Rough & Tumble
theatre that doesn't suck.

  "Imaginative staging and
a sweet sense of humor"
-- The Boston Phoenix 		"Wonderfully satisfying"
-- The Boston Herald 		"Bursting with enthusiasm and
hilarious physical comedy."
-- The South End News
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We just can't seem to stop making new plays.

 
Our Shows    


2005-2006 Season
  • May 2006: Hinterlands: Season One, an original play, at the Boston Center for the Arts

    The story of a misfit band of acrobats, jugglers, dancers, declaimers, hand-balancers, fire-eaters, and balancerinos traveling through the hinterlands of a long-ago America. The complete boxed set. With never before seen footage and special features!


  • December 2005: Apocalypso! by William Donnelly at the Boston Center for the Arts

    A loving tale of the no-man's land between Christmas and New Year's when everything that is wrong with your life comes into eggnog-flavored sharp relief. Especially since the world is coming to an end this year. Probably.

    "If the end of the world is coming, I wouldn't mind spending the last four days with the members of this quirky theater troupe... A delightful production by a wonderfully eccentric cast... Never has total annihilation been so funny.- Nick Dussault, Boston Metro

    "Every so often a production comes along in which each aspect meshes brilliantly: script, cast, staging, and that indefinable aura of excitement that can make theater so compelling. William Donnelly's cleverly casual Apocalypso!, as brought to life by the Rough & Tumble ensemble under Dan Milstein's direction, is just such a show."-- Sandy MacDonald, The Boston Globe



2004-2005 Season
  • June 2005: Pieces of Whitey by Pat Gabridge at the Boston Center for the Arts

    A comedy about race by a bunch of white people. Could be a trainwreck. So you'll want to check that out.

  • April 2005: Mondays and Other Days by William Donnelly Boston Theater Marathon


  • December 2004: I'm Away From My Desk Right Now...: An Indie Play, an original play, at the Boston Center for the Arts

    Delightfully odd tales from the surreal world of the office.

    "Comic genius...filled with moments of comic brilliance that make this piece totally fresh.." -- Terry Byrne, Boston Herald

    "Anyone who has seen a Rough & Tumble show knows how uniquely charming (and yes, unpretentious) the company's work is." -- David Valdes Greenwood, Bay Windows

    "A tasty supplement to your usual theater consumption." -- Gina Perille, The Boston Globe


2003-2004 Season
  • Driving I,II,III (April 2004), Boston Theater Marathon 6

  • Backwater: A Movie-Play (March 2004), Boston Center for the Arts

    • An offbeat, loving story about what happens when your life falls apart and you have to move back into the room above your parents' garage.

    "The funniest local show so far this year." -- The South End News

    "Thrilling...Milstein and company's gentle, quirky approach and Donnelly's sincere, unpretentious dialogue combine for a poignant and very funny play." --The Boston Herald

    "For seven years, Rough & Tumble Theatre has been taking chances and making theater for the pure joy of it. And never has that joy been more apparent than in their current production, Backwater....A delightful evening of theater.... Go now before everyone else find out." --The Boston Metro

  • The Silent Movie Play (November 2003), Boston Center for the Arts

    A physical comedy epic about a lowly shop boy and the trials and travails of his lowly life. The nice people at Rough & Tumble make sure that Boston theatre audiences get their recommended daily allowance of scheming villains, gruff bosses, lovely shop owners' daughters, and, of course, live piano accompaniment.

    "A treat... unadulterated fun! As endearing as it is funny" -The South End News
    "Silence can be golden" -The Boston Herald

2002-2003 Season
2001-2002 Season
2000-2001 Season
1999-2000 Season
  • Lost in the Labyrinth (April 2000): An original public art play performed in the public spaces of the Boston Public Library

  • The After-Rhyme by Sean Graney (March/April 2000), Boston Center for the Arts

  • The Great Blurg Rebellion (December-May 2000): An original Rough & Tumble, Jr. production, various locations

1998-1999 Season
  • Half a Mind is Better Than One (June 1999), Two short plays by Bill Lattanzi and Sean Graney, accompanied by a rotating schedule of local musicians and a visual art exhibition

  • France, by Bill Lattanzi (April 1999), Boston Theater Marathon

  • Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (November 1998)

  • Shadow Boxing Showcase II (October 1998): Co-produced, staged readings of original works developed in the bi-weekly Shadow Boxing workshop

1997-1998 Season
  • The Hero, the Villain, the Empress and Her Dog (August 1998): An original Rough & Tumble, Jr. production, performed at the New York International Fringe Festival. The play was reprised in Boston in late August, and again in January of 1999 in conjunction with WebPhantom Productions.

  • Shadow Boxing Showcase I (May 1998): Co-produced, staged readings of original works developed in the bi-weekly Shadow Boxing workshop


1997 Season
  • The Silent Movie Play (June 1997), an original silent play in the style of Buster Keaton