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House of Candles

House of Candles Theatre at 99 Stanton Street (two doors down from Arlene's Grocery) was located in a former East Village store that had sold candles and talismans to devotees of Santeria. The building was the home of the Independent Theatre Company (501(c)(3)) from 1987 to 1998. The company specialized in mid-twentieth century, European playwrights: Beckett, Brecht, Ionesco, Genet, and Pinter. The over fifty full productions the company produced also included the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Strindberg.

Co-founder and first Artistic Director Barbara Schofield directed the company’s first big success with Jean Genet’s The Balcony. The production was extended several times past the usual five week run. Other popular productions included the plays of Joe Orton: Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and What The Butler Saw. The company received very good press and an extended run of a virtually uncut version of Hamlet, directed by Schofield and featuring future Artistic Director Paul Todaro in the title role.

The next Artistic Director was co-founder Anne deMare who directed productions of Genet’s The Maids, Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and The Seagull. The production of Macbeth (with Todaro in the lead role) was given a special presentation at Pace University.

Paul Todaro became Artistic Director in 1992. He directed a very successful production of Schnitzler’s LaRonde. With Michelle Gigante as Executive Director, the company began a regular season of plays with a subscription audience. The New York Press awarded the company "Best Off-Off Broadway Theatre."

Todaro and Gigante’s inaugural season opened with Weiss’ Marat/Sade. Todaro directed the production, composed an original score, and played the role of deSade. The first season concluded with the new tradition of ending each season with a play by Bertolt Brecht. The Caucasian Chalk Circle was directed by Richard Buchsbaum. Todaro provided an original score and played Azdak and The Singer.

The following three season were marked by successful productions directed by Michelle Gigante: Ionesco’s Exit The King, and Hunger and Thirst, Brecht’s Man is Man, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, Arrabal’s The Architect and the Emperor of Assyria, and the company’s final offering, Brecht’s first play Baal.

The company also produced a "Late Night Series" that featured over 15 productions of short works and original plays.

The property at 99 Stanton Street went into escrow in 1998, and rising real estate costs on the rapidly gentrifying Lower East Side forced the little not-for-profit to vacate the House of Candles. The space was subsequently home to a succession of restaurants.

Special thanks to Paul Todaro for the historical narrative and production history.

Independent Theatre Company Production History

1987-89

• The Killer - Ionesco
• The Dumbwaiter - Pinter
• Woyzeck - Buchner
• Romeo and Juliet - Shakespeare (dir. Schofield)
• The Three Sisters - Chekhov (dir. Schofield)
• The Balcony - Genet (dir. Schofield)
• Jest, Satire, Irony and Deeper Significance - Grabbe (dir. deMare)
• The Trojan Women - Euripides (dir. deMare)

1989 - 90

• Machinal - Treadwell
• Ghost Sonata - Strindberg (dir. Schofield)
• Endgame - Beckett (dir. Schofield)
• Entertaining Mr. Sloane - Orton (dir. Tedly)
• The Man in the Glass Booth - R. Shaw (dir. Schofield)
• The Seagull - Chekhov (dir. deMare)

1990 - 91

• Krapp’s Last Tape - /Happy Days - Beckett (dirs. Schofield/Todaro, Fea. Todaro as Krapp and Schofield as Winnie)
• Hamlet - Shakespeare (dir. Schofield)
• The Gambler - Betti (dir. Schofield)
• The Firebugs - Frisch (dir. Todaro)
• What The Butler Saw - Orton (dir. Schofield)
• The Maids - Genet (dir. deMare)
• Waiting for Godot - Beckett (dir. deMare)
• Thieves Carnival - Anouilh (dir. deMare)

1991 - 92

• Rhinoceros - Ionesco (dir. deMare)
• Uncle Vanya - Chekhov (dir. deMare)
• The Physicists - Durrenmatt (dir. Todaro)
• Macbeth - Shakespeare (dir. deMare)
• LaRonde - Schnitzler (dir. Todaro)

1992 - 93

• Marat/Sade - Weiss (dir. and new score Todaro)
• Edward II - Marlowe (dir. LeBaron)
• The Merry Wives of Windsor - Shakespeare (dir. Todaro)
• Tango - Mrozek (dir. Kazlas)
• The Caucasian Chalk Circle - Brecht (dir. Buchsbaum; new score Todaro)

1993 - 94

• Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead - Stoppard (dir. Todaro; ITC’s offering to NADA’s "Hamlet Festival")
• Exit the King - Ionesco (dir. Gigante)
• Caligula - Camus (dir. Todaro)
• The Birthday Party - Pinter (dir. Tedly)
• Ivanov - Chekhov (dir. Kazlas)
• Man is Man - Brecht (dir. Gigante; new score Todaro; new translation by George Rand)

1994 - 95

• King Ubu - Jarry (dir. Todaro; new translation by George Rand)
• Doctor Faustus - Marlowe (dir. Gigante; ITC’s offering to NADA’s "Faust Festival")
• Old Times - Pinter (dir. Tedly)
• Loot - Orton (dir. Tedly)
• Hunger and Thirst - Ionesco (dir. Gigante)
• The Good Woman of Setzuan - Brecht (dir. and new score Todaro)

1995-96

• A Dream Play - Strindberg (dir. Todaro)
• Memorandum - Havel (dir. Gigante)
• Revenger’s Tragedy - Tournour (dir. Todaro)
• Architect and Emperor of Assyia - Arrabal (dir. Gigante)
• No Exit - Sartre (dir. Todaro)
• Baal - Brecht (dir. Gigante; new score Todaro)

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