Cast and Creative Team Announced for Mint Theater Company’s New York Premiere of PHYL by Cecily Hamilton as part of their Let's Talk About Sex season

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, August 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Mint Theater Company (Jonathan Bank, Artistic Director; Matthew McVey-Lee, Producing Director) has announced the complete cast and creative team for the New York premiere of PHYL, a rarely seen comedy by pioneering British playwright and suffragist Cecily Hamilton, directed by Britt Berke. Performances begin October 3 through November 7, 2026 and will open on October 22nd at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street.
PHYL follows Phyllis Chester, a governess trapped in a solitary existence and walled off from the life she craves—until a moment of lost temper leads her to risk everything.

The play launches Mint Theater Company’s new season, featuring two frank, provocative, and deeply human works exploring sex, love, marriage, and the complexities of relationships. Originally scheduled to premiere in Oxford, PHYL was banned by the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, although it had passed the scrutiny of the Lord Chamberlain without requiring the alteration of a single line. The play instead premiered in Manchester, where one disapproving critic described Phyl as “slaking thirsty lips in the voluptuous pleasure of life.” When Hamilton was asked how she described the play, she replied, “Well, I call it a comedy because it has a happy ending, and I hope somebody is funny in it.” The season will continue in February 2027 with Miles Malleson’s THE FANATICS, directed by Davis McCallum.

“Cecily Hamilton created a wonderfully surprising heroine in Phyl—a woman determined to break through the walls that have been built around her,” said Mint Theater Company Artistic Director Jonathan Bank. “Britt Berke has assembled an extraordinary company of actors and designers who understand the play’s humor, emotional honesty, and quietly radical spirit. We are thrilled to introduce New York audiences to this remarkable play with a cast and creative team so perfectly suited to bringing Hamilton’s world to life.”

The cast of PHYL features Lily Ganser (Broadway: Stereophonic) as Phyllis “Phyl” Chester, making her Off-Broadway debut with Tessa Blimes (Film: Hello Darkness, My Old Friend), Jennifer Blood (Broadway: Girl From the North Country), Curzon Dobell (Mint’s A Little Journey and Susan and God), Katie Firth (Off-Broadway: The Hiding Place), Livvy Marcus (National Tour: Suffs;), Anthony Michael Martinez (Off-Broadway: Titus Andronicus), Talia Sulla (Off-Broadway: A Perfect Peace), Charlotte Van Ledtje (Lincoln Center’s Zelda).

The creative team for PHYL includes Brittany Vasta (Scenic Design), Alicia J. Austin (Costume Design), Mary Louise Geiger (Lighting Design), Jane Shaw (Sound Design), Chris Fields (Properties), Amy Stoller (Dramaturgy and Dialect Design), Stephanie Klapper, CSA (Casting Director), Mitch Strong (Production Manager), Jeff Meyers (Production Stage Manager), Matthew McVey-Lee is Producing Director, and Jonathan Bank is Artistic Director.

Director Britt Berke returns to Mint Theater Company following her production of Zack and Betty Smith’s Becomes a Woman. The latter marked Berke’s Off-Broadway directorial debut and received an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

Berke’s additional credits include projects with New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Mabou Mines, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Origin Theatre Company. She is a member of the Roundabout Directors Group and an alumna of the Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellowship. She received the Kenneth Janes Prize for Outstanding Intellectual and Artistic Achievement from Barnard College of Columbia University and is an associate member of SDC.

PHYL begins performances on October 3, 2026, at Theatre Row, located at 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues. Opening night is October 22, 2026 and performances will continue through November 7, 2026.

Tickets begin at $39 and may be purchased online at MintTheater.org, by calling 212-714-2442, extension 2, or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office, Tuesday through Sunday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Service fees apply to online and telephone orders.

Theatre Row is a fully accessible venue. Accessible restrooms and elevator service to all floors are available, and assisted-listening devices are offered.
This season is dedicated to the memory of Mint Theater Company’s beloved friend and longtime press agent David Gersten.

ABOUT CECILY HAMILTON
Cecily Hamilton (1872–1952) was an influential British playwright, novelist, journalist, actress, and advocate for women’s rights.
Hamilton was a member of the Women Writers’ Suffrage League, a founding member of the Actresses’ Franchise League, and one of the first members of the Scottish Women’s Hospital Committee. During World War I, she helped establish an auxiliary hospital in France, where she nursed wounded soldiers. She later joined the Women’s Auxiliary Corps and was assigned to a postal unit before forming a repertory company that performed for Allied soldiers on the Western Front. Hamilton’s works include Diana of Dobson’s, which Mint Theater Company produced to critical acclaim in 2001; the suffrage plays How the Vote Was Won and A Pageant of Great Women; the influential book Marriage as a Trade; and her autobiography, Life Errant.

ABOUT MINT THEATER COMPANY
Mint Theater Company has carved out a unique place in the New York theater community through its dedication to rediscovering lost and neglected plays.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Jonathan Bank since 1995, Mint has produced more than 60 overlooked works, earning critical acclaim as well as special Obie and Drama Desk Awards. Mint also publishes plays through its anthologies and “Reclaimed” series and offers free streaming presentations of past productions. Since 2020, more than 30,000 viewers from all 50 states and 50 countries have watched Mint productions online, logging more than 60,000 hours of viewing.

Joe Trentacosta
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