Inertia Productions is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) New York based theatre company founded in 1998 by, Artistic Director, Danielle Liccardo and a small group of fellow artists to collaborate and produce meaningful works, which challenged and stretched the imagination of the audience and creative artists alike. They longed to create physically and emotionally compelling pieces of theatre rooted in mythical storytelling, which allowed the hearts and imaginations of the audience to evolve towards a more empathetic understanding of the human condition.

In 1997, Inertia began collaboration by producing a couple of one-act showcases on theatre row in New York City, followed by a stirring production of “The House of Yes”, directed by Inertia’s resident director Kevin Kittle at the Currican Theatre in 1998, which was when the company became a fully incorporated organization.  Highly acclaimed productions that followed included: Don Nigro’s haunting “Specter” at the John Houseman Theatre in 1999, “Watching and Waiting” an evening of one-acts by Don Nigro at the Judith Anderson in 2000, and also in 2000 the OOBR Award winning production of Keith Reddin’s “Life During Wartime” with Aaron Stanford, all directed by Kevin Kittle. In the spring of 2001, the award winning Inertia produced “A Spring Reading Series” of challenging, original, and existing works by David Dannenfelser, Don Nigro, Michael Weller, Samuel Beckett, Sean Michael Welch, Theresa Rebeck, Eric Overmeyer and Michael Lewis.  This successful reading series included directors from well-acclaimed theatre companies based in both New York City and in the surrounding New York areas.  

Following the Spring of 2001, many of the company members, including Artistic Director Danielle Liccardo, decided to take a hiatus from the realm of independent production and began to explore working on meaningful pieces outside of the company, both in New York and regionally, and even overseas.  During the months and eventually years that followed several company members moved to the West Coast, some chose to explore other art forms, families were born and people moved onward.  And so, for several years, Inertia lay in this dormant state of waiting to be acted upon by a driving force…

In the summer of 2006, a new company of actors began to meet under the Inertia name for the purpose of creating an original and ensemble driven piece of theatre. This ensemble of dynamic and broadly talented artists had begun the process of resurrecting Inertia Productions by coming together and putting into motion the original goals and principles of the company through their exploration and creation as an ensemble. Knowing that she has always wanted to continue the growth and artistic success of her company, Danielle Liccardo decided that it was time to truly resurrect Inertia Productions.

Today, under the Artistic Direction of Danielle Liccardo, and with the help of her dear friend and Co-Artistic Director, Doug Durlacher, Inertia Productions is back on the path to being a producing organization in New York City. The company’s values are very much tied to their original goals with several important additions. Inertia Productions, while maintaining their focus on creating theatre, which is highly physical, challenging, mythical, original and which invites an evolution towards a more empathetic perspective, they are adding the element of becoming a more effective member of the arts community and the community in which they produce theatre. In an effort to resurrect themselves as a financially responsible theatre company that fully supports all the artists it employs, Inertia will be spending the following year working to raise funds and build their organization in preparation of their first main-stage production in several years. In June of 2009, Inertia will produce Sam Shepherd’s visceral and physically engaging modern myth,  “Fool For Love” at The Kirk Theatre on theatre row in New York City, directed by Richard Rand.  In the months leading to the company’s production of “Fool For Love”, Inertia will be producing a staged reading series of new plays for the 2008-09 season, and continuing to seek support and raise funds for all aspects of our future programming.  

While Inertia focuses on the fundraising aspects and inner workings of the company they will continue to generate and explore material for future productions.  Inertia has a core ensemble of accomplished and talented professional actors, writers and media specialists that are in the process of creating several original theatre pieces that are dynamic, physical, mythical in quality and use multi-media production elements in order to reach the depths of human truth and bring light and revelation into the lives of the audience.  The goal is to have each of the original pieces become part of an ever-growing repertoire which Inertia will continue to perform for years to come in all areas of New York, across the United States and abroad.  The company’s desire is to continue to create theatrical events, which take great artistic risk and shed reflective light on the nature of the human experience in our current world, while maintaining a deeply rooted foundation in the exploration of the human condition throughout time.  In this way they seek to discover and sound an original artistic voice for their community.  They are seeking to redefine the world of physical theatre by infusing a highly physical performance style with a deep emotional truth of humanity through an evolutionary exploration of the art of storytelling and the craft of acting.  

In an effort to develop a true and connected relationship with their community and the world around them, Inertia will always be giving services, funds and emotional support to those in need.  A portion of their proceeds from fundraising events will be donated to various organizations and foundations, which they have partnered with to raise awareness of specific causes and improve the lives of people affected by life altering events or conditions.  This vision began when the company was incorporated in 1998 and focused on Breast Cancer awareness and support. Since the company’s recent resurrection, they have begun to also focus on Metachromatic Leukodystrophy (MLD), which is a progressive degenerative disease that causes brain deterioration and at present is incurable; Autism Awareness, and helping women that have been displaced due to genocide, particularly in Darfur.  Inertia’s intentions in doing this are not only to give financial and emotional support to these communities, but to also introduce and reawaken the community’s necessity of art in everyday life and the healing it provides to the human soul.