By Lindsay Joelle
Directed by Rob Ruggiero

FUNNY. SURPRISING. HEARTWARMING.
This outside-the-box comedy pairs Danny: a gruff blue-collar NYC sanitation worker hiding a heart of gold, and Marlowe: a determined Ivy-League-educated “newbie” who is assigned to his route. When this unlikely pair is thrown together to pick up what the world has discarded, they unexpectedly find common ground in uncommon times.

TheaterWorks Hartford, is excited to announce details for Lindsay Joelle’s fresh, off-beat buddy comedy The Garbologists directed by Rob Ruggiero and running February 1 – 25, 2024.

The Garbologists is a heartwarming, surprising, and outside-the-box comedy that pairs Danny: a gruff blue-collar NYC sanitation worker hiding a heart of gold, and Marlowe:a determined Ivy-League-educated “newbie” who is assigned to his route. When this unlikely pair is thrown together to pick up what the world has discarded, they unexpectedly find common ground in uncommon times.

Director Rob Ruggiero said, “What I love most about the play is the way it digs into this compelling relationship between two unlikely people and how they find a way to authentically connect. Their world isn’t one we often see – the strenuous and frequently dangerous work of sanitation workers. It’s a warm, wonderful story filled with surprising revelations about the human spirit.”

Playwright Lindsay Joelle tells us she’s often intrigued by the stories of people who are overlooked by society at large and added “taking people that seem at first glance very ‘other’ — either to each other or to the audience — and then seeing how quickly you can forget that and put yourselves in their shoes and feel like you are on this journey with them so by the end, you have an increased awareness and increased empathy (is a consistent theme in my work)”.

The cast for The Garbologists includes Jeff Brooks (National Tours: Chicago; A Bronx Tale) as Danny and Bebe Nicole Simpson (Broadway’s Camelot) as Marlowe, both making their TheaterWorks Hartford debuts.

The creative team includes Marcelo Martínez García (set design), Ari Fulton (costume design), John Lasiter (lighting design), Germán Martínez (sound design), JZ Casting - Katja Zarolinski & Geoff Josselson (casting director), Rob Ruggiero (producing artistic director), Mike Lenaghan (director of production), and Tom Kosis (production stage manager).

Alongside performances of The Garbologists, TheaterWorks Hartford presents Cellist Johnathan Moore, Saturday Feb 17 in the LIVING ROOM CONCERT series. Tix are available here.

Also, in the Gallery February 12 – March 3 with an Opening February 8 from 6-7:15p, TWH presents visual artist “bamboo melamine” by Joe Bun Keo. The exhibition draws its title from the compound used to produce ‘environmentally’ safe dishware and represents the struggle of cultural identity by using the everyday objects of utility as a platform to assess the intertwined lives of commodities and people.

TheaterWorks Hartford is grateful to the following:

Production Partners

JOHN & KELLY HARTMAN FOUNDATION
DINA PLAPLER & EARL MCMAHON
ETCH

Season Partners
RICHARD P. GARMANY FUND
at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
MARJORIE E. MORRISSEY

BURRY FREDRIK FOUNDATION

BANK OF AMERICA

Dates: February 1 – 25, 2024

Showtimes:
Tuesdays – Thursdays: 7:30pm
Fridays: 8:00pm
Saturdays*: 2:30pm & 8:00pm
Sundays: 2:30pm

Location: Theater Works, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT 06103.

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