En Garde Arts was an award-winning New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 based not-for-profit arts organization that created site-specific

Site-specific

Site-specific is used in a range of contexts:In art Site-specific artIn molecular biology Site-specific recombination...

 theatrical production. The company was founded in 1985 by Anne Hamburger

Anne Hamburger

Anne Hamburger is the President of Big Heart Theatrical, LLC that creates and produces innovative theatre and film projects. She has forged the intersection between the auteur and the populist, artistic vision with commercial success...

, Artistic Director, and produced works in a variety of locations, including Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

, the Penn Yards, East River Park

East River Park

East River Park, part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is public park located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The park stretches along the East River from Montgomery Street up to 12th Street. The southern entrance boasts good views of the Manhattan Bridge and...

, Pier 25, the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

, the Chelsea Hotel

Hotel Chelsea

The Hotel Chelsea, also known as the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea, is a historic New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents...

, the Victory Theater, and the intersection of Wall and Broad Streets in Lower Manhattan. En Garde commissioned playwrights, directors, composers and designers to create pieces for architectural sites and neighborhoods. These artists include Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts.-Early Life and Early Career:...

, Jr., Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman is an American playwright, author, and poet. Wellman is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether...

, Maria Irene Fornes

María Irene Fornés

María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...

, Laurie Carlos, David Van Tieghem, Kyle Chepulis, Claudia Brown, Brian Aldous, Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, and homophobia explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...

, Michael Engler

Michael Engler

Michael Engler is an American theatre director, and television director and producer. His Broadway credits include Eastern Standard and I Hate Hamlet...

, Tina Landau

Tina Landau

Tina Landau is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in New York City to film and television producers Edie and Ely Landau, Landau moved with her family to Beverly Hills, California, where she graduated from Beverly Hills High School before attending Yale University, where she directed...

, Anne Bogart

Anne Bogart

-Biography:She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1977. She served as Artistic Director of the Trinity Repertory Company for its 1989-90 season...

, Reza Abdoh

Reza Abdoh

Reza Abdoh Iranian-born American director and playwright known for large-scale, experimental theatrical productions, often staged in unusual spaces like warehouses and abandoned buildings....

, Bill Rauch

Bill Rauch

Bill Rauch is an American artistic director. Rauch succeeded Libby Appel as the fifth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2007...

, Migdalia Cruz, Carl Hancock Rux

Carl Hancock Rux

‎Carl Hancock Rux is an award winning writer and performer; former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts and has taught or been in residence at University of California–San Diego, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst,...

, Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...

, Fisher Stevens

Fisher Stevens

Fisher Stevens is an American actor, director and producer. His most recent successes include the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film The Cove and 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Crazy Love...

, Jim Simpson and Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays is an American theatre and film actor.A Connecticut native, Mays trained at Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned an Master of Fine Arts...

. En Garde’s final production was Secret History of the Lower East Side directed by Matthew Wilder.

Production history

1985: The Ritual Project (Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

)

1986: Terminal Bar (abandoned car showroom, SoHo

SoHo

SoHo is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City, notable for being the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and also, more recently, for the wide variety of stores and shops ranging from trendy boutiques to outlets of upscale national and international chain stores...

) written by Paul Selig, directed by Michael Engler

Michael Engler

Michael Engler is an American theatre director, and television director and producer. His Broadway credits include Eastern Standard and I Hate Hamlet...

, starring Fisher Stevens

Fisher Stevens

Fisher Stevens is an American actor, director and producer. His most recent successes include the 2010 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film The Cove and 2008 Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature for his film Crazy Love...

1987: Naked Chambers (intersection of Greenwich & Chambers Streets, TriBeCa

TriBeCa

Tribeca is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York in the United States. Its name is an acronym based on the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Vesey Street...

) written by Dick Beebe, starring Richard Gottlieb

1988: 3 Pieces for a Warehouse (warehouse, Lower Westside) by
Maria Irene Fornes

María Irene Fornés

María Irene Fornés is a Cuban-American avant garde playwright and director who is associated with the establishment of the Off-off-Broadway movement in the 1960s. Fornes themes focused on poverty and feminism. In 1965, she won her first Obie Award for Promenade and her second for The Successful...

, Anna Cassio and Quincy Long

1989: At the Chelsea (Hotel Chelsea

Hotel Chelsea

The Hotel Chelsea, also known as the Chelsea Hotel, or simply the Chelsea, is a historic New York City hotel and landmark, known primarily for its history of notable residents...

) including A Quiet Evening with Sid and Nancy starring Penny Arcade (performer)

Penny Arcade (performer)

Susana Ventura , better known by her stage name Penny Arcade, is an American performance artist, actress, and playwright based in New York City.-Career:...

 and Steven Wastell; The Room with David Van Tieghem and Tina Dudek; Embedded by Ann Carlson

Ann Carlson

Ann Carlson is an American dancer, choreographer and performance artist whose work explores contemporary social issues. She has performed through the United States an internationally and has won a number of awards....

; Letters From Dead People by Frank Maya; and John Kelly performing as Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...

1989: Plays in the Park (Central Park), including Bad Penny written by Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman is an American playwright, author, and poet. Wellman is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether...

 and directed by Jim Simpson

1989: Krapp's Last Tape (1 Main Street, Brooklyn Waterfront) starring and directed by Paul Zimet of The Talking Band

The Talking Band

The Talking Band is a 35-year-old award-winning American experimental theater company based in New York City. The company consists of a three-person core group of artists: artistic director Paul Zimet, actor/writer/composer Ellen Maddow, and actor/director Tina Shepard.The Talking Band is known for...

1990: Crowbar (Victory Theater, 42nd St) written by Mac Wellman, directed by Richard Caliban, with music by David Van Tieghem

1990: Father Was a Peculiar Man (Meatpacking District) directed by Reza Abdoh

Reza Abdoh

Reza Abdoh Iranian-born American director and playwright known for large-scale, experimental theatrical productions, often staged in unusual spaces like warehouses and abandoned buildings....

, co-written by Reza Abdoh & Mira-Lani Oglesby

1991: Another Person Is a Foreign Country (Towers Nursing Home, 455 Central Park West) written by Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee

Charles L. Mee is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts.-Early Life and Early Career:...

, Jr., directed by Anne Bogart

Anne Bogart

-Biography:She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1977. She served as Artistic Director of the Trinity Repertory Company for its 1989-90 season...

1991: Occasional Grace (Universalist Church at Central Park West & 76th St) directed by Bill Rauch

Bill Rauch

Bill Rauch is an American artistic director. Rauch succeeded Libby Appel as the fifth artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June 2007...

1992: Vanquished by Voodoo (façade of the Dwyer Warehouse, Harlem) written and directed by Laurie Carlos, featuring Carl Hancock Rux

Carl Hancock Rux

‎Carl Hancock Rux is an award winning writer and performer; former Head of the MFA Writing for Performance Program at the California Institute of the Arts and has taught or been in residence at University of California–San Diego, Stanford University, University of Massachusetts Amherst,...

 and Viola Sheely

1993: Strange Feet (Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian Institution

Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

) written by Mac Wellman, directed by Jim Simpson, music by David Van Tieghem

1993: Orestes (Penn Yards) adapted by Charles L. Mee, Jr., directed by Tina Landau

Tina Landau

Tina Landau is an American playwright and theatre director.Born in New York City to film and television producers Edie and Ely Landau, Landau moved with her family to Beverly Hills, California, where she graduated from Beverly Hills High School before attending Yale University, where she directed...

, starring Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays is an American theatre and film actor.A Connecticut native, Mays trained at Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned an Master of Fine Arts...

 and Theresa McCarthy

1994: Marathon Dancing (Grand Ballroom, Masonic Grand Lodge at 71 West 23rd St.) written by Laura Harrington, directed by Anne Bogart, music by Christopher Drobny, choreography by Alison Shafer

1994: Stonewall: Night Variations (Pier 25 on the Hudson River) directed by Tina Landau

1995: J.P. Morgan Saves the Nation (outside Federal Hall at the intersection of Wall & Broad Streets, Lower Manhattan) book and lyrics by Jeffrey M. Jones, music by Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson

Jonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, and homophobia explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...

, directed by Jean Randich, choreography by Doug Elkins

1996: The Trojan Women: A Love Story (East River Park

East River Park

East River Park, part of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, is public park located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The park stretches along the East River from Montgomery Street up to 12th Street. The southern entrance boasts good views of the Manhattan Bridge and...

 Amphitheater) written by Charles L. Mee, Jr., directed by Tina Landau, starring Sharon Scruggs

1996: The Waste Land (Liberty Theatre (New York, New York), 42nd St.) directed by Deborah Warner

Deborah Warner

Deborah Warner CBE is a British director of theatre and opera known for her interpretations of the works of Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Georg Büchner, and Henrik Ibsen, and for her long-term working relationship with the Irish actress Fiona Shaw.-Early years:Warner was born in Oxfordshire,...

, starring Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw

Fiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...

1997: Sweet Thereisenstradt (Archa Theater, Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

), based on the diary of Willi Mahler, directed by Damien Gray

1998: Mystery School (Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts

Angel Orensanz Center

The Angel Orensanz Center is located at 172 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side of New York City, New York...

, 172 Norfolk St., SoHo) written by Paul Selig, directed by Doug Hughes

Doug Hughes

Douglas Hughes is an American theatre and film director. He is the son of acting couple Barnard Hughes and Helen Stenborg.-References:-External links:...

, music by David Van Tieghem, starring Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly is an American stage and screen actress, widely known for her work as Detective Mary Beth Lacey in the television series Cagney & Lacey and as Maxine Gray in the television series Judging Amy. She is also known for her role as Alice Henderson in television series Christy...

1998: Secret History of the Lower East Side (roof of the Seward Park High School, 350 Grand St, Lower East Side) written by Carlos Murillo, Alice Tuan

Alice Tuan

Alice Tuan is a U.S. playwright, teacher and performer. Her first works were of an Asian American nature, attempting to make sense of being raised with eastern values while schooled in U.S. thought...

 and Peter Ullian, directed by Matthew Wilder

Awards

Obie Awards (6): Bad Penny (Best New American Play: Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman

Mac Wellman is an American playwright, author, and poet. Wellman is best known for his experimental work in the theater which rebels against theatrical conventions, often abandoning such traditional elements as plot and character altogether...

) 1990; Bad Penny (Best Direction: Jim Simpson) 1990; Crowbar (Performance: Elzbieta Czyzewska) 1990; En Garde Arts (Obie Grant) 1991; Orestes (Performance: Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays

Jefferson Mays is an American theatre and film actor.A Connecticut native, Mays trained at Yale College, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree, and the University of California, San Diego, where he earned an Master of Fine Arts...

) 1994; The Trojan Women (Performance: Sharon Scruggs) 1997

Drama Desk Awards (2): The Waste Land (Outstanding One Person Show, Unique Theatrical Experience) 1997

Outer Critics Circle Awards (1): Crowbar (Special Award) 1989-90

Edwin Booth Award 1995