Iron Age Theatre
A History
Iron Age Theatre was founded in 1989 by John Doyle and Randall Wise, graduates of Villanova University’s Master of Theatre Arts program.

The company works in a variety of venues in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, emphasizing cutting edge “environmental/site theatre.” Iron Age has produced original works and classical pieces running the gamut from Edward Albee’s beautiful and brutal “Zoo Story” to Jean Cocteau’s wild surrealistic fantasy “Wedding on the Eiffel Tower,” which The Main Line Times called “a production that caught the perfect mood - a hip feeling of jaded bohemia.”

The company’s second production, Sam Shepard’s brilliant rock’n’roll fantasy “The Tooth of Crime” was presented in a gymnasium with professional bar band Rockbottom providing the driving score. The Suburban and Wayne Times raved: “It would be hard to imagine a more difficult script. The language, existential and surrealistic challenges the audience and makes the acting problems enormous...Wise directed the show in a gutsy go-for broke manner that resulted in the challenging, smart, and no- holds-barred performances Shepard’s script demanded. It was probably the most challenging, interesting, and creative performance of any theatre in the area.”

Iron Age produced and directed two original children’s shows called “Storytraveler” in an old colonial barn in Montgomery County. “Storytraveler” took myths and folktales from around the world and reinterpreted them in a stylized, very physical manner.
The company then did several “Guerrilla Theatre” performances of Shakespeare’s classics at the mega-mall, The Court at King of Prussia. The highlights of those performances were Cleopatra throwing the messenger into one of the mall’s fountains in a scene from “Anthony and Cleopatra,” and Marc Anthony declaiming to the mall crowds from the balcony above “The Gap” from “Julius Caesar.”

In 1994 Iron Age helped open the historic Eastern State Penitentiary with the original play “Tunnel.” The play, which chronicles the infamous 1945 tunnel escape from the prison, played to sold-out crowds two summers in a row and was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as “a good tale, well acted. Ray Saraceni’s amiable Russell is a nice contrast to William Rahill’s fine performance as the taciturn Kliney.” The Courier Times called “Tunnel” “...dark and riveting theatre with first-rate acting.”

Iron Age returned to Eastern State several times in 1995 and 1996 creating stunning site specific pieces to help raise funds for the crumbling old penitentiary. Halloween of both years saw the production of “Haunted Cellblocks,” a macabre tour of the prison’s darker history. Both Halloween years were huge hits with lines wrapping from the front gates and around the walls of the prison each of the 7 nights the shows ran. During the summer Iron Age produced the “Bastille Day Spectacle” in which audiences saw the re-creation of the events leading up to, and including, the storming of the infamous French prison. These shows culminated with Marie Antoinette standing on the towering walls tossing cake to the thousands of spectators and actors below.

In 1996 Iron Age produced the inaugural production in Norristown’s professional theatre, The Montgomery County Cultural Center. Steve Tesich’s mesmerizing play about Vietnam Vets “The Speed of Darkness,” was a huge success, jump starting the Cultural Center’s theatre space. The Times Herald wrote “...the play moves like an edgy pit bull, uncompromising in its complete disregard of solicitous and genial warmth; you either comply emotionally or get out of the way. It is the sort of in-your-face theatre that is Iron Age’s signature rubric, routinely at home in such places as prisons and underground venues.”

Iron Age next produced two one act plays by noted Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang; “The Sound of a Voice,” and “The House of Sleeping Beauties.” The beautifully stylized plays evoked the spirit of ancient and modern Japan. “Both plays are performed on an impressive stage, designed by Director John Doyle. The uncluttered look evokes the deceptively simple structure of haiku, and like one of those tru-written poems, these one- acts stir unexpected emotions,” wrote Arcade. The Times Herald said “the plays are so carefully choreographed and taughtly manifest they become a ballet of gentle empowerment.”

Iron Age returned to Norristown in 1997 with Rod Serling’s classic boxing play “Requiem for a Heavyweight.” Described by the Times Herald as “what ‘Rocky’ might have resembled had it been conceived by Nietzsche instead of Sylvester Stallone...Rod Serling’s timeless aesthetic is revisited with supreme confidence by Iron Age.” The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote “...the play opens with two boxers one of whom is trying desperately to shield himself from the onslaught until he crashes to the floor. It’s a smart touch, too. Credibly brutal, the scene shows what Mountain McClintock, the man being beaten, has endured in his career...Anthony Giampetro offers an engaging, sympathetic portrayal that makes the audience feel the pain of his betrayal by the manager he has always trusted... It’s an exploitive, corrupt world and it’s successfully evoked in the production.”

Iron Age Theatre produced a new play “The Interrogation of Nathan Hale” about the American patriot and spy Nathan Hale at historic Fort Mifflin in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia City Paper said, “Randall Wise, producer of site sensational shows, found a fascinating script and then found the perfect venue for it. Sets don’t get any more realistic than this. Under Wise’s skillful direction we watch Hale discover the truth of his short life and discover his own hypocrisy and self-righteousness, as Montressor confronts his own, far more complex demons.” The play leaves us with important questions lingering on our minds as we walk across the stone path through the fort’s ironclad door into the modern America Nathan Hale gave his one life for.” Arcade said: “The production would stand well on its own in any venue, boasting as it does the solid performances typical of Iron Age’s work, but it benefits from another Iron Age trademark: environment...the setting’s sense of history supports the strong performances in ways no stage ever could. If you’ve ever wondered what people are talking about when they enthuse over “site theatre,” Iron Age’s “Interrogation” is an ideal example of how environment influences and frames live theatre.”


Following the success of Nathan Hale Iron Age returned to the Montgomery County Cultural Center to bring Ken Kesey's classic, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" This new interpretation of the classic novel made an effort stylistically to move beck toward the central issues of the novel and present the play from the Chief's point of view. Full of the intense theatrical events that are a hallmark of Iron Age's work there was a live basketball game on stage, real glass broken, and a live surveillance system in the theater. REVIEW

Iron Age's next production is Sam Shepard's Simpatico. Finding a unique angle on the play, Chris Zimmerman and the member of She Haw have been enlisted to write an original score for the production. The production delves into the cruelty and dangers of revenge through a twisted film noir motif.

Iron Age produced the terrifying psychological drama “Seventy Scenes of Halloween” in the fall of 1999. The Philadelphia Inquirer raved: “Theatrically there is not a better play for the season. The dark comedy is a bizarre slice of theatre, but also highly original. Playwright Jeffrey Jones lets his hyperactive imagination run rampant through a series of often striking scenes that are just as strikingly presented in an edgy, well-executed Iron Age production. Director-designers Randall Wise and John Doyle present this complicated, difficult piece of theatre effectively and evocatively. The staging is vivid and inventive and the directors have a good feel for the troubled mindscape the play inhabits.” Good Times wrote: “Run and see “Seventy Scenes of Halloween. The production is Iron Age’s finest yet and has the frights and laughs one would hope for this time of year, but is also a fascinating exploration of a relationship, and comments on how television warps and rules us. The play works to a happy ending, but not before thrilling us the way Halloween was supposed to before it became cute.”Arcade wrote: “Iron Age’s production is one of the most darkly effective ghost stories in recent memory. In short, this is bold, imaginative theatre, created by artists at the top of their game.”

In the spring of 2000 Iron Age produced the classic comic fantasy“Heaven Can Wait.” A charming and timeless tale of a boxer taken to heaven before his time. The Philadelphia Weekly wrote: “Directed with gusto by Wise and Doyle, the production is humorous and surprisingly sweet. With fluid staging, the directors make the most of the inherently theatrical spirits...Wise/Doyle employ slapstick, satire and the old talking-to-thin-air routine to maximum effect. Best at playing with the illusion is Bill Rahill, who repeatedly steals the show as Joe’s understandably befuddled manager.”Arcade wrote: “It’s frothy and fun, a rousing night of theatre...”

Iron Age is planning a full site based production of John Osborne's classic play Luther in November of 2000. The play is a dazzling, profound, powerful and very human look at Martin Luther. The play dramatically examines his struggles with society, the Catholic Church and his own faith.

Iron age is also planning to produce Tennessee William's Night of the Iguana at the Centre Theatre in April 2001. Return to the Home Page