New York, NY (March 24, 2026) – Probably too soon, but possibly not…Thin Duke Productions in association with the Gene Frankel Theatre and Starna Productions presents Come and Knock Down My Door, a riotous political-situation comedy occurring in the aftermath of the January 6 insurrection upon the Capitol, written by actor, producer, writer and second-generation satirist Alex Emanuel*. Sixteen performances will be staged from May 7-30, 2026, at The Gene Frankel Theatre, 24 Bond Street, New York, NY 10012.
Philip Cruise* directs a talented cast, including Jared Ritter, Lana Ayrapetyants, Tammi Cubilette, Callie Fabac, and Vincent Lamberti*, as well as Cruise and Emanuel.
Come and Knock Down My Door is a riotous political-situation comedy in two acts. It’s January 7th, 2021. The U.S is still in the throes of a deadly Pandemic, and the 2020 Presidential Race has yet to be conceded. After “Storming the Capitol,” Pablo, a freewheeling pot dealer, returns from Washington, DC to the Lower East Side apartment he shares with his liberal roommates; James, an African American musician, and Mina, his Russian speaking girlfriend. Hilarity ensues, misunderstandings abound, and their world nearly spirals into chaos as Pablo’s roommates fear the FBI will come and knock down their door….
“Like many of us, the year 2020 and the Covid pandemic was emotionally fraught. January 6, 2021, was another such day,” shares producer and director Philip Cruise. “I watched with my mouth agape as an iconic symbol of peace and democracy was overrun and desecrated by misguided and misled self-anointed patriots. Desecrated: defined as ‘to treat a sacred place or thing with violent disrespect,’ which was exactly what I witnessed that day. At the 250th anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence, it’s essential to remember what makes the USA so special. If I can make the audience laugh while calling attention to the piece of history that so many are trying to rewrite and erase, I’m doing my job as a theatre producer and as an American.”
Come and Knock Down My Door began as a burst of inspiration in January 2021, when playwright Alex Emanuel drafted the first full version in five days, drawing on personal experience, absurdist humor, and an innate feel for comedy. He inherited that comedic instinct from his Illustrator’s Hall of Fame political cartoonist father, Robert Grossman, whose illustrations graced the covers of TIME, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, National Lampoon and New York Magazine, as well as his iconic image of an airplane tied in a knot for the absurdist masterpiece AIRPLANE! Since then, the play has steadily evolved through a series of increasingly public and enthusiastic readings, building momentum toward full production. Early drafts were warmly received at Naked Angels, followed by a successful read-through that confirmed the play’s potential. A full virtual reading on January 6, 2022, via Zoom/Facebook Live drew a large, enthusiastic audience, leading to a triumphant in-person reading at The Chain Theatre in 2023. Plans for a high-profile reading with Austin Pendleton after the election were shelved when Kamala Harris lost, but the piece moved forward with a well-received 2025 reading at AMT after further revisions and, most recently, a packed, strongly received reading at HB Studio’s theatre on Bank Street.
“I had considered writing a play based on a relationship between a Trumper and a non-Trumper, and I fell into the zone with this piece the day after the January 6th insurrection,” shared playwright Alex Emanuel. “While many theatrical gatekeepers have labeled the work ‘too soon,’ now is surely the time for it. We need to laugh, and we need to be reminded of how we got here. A screenplay adaptation is in the works.”
Performances for Come and Knock Down My Door are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Exceptions: Thursday, May 7 at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is Friday, May 8 at 8:00 p.m. The last week of the run is Wednesday, May 27 through Saturday May 30, 2026 at 8:00pm.
The runtime is 110 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.
General admission tickets are $35.00. For information and tickets, visit: OnTheStage.Tickets
Direct ticketing link: https://our.show/knockdownmydoor
Come and Knock Down My Door is produced by Philip Cruise, Seth Gilliam and Edward Miller for Thin Duke Productions, Thomas Gordon for the Gene Frankel Theatre, and Alex Emanuel and Lana Ayrapetyants for Starna Productions; Art Designer: Karl Bourke; Lighting Designer: Olivia Martin; Video/Sound Designer: Jeff Kushner; Stage Manager: Melinoe Elizabeth; Original Artwork: Robert Grossman; Graphic Designer: David Finkelstein; Choreography: Cat Cruise; Public Relations: Paul Siebold/Off Off PR.
Thin Duke Productions was founded in 2003 by Philip Cruise, Artistic Director, with the goal of bringing both affordable and accessible works to the New York City stage. Our artistic goal is to attempt to hold a mirror up to the sometimes cartoonishly dark “post-human” culture of 21st century American society. This mission includes a promise to showcase performers and writers who have struggled due to such classic industry roadblocks as lack of representation, lack of momentum, or as is often the case, a simple lack of money. Thin Duke productions include revivals of Mac Wellman’s 7 Blowjobs and Bright Day by Thomas Ellis, world premieres of Dean Haspiel’s The Last Bar at the End of the World and The War of Woo, and Adam Szymkowicz’s Clown Bar 2 and The Sex Writer. Thin Duke’s last production was the NYC premiere of Adam Szymkowicz’s Fat Cat Killers in May 2025.
Alex Emanuel* (Agent John Johnson / Playwright) (AEA/SAG-AFTRA) is an actor, musician, playwright, filmmaker, producer and visual artist. His one-act play Hallucy premiered in 2025 at the Chain Summer One-Act festival and was extended after an enthusiastic sold out run. He’s thrilled to have his full-length play Come and Knock Down My Door produced, after enjoying a slew of highly successful readings. As an actor, Alex has acted on all three coasts and overseas, including theatrical premieres at Oregon Shakespeare, ZSpace in SF and Steppenwolf in CH. His TV/Film credits include roles on “Succession,” “50 Central,” “Public Morals,” “Blue Bloods” and “Law and Order” among other shows, as well as many feature films and shorts. With his company Starna productions, he co-produced, starred in and wrote original music for the award-winning indie feature comedy “The Incoherents” (Amazon Prime), which has since been adapted to a TV Pilot and is presently being shopped. As a musician, Alex has toured and recorded with many bands, and is presently finishing up a follow up to his solo pandemic album Better Light (Peacedale) entitled Acute Phase Shifter. Alex co-produced, art directed and contributed original material to the sprawling 99 song soundtrack to the Occupy Movement, Occupy This Album (Razor and Tie), and is currently working on a retrospective project about his father, the late political cartoonist Robert Grossman. In April, he’s appearing in Pedro Pietri’s dark comedy Last Request at Teatro Latea, and he and his wife Lana are producing a short film in June. alexemanuel.com imdb.me/alexemanuel @the_alexemanuel
Philip Cruise* (Clark / Director) is an NY City-based actor/director and all around art lover. He started his professional career as a 13-year-old understudy in Joseph Papp’s NYSF production of Richard III. At the end of that glorious summer, he booked the role of Pat Benatar’s brother in the groundbreaking MTV video LOVE IS A BATTLEFIELD. As a result, an ordinary childhood was no longer an option. After surviving the dreaded “child actor” curse, his adult acting credits of late include Fat Cat Killers (Sparkplug/Thin Duke Productions), The Sex Writer (Thin Duke Productions), The War of Woo (TDP), Final Boarding Call (Ma-Yi), Hugh Hefner in Kallan Dana’s brilliant Playdate (7 Days Prior), The Last Bar at the End of World (TDP), Refuse (Gemini Collisionworks) Harakiri Kane (GCW), Let Trump Be Trump (Making It Happen Productions) and Abortion: A Race Redux (MIH). Film: “The Fox Sisters” (Cineteca Films Summer 2025), “The Couch,” “the Failure,” “Prelude to the War of Woo,” and the upcoming short “Bigby’s Dead Bunny.” Philip was a staff writer and Voice Artist on the GCW Sci-Fi Podcast “Life with Althaar” for three seasons. Directorial credits include Twelfth Night (or What You Will), King George II, Three Drinks, Bright Day, 7 Blowjobs, The Last Bar at the End of the World, The War of Woo, and most recently, the world premiere of Adam Szymkowicz’s The Sex Writer. Proud member of Actors Equity Association. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife Bernadette and daughter Catherine.
Jared Ritter (Pablo) (he/him) – Recent credits include Shelter in Place (Ego Actus), Sundays (TheaterLab), The Three Musketeers (Theatre 121), and [title of show] (PrideArts). Jared is a BFA graduate of the Dobbins Conservatory, and a certified staged combatant with Dueling Arts International. www.jaredritteractor.com
Lana Ayrapetyants (Mina) is a bilingual theater and film actress who lives and works in New York City. Born in Uzbekistan, Lana began studying dramatic arts at the age of 17; at the age of 20 she joined the Drama Club Theatre in Tashkent, where her theatre credits included: The Cherry Orchard, The Lady Peasant, and The Taming of the Shrew. In 2014, Lana moved to the US and studied acting in several studios based in NYC. She holds an MBA degree from Northeastern University, with her professional acting training coming mostly from HB Studio. Her recent work includes acting in the films “Apple Pie Dreams” and “Fractals,” among others, as well as making her US debut at the Chain Theatre Summer’25 Festival in a role of Dr. Jane for the one-act play Hallucy. Lana also originated the role of Mina at several staged readings for Come and Knock Down My Door.”
Tammi Cubilette (Federica) has appeared on MAD TV, BROTHERS AND SISTERS and THE ITALIAN JOB. She has also guest starred in JUDGING AMY and THE DIVISION. She had a recurring role on THAT’S LIFE and was a series regular of the critically acclaimed sketch comedy show HOUSE OF BUGGIN’ where she worked side by side with John Leguizamo. Her award winning webseries GET SOME can currently be found on Kollideoscope.com. GET SOME won Best Webisode in the 2016 Official Latino Short Film Festival. When not working as an actress, Tammi finds much fulfillment as a teaching artist.
Callie Fabac (Samantha) (she/her) grew up in Kansas City but is now happy to call NYC her home. Since moving to the city, Callie has been acting, assistant-directing, writing, collaborating, building community, and eating amazing food. Recent projects include Alexandria (Off-Broadway, PopUp Productions), The Sex Writer (NY Premiere, Thin Duke Productions), Third Law (What Will the Neighbors Say?), Clown Bar 2 (SparkPlug Productions for NYCFringe), Macbeth (Courtyard Shakespeare), and “Sins of the South” on Oxygen.
Vincent Lamberti* (Guy) has been in over 100 Equity theatre productions, has written six plays, all produced; has also produced and directed for the theatre; been in 12 feature films, a couple of TV series and one soap opera. He is a professional decorative painter and has enjoyed showings in galleries all over the Western Hemisphere that have had the hutzpah to engage him.
*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
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