10 Great Shows to See for $42 or Less This Fall

Catch Linda Purl, solo shows about Catholic guilt and a trans trailblazer, a 13-playwright collaboration and more

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Adventurous audiences know that some of New York City’s biggest theatrical thrills—and lowest ticket prices—are found on the smallest stages. But with a slew of shows running Off-Off Broadway every day, it’s tough to figure out what’s worth your time and money. That’s why we’ve rounded up 10 promising indie theatre productions opening in September and October, all offering tickets starting at $42 or less. Even better, TDF Members can see some of these shows for as little as $11! Not a TDF Member? Consider joining our Go Off-Off and Beyond program, which gives you access to discount tickets to Off-Off Broadway shows for a one-time fee of five bucks.

If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account daily to see what we’re selling as ticket inventory changes frequently.

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Crazy Mama: A True Story of Love and Madness – begins September 16

59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East

Begins September 16. Closes October 18. Tickets are $42.

Two former Happy Days costars reunite for Crazy Mama, a harrowing solo show based on Sharon Scott Williams’ real-life experiences as the daughter of a mother with schizophrenia. The playwright is the wife of director Anson Williams (forever remembered as Potsie), who tapped his longtime friend Linda Purl (another Happy Days alum) to inhabit more than a dozen roles in this gripping tale of navigating mental illness.

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The Tank: Falls for Jodie – begins September 24

The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West

Begins September 24. Closes October 18. Tickets are $28-$38.

The Tank presents the New York premiere of Eric Holmes’ true crime-inspired two-hander Falls for Jodie, centering on John Hinckley Jr.’s obsession with Jodie Foster years before he attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in an insane bid to impress the movie star. In this fictional story, he checks into a New Haven hotel to be close to Foster while she attends Yale, and ends up bonding with the night manager, Eddie, who’s also crushing on a student. As these two enter into an unorthodox arrangement, it reveals how easily fandom can morph into violent fixation.

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Untitled Theater Company No. 61: Unveiling – begins October 1

Torn Page, 435 West 22nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in Chelsea

Begins October 1. Closes October 17. Tickets are a suggested donation of $27 but you can attend for as little as $2.

To mark the 90th birthday of the late playwright-turned-politician Václav Havel, Untitled Theater Company No. 61 presents his disturbingly timely one-act The Unveiling, a witty and perceptive critique of the dangers of compromising one’s ethics. The dramatist’s signature stage alter ego, Ferdinand Vanek, visits friends to see their remodeled abode and soon finds they also plan to revamp his moral code, encouraging him to give up his dissident ways in exchange for an easier life. Havel’s work was banned in his native Czechoslovakia when he wrote this 1975 play, so it could only be mounted in secret in folks’ homes. Fittingly, this production is (mostly) being performed at Torn Page, a space situated in a Chelsea townhouse once owned by actors Rip Torn and Geraldine Page. (There’s also a performance at the Bohemian National Hall on the Upper Easy Side on October 5.)

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The Bushwick Starr: I’m Not Even Half – begins October 6

The Bushwick Starr, 419 Eldert Street between Covert and Halsey Streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Previews begin October 6. Opens October 10. Closes October 24. Tickets start at $27.85.

The Bushwick Starr in Brooklyn has quite the track record of incubating exciting, genre-defying work. In fact, this past spring, three shows it premiered transferred to larger Manhattan venues. The theatre kicks off its new season with I’m Not Even Half, a solo show from busy performer-turned-playwright Layla Khoshnoud. The Iranian-American artist juxtaposes the polarized politics of Iran and the US as a self-involved Brooklyn artist gets hit by a car while watching an uprising unfold in Iran on her phone.

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Too Fat for China – begins October 6

The Rat NYC, 68-117 Jay Street near Water Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn

Begins October 6. Closes November 24. Tickets are $25 but if you’re a TDF Member, log in to purchase $12 tickets.

A Fringe festival favorite, Phoebe Potts’ profoundly personal solo show Too Fat for China recounts the comedian’s dramatic journey to motherhood, from infertility to international adoption. Just like parenting, it’s a bumpy road full of ethical dilemmas that Potts mines for eye-opening laughs, complemented by a backdrop of her amusing cartoons.

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PlayCo: The Nicest Body Ever Seen Around These Parts – begins October 7

Performance Space New York, 150 First Avenue at 9th Street in the East Village

Begins October 7. Closes November 7. Tickets are $30 with 12 seats at each performance priced at $10.

Two-time Obie winner Rachel Crowl—so memorable in Prince Faggot as Kate Middleton—embodies an entire community in The Nicest Body Ever Seen Around These Parts, Spanish playwright Josep Maria Miró’s one-person play that earned him the prestigious Spanish National Dramatic Literature Award in 2022. The first in a triptych of monologue plays, it explores the impact of a small-town murder as seemingly nice neighbors grapple with grief with prejudice.

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La MaMa: Doll Day Afternoon – begins October 15

La MaMa’s The Downstairs, 66 East 4th Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village

Begins October 15. Closes October 25. Tickets are $30 with 10 seats at each performance priced at $10.

The Broadway adaptation of Dog Day Afternoon may have been a bust, but it did put a spotlight on Elizabeth Eden, the real-life transgender woman whose husband, John Wojtowicz, attempted to rob a bank to pay for her gender-affirming surgery. Trans writer-director Dmitri Barcomi brings Eden’s untold story to the stage in this solo show adapted from her unpublished memoir. Daphne Kinard stars.

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HERE: The Kick Inside – begins October 21

HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue at Dominick Street in Soho

Previews begin October 21. Opens October 23. Closes November 7. Tickets are $31.50 with 10 seats at each performance priced at $10.50.

Billed as an “exquisite corpse of a play,” The Kick Inside follows a woman who decides to experiment with language hoping she can change how we talk to one another. Thirteen cutting-edge playwrights, including performance art icon Penny Arcade, late avant-garde legend Richard Foreman, Pulitzer finalist Nazareth Hassan and Theatre of Mistakes cofounder Fiona Templeton, contributed sections of this ambitious project, which was conceived and directed by Nicolás Noreña.

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Soho Playhouse: Catholic Guilt – begins October 29

Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho

Begins October 29. Closes November 13. Tickets are $40 but if you’re a TDF Member, log in to purchase $19.50 tickets.

Comedian Kelly McCaughan brings her gleefully sacrilegious autobiographical solo show Catholic Guilt to Soho Playhouse as part of the New York Comedy Festival. Hold onto your halos as McCaughan hilariously overshares about growing up Catholic, including how she lost her virginity and an unholy abortion. A hell of an outrageous time.

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To Sisters: The Executrix – begins October 29

Soho Playhouse, 15 Vandam Street between Sixth Avenue and Varick Street in Soho

Begins October 29. Opens October 31. Closes November 14. Tickets start at $35.

The last play from Two Sisters, Two Sisters Find a Box of Lesbian Erotica in the Woods, was a wild, queer ride. Given the intriguingly opaque description of The Executrix—public masturbation and a near-death experience are refererenced—we expect another anything-can-happen adventure. Emma Horwitz wrote the script and the ensemble cast includes TV regular Jennifer Ikeda.

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