Balm In Gilead

Then-young playwright Lanford Wilson lived in Needle Park in the mid-60s, a New York neighborhood he saw as vivid and energetic, if somewhat downmarket and downright dangerous. Needle Park is described as “almost respectable in the daytime” by one of the play’s characters. After dark, the neighborhood becomes something else. It’s a world of hustlers, whores, pimps, drug pushers, would-be big shots, junkies, underworld types, and people just trying to stay alive until morning. Remarkably, Wilson makes this world sound vital and tremendously exciting. With the exception of the prices at the local café, it hasn’t dated.

Two additional performances on July 7th and 8th at 8:00 pm.