July 3, 2026

Coffeehouse Chronicles #185: Martha Clarke

Curated by Michal Gamily

October 3, 2026

3pm

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Runtime: ~2 hours

Between Dance and Theater. reflection on the work of Martha clarke.

Moderated by Jim Nicola
Featuring Martha Clarke, Chuck Mee, John Kelly, Beth Henley, Arthur Solari, Alfred Uhry, Donna Zakowska, and Jane Greenwood

with performers
Gabby Malone, Andrew Robinson, George De La Pena, Paola Styron, Rico LeBron, Dylan T Jackson

Credits

Curated by Michal Gamily
Moderated by Jim Nicola

The artists

Jim Nicola

bio

James C Nicola is the Artistic Director Emeritus of NYTW. Prior to that, he was Producing Associate at Arena Stage, in casting at Joseph Papp’s NY Shakespeare Festival. He directed
and assisted Off-Off Broadway, and in London at the Royal Court Theater and The Young Vic. He was awarded a Special Tony Award and a Lifetime Achievement Obie Award. Tufts University graduate.

Chuck Mee

bio

Charles Mee has written Big Love, True Love, First Love, bobrauschenbergamerica, Hotel Cassiopeia, Orestes 2.0, Trojan Women A Love Story, Summertime and Wintertime among other plays—all available on the internet at www.charlesmee.org. His plays have been performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Public Theatre, Lincoln Center, the Humana Festival, Steppenwolf, and other places in the United States as well as in Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, Brussels, Vienna, Istanbul and elsewhere. He was honored with a full season of his plays at the Signature Theatre. Among other awards, he is the recipient of the Award of Merit in Drama from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, two Obies, of a Laura Pels Award, the Booth Award, and of the Richard B. Fisher Award. He is also the author of a number of books of history (Meeting at Potsdam, The Marshall Plan, The End of Order) that have been selections of the Book of the Month Club and the History Book Club. He is the former editor-in-chief of Horizon magazine, a magazine of history, art, literature, and the fine arts. And he is a lifetime trustee of the Washington think tank, The Urban Institute. His work is made possible by the support of Jeanne Donovan Fisher and Richard B. Fisher.

John Kelly

bio

John Kelly is a performance and visual artist.

Beth Henley

bio

Beth Henley is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays CRIMES OF THE HEART (Pulitzer Prize in Drama, New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play, and Tony Award nominee for best play) and THE WAKE OF JAMEY FOSTER were produced on Broadway. Off- Broadway productions include THE MISS FIRECRACKER CONTEST, AM I BLUE, THE LUCKY SPOT, THE DEBUTANTE BALL, ABUNDANCE, IMPOSSIBLE MARRIAGE, FAMILY WEEK, THE JACKSONIAN, and BUGHOUSE. BUGHOUSE was developed with Martha Clarke and John Kelly.

MS. Henley has completed a commission from Women + On the Edge of Democracy project. The play WAY BACK NOW, will be produced at The Flynn theatre in October. Her new play DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR has been workshopped at Berkeley Repertory and NYSF.

Arthur Solari

bio

Arthur Solari is a Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award-winning composer, sound designer, and percussionist whose career spans theater, dance, film, and audio production. Praised by The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times for his composition, performance, and musical direction, his work has been heard in more than 100 venues worldwide. A 19-year artistic collaborator of Martha Clarke, Solari has composed, designed, music directed, and performed for numerous Clarke productions, including Garden of Earthly Delights and Angel Reapers. Other notable collaborators include composer George Crumb and director Sir Michael MS. Henley has completed a commission from Women + On the Edge of Democracy project. The play WAY BACK NOW, will be produced at The Flynn theatre in October. Her new play DOWNSTAIRS NEIGHBOR has been workshopped at Berkeley Repertory and NYSF.

Alfred Uhry

bio

Alfred Uhry has been awarded 2 Tonys, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize. He was inducted into the Theatre Hall Of Fame in 2014.

George De La Pena

bio

GdlP is a multidisciplinary performing artist, director, and educator. A native New Yorker, he has collaborated on multiple projects with Martha Clarke. He has also performed in film, television, on and off Broadway. He is currently a Professor at the University of Iowa.

Rico LeBron

bio

Rico LeBron is an actor, guitarist, and videographer originally from Atlanta. He is currently in the Broadway company of Galileo, beginning performances in November at the Shubert Theatre. Also on Broadway, he was in Swept Away at the Longacre Theatre. His additional credits include God’s Fool at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Angel Reapers at Signature Theatre Company, Make Believe at Second Stage Theater, The Tempest at The Public’s Shakespeare in the Park, and the world premiere musical The Moon and the Sea by Douglas Lyons. His film credits include Social Animals from Paramount Pictures. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Music degree.

Dylan T Jackson

bio

Originally from South Florida, Jackson joined the development of Martha Clarke’s God’s Fool for La MaMa in 2021 and briefly played ‘Leo’ on the Italian tour with La MaMa Umbria in 2023. He stars as ‘Stanley’ in the Peacock’s latest crime-drama series M.I.A., as ‘Sebastian’ in the 2026 indie feature Floating Carousel, as well as MGM+’s Godfather of Harlem and Apple TV’s City on Fire.

Donna Zakowska

bio

Costume designer Donna Zakowska has designed for film, theater, dance, circus, opera, and puppetry, including the Big Apple Circus (nine seasons) and a concert tour for Mick Jagger. Her book, Madly Marvelous: The Costumes of the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, was published by Abrams, and two of her costumes are in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. She has twice been honored by New York Women in Film and Television and by the WIFTS Foundation and is the recipient of a Metropolitan Fashion Week Award for Costume Design.

Jane Greenwood

bio

a British costume designer for the stage, television, film, opera, and dance. Born in Liverpool, England, she works both in England and the United States. She has been nominated for the Tony Award for costume design twenty-one times and won the award for her work on The Little Foxes.