The Box Factory
Written by Ed Flynn; Directed by Ed Flynn, Alexis Tandit and Howard Heller
Presented by the New York City Fringe Festival
Chain Theatre Studio | 312 W 36th St. 4th floor, New York, NY 10018
Wed April 8 at 6:15pm, Sat April 11 at 7:15pm, Sun April 12 at 2pm & Sat April 18 at 3:55pm
The Box Factory is a short one-act, set in a cramped, boiler-room-like office of chairs, boxes, and a lone table. Privacy feels impossible and tension inevitable.
Enter Tim (Michael Saunders) who returns to the family business in Long Island City after a failed tech venture. He returns with big ideas of improving the business, but what he finds instead are employees simply trying to make it through another day. Together, this multigenerational workforce reflects the realities of many workplaces today, where loyalty, survival, and shifting power dynamics quietly coexist. particularly Ned (Howard Heller), who has observed Tim’s many ventures stemming from high school. Ned holds an unspoken authority that even the boss’s son can’t quite override.
Alongside Ned and Tim are Susan (Alexis Tandit) and Annie (Angela Muniz) who have a cordial work relationship. At one point a promising deal with a nonprofit serving the homeless begins to unravel, hinting at scams beneath the surface and leaving a lingering sense of unease. feel human, but the execution never quite lifts beyond its static frame.
The ensemble works comfortably together, grounding the play in recognizable human behavior and relationships. However, I do wish the stakes were defined and the conflict clarified. The suggested scam teased and then fizzled out, and with the limited movement and measured pacing, the piece calls for a confrontation as it suggests.
I know Queens and I know family businesses. I am intrigued to see how this piece develops.
Click HERE for tickets.
Review by Malini Singh McDonald.
Published by Theatre Beyond Broadway on April 10, 2026. All rights reserved.
