Past Productions at The Gate Theater

The Dodo Bird

The Dodo Bird is an intense one act drama, which explores what it means to live on the fringe of society, to be a man who failed to achieve the universal dream of being able to sustain himself and his family and ceased to live by the culture's basic standards. The Dodo Bird represents those we often choose not to see: the guy with glazed eyes walking down the street talking to himself, carrying a bottle in a brown paper bag, maybe asking for change. All these Dodo Birds came from someplace, had parents once, maybe their own families,maybe a job.

The story of how this particular human being reached this point of desperation and isolation is revealed in one evening in a bar across the street from the foundry, where the Dodo Bird is sober, washed,and waiting for a visit from his estranged daughter.

The Gin Game by D. L. Coburn

Won the Pulitzer Prize for best drama in 1978 with over 500 performances on Broadway. It garnered four Tony Awards and has had productions in numerous countries around the world including France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Japan, South Africa, as well as Australia, and China.

The Gin Game is a two-person tragicomedy in two acts that touches on loneliness, family members who never visit, the way a lifetime looks to someone approaching the end of it, and on the bitter fact that in the US, where the play takes place, old people often have to spend everything they have, even selling their houses, in order to pay for the care they need - care that’s deeply resented, even when indispensable.

The Eight Reindeer Monologues by Jeff Goode

Accusations, rumors and all-out attacks are flying fast and furious around Santa's toyshop this holiday season. What's the true story behind Rudolph's unlikely rise to fame?

Does Mrs. Claus have a serious drinking problem? Can St. Nick himself really be guilty of sexual harassment... against one of the reindeer?

And with all this going on, how can the spirit of Christmas be saved? Go behind the tinsel and hear the truth about Santa straight from the eight reindeer who know him best. When a doe says "No", she means "No Way, Sucka !"

Strange Snow by Stephen Metcalfe

Strange snow falls on two young Vietnam veterans as they reunite for a fishing trip to make good on a long lost promise to an old friend.

It's dawn on Opening Day and Megs shows up at his buddy David's house only to encounter David's shy, plain sister Martha. Megs' larger-than-life nature coaxes Martha out of her shell and into his heart. His mere presence, however, brings up painful memories of Vietnam for David, whose method of coping so far has been to drink too much and talk as little as possible.

As a result of the play's success and popularity, it was developed into the major motion picture Jacknife, with the screenplay also by Stephen Metcalfe, starring Robert DeNiro, Kathy Baker and Ed Harris.

The Odd Couple

Neil Simon’s box office hit, The Odd Couple, traces the lives of the infamously mismatched roommates: Felix Ungar, a neurotic fusspot news writer and Oscar Madison, a slovenly sports journalist. At his wife’s insistence, Felix is evicted from his home and abandoned on the doorstep of his childhood friend Oscar. Deep down, he knows she has every right to kick him out, but he still harbors the hope of someday returning to her once so loving arms. As fate would have it Oscar likewise had been given the boot by Mrs. Madison requesting that he never return. Can two new bachelors share an apartment without driving each other insane?