Honoree: Columbia Psychiatry's Lieber Center Battle of Wills: Internal and External explores the complex forces that shape and shake the human psyche. From Dorothy Parker's biting self-awareness in This Is On Me, to the unsettling ambiguity of memory and reality in Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes, and the fragile threads of family and mental illness in Susan Charlotte's Love Divided By Times Three, each piece reveals a struggle for connection, control, and clarity, probing how we fight our demons; both seen and unseen. All the Court's a Stage This series is based on the controversial cases of legendary civil rights attorney Martin Garbus.They were written by Susan Charlotte and directed Antony Marsellis. Cause Célèbre partnered with the NY Society for Ethical Culture and the Burbank, California-based Garry Marshall Theatre to present plays from this series. *Unlucky Gal: The Story of Jane Doe* (2023 - Present) Truth on Trial. A gripping full-length play bringing to light the harrowing true story of Jane Doe, a 27-year-old gay Black woman raped in Prospect Park and then revictimized by the media. While the press glorified journalist Mike McAlary, Jane Doe's voice was erased until now. This powerful drama confronts sexual assault, media injustice, and the long-overdue pursuit of truth *The People vs. Lenny Bruce* (2023 - Present) Comedy on Trial - This full-length courtroom drama revisits the landmark obscenity trial of comedian Lenny Bruce. With language, free expression, and cultural taboos under scrutiny, the play explores the line between morality and censorship and the cost of pushing boundaries in America *Stabbed Ten Times* (2025) Words as Weapons. Based on Garbus's defense of The Satanic Verses and Salman Rushdie, this play explores the clash between freedom of speech and religious outrage. It examines the courage required to protect expression, even when that expression provokes global threats *Last Chance Cafe* (2023 - Present) Justice in the Jim Crow South. A dramatization of Garbus's early civil-rights case defending Henrietta Wright, a Black woman jailed and institutionalized for registering to vote in 1965 Mississippi. Despite overwhelming odds, Wright and Garbus made a lasting moral statement Actors Who Have Worked on Cause Célèbre Productions

All the World's a Stage

This series includes plays about social issues, as well as mental and physical health problems. The plays were written by award-winning writers A.R. Gurney, Harold Pinter, Tom Fontana, Neil and Danny Simon,Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Dorothy Parker, Christopher Durant, Joseph Stein, Tandy Cronyn, and Susan Charlotte. They were directed by Antony Marsellis, Christopher Hart, and John Shea

Someone Is Sending a Message (2024,2025)

Based on a true story, this staged reading explores courage, grief, and the mysteries of connection. After the sudden death of her friend Nick, a quadruple amputee, Paralympic champion, and global advocate and artist, Sheila is pulled into a surreal journey through memory and meaning. When cryptic messages begin appearing on her Facebook page, she is forced to confront unresolved loss, leading to an unexpected discovery: life goes on.
The Hairdresser (2015,2021)

Set in a hair salon, this play explores mortality, aging, and loss through emotionally charged exchanges. Originally staged in a working salon, the 2021 production was adapted for traditional theatre and streamed via Zoom due to the pandemic
When Truth Is Not Enough (2012,2016)

Taking place on Election Day 2012 in the Deep South, this play follows an elderly Black woman who may be denied the right to vote. Inspired by real events, every performance included on-site voter registration to turn awareness into action
She's of a Certain Age (2012)

How old is "a certain age"? No one's certain, except that it keeps rising. Three women and one man tackle life's twists with wit and warmth, discovering that every age brings its own trials and triumphs
The Pretty Trap (2011)

A one-act adaptation of The Glass Menagerie that delves into the psychological toll of complex parent-child relationships, highlighting how family dynamics - especially the burden of expectation and the fear of disappointment - shape identity and mental well-being
The Shoemaker (2011)

Set in a Hell's Kitchen shoe repair shop on September 11, 2001, this play follows Giuseppe, an Italian Jew who fled the Holocaust as a child. As the day's tragedy unfolds, he confronts grief - past and present - haunted by his father's memory and a fractured relationship with his absent daughter
Love Divided By Times Three (2010)

Honoree: Bachmann-Strauss Dystonia & Parkinson Foundation

A trilogy set to the pulse of tango, where memory is lost to one woman, a dancer with Alzheimer's and repressed by another, a mother haunted by painful memories of her children. Step by step, through the power of dance, the two women begin to connect with themselves and each other.
Based on Love Divided By, produced Off-Broadway and adapted into a film scored by PHillip Glass that was selected to reopen MoMA's Titus II Theatre.

Recipe for Life, Parts One & Two (2010)

Honoree: Tina's Wish

Held at The Players to benefit The Honorable Tina Brozman Foundation (Tina's Wish), Recipe for Life included a range of works inspired by Brozman's love of cooking and her courage in facing ovarian cancer. The program blended food-themed plays like The Dining Roomand Tallulah Finds Her Kitchen, with poignant selections, including Wit and Susan Charlotte's
The Laziest of Summers.
Persistence of Memory (2009)

Honoree: Columbia Psychiatry

From the witty, self-aware musings of Christopher Durang's Mrs. Sorken, to the poignant debates over memory and aging in Arthur Miller's I Can't Remember Anything, to the healing power of movement and shared pasts in Susan Charlotte's Tango Finish. This evening of one-acts explores how we remember, what we forget, and the ways we reconnect with ourselves and others. The blend of humor, heart, and dance becomes a moving celebration of life's complexity.
Battle of Wills: Internal and External (2009)

Honoree: Columbia Psychiatry's Lieber Center

Battle of Wills: Internal and External explores the complex forces that shape and shake the human psyche. From Dorothy Parker's biting self-awareness in This Is On Me, to the unsettling ambiguity of memory and reality in Harold Pinter's Ashes to Ashes, and the fragile threads of family and mental illness in Susan Charlotte's Love Divided By Times Three, each piece reveals a struggle for connection, control, and clarity, probing how we fight our demons; both seen and unseen.

All the Court's a Stage

This series is based on the controversial cases of legendary civil rights attorney Martin Garbus.They were written by Susan Charlotte and directed Antony Marsellis. Cause Célèbre partnered with the NY Society for Ethical Culture and the Burbank, California-based Garry Marshall Theatre to present plays from this series.

Unlucky Gal: The Story of Jane Doe (2023 - Present)
Truth on Trial. A gripping full-length play bringing to light the harrowing true story of
Jane Doe, a 27-year-old gay Black woman raped in Prospect Park and then revictimized by the media. While the press glorified journalist Mike McAlary, Jane Doe's voice was erased until now.
This powerful drama confronts sexual assault, media injustice, and the long-overdue pursuit of truth
The People vs. Lenny Bruce (2023 - Present)
Comedy on Trial - This full-length courtroom drama revisits the landmark obscenity trial of comedian Lenny Bruce.
With language, free expression, and cultural taboos under scrutiny, the play explores the line between morality and censorship and the cost of pushing boundaries in America
Stabbed Ten Times (2025)
Words as Weapons. Based on Garbus's defense of The Satanic Verses and Salman Rushdie, this play explores the clash between freedom of speech and religious outrage. It examines the courage required to protect expression, even when that expression provokes global threats
Last Chance Cafe (2023 - Present)
Justice in the Jim Crow South. A dramatization of Garbus's early civil-rights case defending Henrietta Wright, a Black woman jailed and institutionalized for registering to vote in 1965 Mississippi. Despite overwhelming odds, Wright and Garbus made a lasting moral statement

All the World's a Stage

All the Court's a Stage

Actors Who Have Worked on Cause Célèbre Productions

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