about
mission
Godlight Theatre Company was formed for the purposes of fostering community appreciation for drama and the performing arts. GTC is committed to bring new and underperformed texts to the stage by creating original adaptations of modern classical literature from the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as commissioning new dramatic works from emerging talent. The ensemble and creative team of GTC explore new plays informed by the issues of life in contemporary America.
drama desk award winner
godlight theatre company
“Drama Desk Award Winner for consistent originality and excellence in dramatizing modern literature, and especially for the vibrant theatricality of Godlight Theatre Company’s innovative productions.”
drama desk award winner
designer maruti evans
Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award
“For his ingenious lighting designs, reflecting an exquisite and bold theatrical aesthetic. This season’s The Pilo Family Circus adapted by Matt Pelfrey confirm his incandescent creativity.”
10 drama desk award nominations
Joe Tantalo, Outstanding Director of a Play, Deliverance, Maruti Evans, Outstanding Lighting Design, Deliverance, Ien DeNio, Outstanding Sound Design for a Play, Deliverance, Bryce Hodgson, Outstanding Original Music for a Play, Deliverance, Danny Blackburn, Outstanding Original Music for a Play, Deliverance, Ien DeNio, Outstanding Sound Design for a Play, The Pilo Family Circus, Elizabeth Rhodes, Outstanding Soun Design for a Play, In the Heat of the Night, Maruti Evans, Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play, In the Heat of the Night, Maruti Evans, Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play, Blindness, Maruti Evans, Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play, Slaughterhouse-Five
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, adapted by Dale Wasserman
The Pilo Family Circus, adapted by Matt Pelfrey
In the Heat of the Night, adapted by Matt Pelfrey
Deliverance, adapted by Sean Tyler
history
Celebrating 25 years, GTC was founded in 1994 by Joe Tantalo. GTC's New York Premieres that have included: James Dickey's Deliverance (adapted by Sean Tyler), Donn Pearce's Cool Hand Luke (adapted by Emma Reeves), Will Elliott's The Pilo Family Circus (adapted by Matt Pelfrey), Clifford Chase's Winkie (adapted by Matt Pelfrey), John Ball's In the Heat of the Night (adapted by Matt Pelfrey), George Orwell's 1984 (adapted by Alan Lyddiard), Jim Carroll's The Basketball Diaries(adapted by Matt Pelfrey), Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five (adapted by Eric Simonson), Jose Saramago's Blindness, Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Graham Greene's The Third Man (adapted by James Brunt), Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange, Principia: or How I Found Goddess and What I Did to Her When I Found Her (a new musical by Michael Maiello with music and lyrics by Andrew Recinos), A Jimmy Stewart Kind of World by James Brunt, Soul in the Symphony of Confusion by Matthew Welton, Labor Day: A Community Struggle with AIDS by James Walsh, Poor Superman by Brad Fraser, and Pilgrims of the Night by Len Jenkin. Other GTC productions include: The Manchurian Candidate, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, All in the Timing, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The House of Yes, Escape from Happiness, Theatre of the Film Noir, Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Raised in Captivity, Wait Until Dark, subUrbia, among others.
GTC is the recipient of 2009-2010 Special Drama Desk Award for consistent originality and excellence in dramatizing modern literature, and especially for the vibrant theatricality of Godlight Theatre Company’s innovative productions. Godlight received two 2010 Drama Desk Nominations for Maruti Evans (Outstanding Lighting Design) and Elizabeth Rhodes (Outstanding Sound Design) for In the Heat of the Night, a 2008 Drama Desk Nomination for Maruti Evans (Outstanding Lighting Design) for Slaughterhouse-Five, a 2007 Drama Desk Nomination for Maruti Evans (Outstanding Lighting Design) for Blindness, the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Pick of the Fringe for Fahrenheit 451, 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe Critic's Choice for A Clockwork Orange, 2003 OOBR Award for Best Production of the Year for A Clockwork Orange, the 2002 nytheatre.com Director of the Year Award for Joe Tantalo and the 2001 FringeNYC Best Actor Award for company member Rob Maitner for his work in Poor Superman. GTC has produced work at the 2005 and 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the New Ohio Theatre, the Emelin Theatre, Kingsbourgh College Performing Arts Center, The Palace Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Robert E. Kendall Drama Lab, SoHo Playhouse, The Puppet House Theatre, Theatre Studio, The Red Room, Fringe NYC, Expanded Arts, Manhattan Theatre Source, and 59E59 Theaters.
Director Joe Tantalo and writer Matt Pelfrey are the recipients of the 2012 Drama League's Director's Project New Directors/New Writers Fellowship for the development of the adaptation of Will Elliott's novel, The Pilo Family Circus.