Mint Theater Company to Stage New York Premiere of Cecily Hamilton's Comedy PHYL

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Performances begin this week on October 3 through November 7, 2026 and will open on October 22nd at Theatre Row.

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Mint Theater Company will kick off its season this week with the New York premiere of PHYL , a rarely seen comedy by pioneering British playwright and suffragist Cecily Hamilton, directed by Britt Berke . Performances begin this week on October 3 through November 7, 2026 and will open on October 22nd at Theatre Row.

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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 .

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.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Mint-Theater-Companys-PHYL-New-York-Premiere-to-Begin-Performances-20260928)._