City of Dreadful Night

The dark and gritty world of the postwar 1940’s combined with Edward Hopper’s city paintings set the scene for Don Nigro’s play, City of Dreadful Night. Not a spoof or an ironic homage, Nigro has crafted a hard-boiled immersion into the shadowy, troubled, yet strangely beautiful world of classic Film Noir. City of Dreadful Night is Nigro’s take on the characters in Edward Hopper’s iconic painting, Nighthawks.

It’s 1948 and Gus, a small time hood in New York City can’t shake the feeling that his girlfriend, Anna, might be hiding something from him. To get some answers, he recruits Tony, a veteran who had his eggs scrambled in the war to tail her. This leads all three into a dangerous entanglement as secrets begin to emerge from the shadows. Where is Anna’s sister? And how does Philly, who is always behind the counter figure into the picture? Does he hold the key to figuring it all out?