the week of june 13-19, 2025
jazzercise, surfing lessons, white whales
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world premieres
Julia Randall’s Dilaria is now playing through August 3rd Off-Broadway at DR2 Theatre. The “caustically humorous exploration of the ecstasy and ennui of a generation raised on true crime, reality TV, and social media” is directed by Alex Keegan.
Jake Brasch’s The Reservoir starts performances June 18th at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles in a co-pro with Denver Center and The Alliance. Shelley Butler directs the “sharply funny and deeply heartfelt” new work about a spiraling twenty-something’s four grandparents, who “offer unsolicited advice, relentlessly judge his life choices, bring up their own mortality over coffee, and drag him to Jazzercise class at the JCC.”
Madhuri Shekar’s Dhaba on Devon Avenue runs June 19 - July 27 at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, IL. The “searing Chicago-set story about a family-run Indian restaurant fighting for survival amid generational change” is directed by Chay Yew.
Michael Gorman’s The Moby Dick Blues is now running through June 22nd at La MaMa in NYC. Joe John Battista directs the “iconoclastic working-class opera about a New England fishing community’s daunting quest for survival and transformation in the face of the opiate crisis calls for a reevaluation of Ahab’s vengeful obsession with the White Whale, and our own destructive relationship with nature, the environment, and ourselves.”
productions
Kelundra Smith’s The Wash is now playing through June 29th at New Federal Theatre in residence at WP Theater Off-Broadway. Awoye Timpo directs the “intimate and often funny portrait of the women who initiated and led Atlanta Washerwomen’s Strike of 1881, the first successful interracial, organized labor strike of the post-Civil War era.”
Charles Randolph-Wright’s Duke & Roya is now running through August 23rd Off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The “gripping new drama about an international hip-hop artist and a fearless Afghan interpreter finding love in the unlikeliest of places: war-torn Kabul” is directed by Warren Adams.
Aurora Real de Asua’s Wipeout starts performances June 18th at Studio Theatre in Washington, DC. Danilo Gambini directs the comedy about “three friends, joined by a surfbro instructor, facing their Golden Years by catching some waves, settling some scores, and navigating their smallness in the vastness of the ocean and life.”
Lucy Prebble’s The Effect runs June 19 - July 13 at ArtsWest in Seattle. The “sci-fi romantic thriller about a clinical drug trial thrown off-course when two young volunteers succumb to the gravitational pull of attraction—or is it just a side effect?” is directed by Mathew Wright.
The 7 Fingers’ Passengers is now running through June 29th at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in NYC. Conceived and directed by Shana Carroll, the Montréal contemporary physical theater troupe’s latest work depicts “passengers on a train expressing their hopes and dreams through an astonishing blend of cirque, music, and dance.”
Will Wilhelm & Erin Murray’s Gender Play, or what you Will is now running through June 22nd at Actors Theatre of Louisville. The “mystical journey of queer joy, laughter, tarot, and self-discovery through the classics” is directed by Emily Tarquin.
Melissa Ross’ Nice Girl is now playing through July 20th at Rogue Machine in Los Angeles. Ann Bronston directs “the hilarious and heartbreaking story about confronting who you are—and who you still might have a chance to become.”
readings, workshops & festivals
Ro Reddick’s Cold War Choir Practice runs June 19 - July 1 in a co-pro with Page 73 as part of Clubbed Thumb Summerworks. Knud Adams directs the “fugue of Reaganomics, espionage, roller disco, and cults—underscored by the Syracuse, NY chapter of the Seedlings of Peace Children’s Chorus.”
Regan Moro’s Tremolo will have a reading on June 16th at Open Jar Studios in NYC as part of Fault Line Theatre’s Irons in the Fire Project. The “radical queer reimagining of Chekhov’s The Seagull and love song to ambition, art-making, and heartbreak” is directed by Sammy Zeisel.
Haruna Lee’s 49 Days and Phanésia Pharel’s DEAD GIRL'S QUINCEAÑERA will have readings June 17 - 22 at The O’Neill Playwrights Conference in Waterford, CT. 49 Days is “a lyrical bilingual radio play exploring what’s lost and what’s gained when we hold too tightly to our grief”; Pharel’s comic thriller is about “secrets, sisterhood, and solving crime.”
Working Theater and the Broadway Advocacy Coalition’s Stage Left Festival runs June 13-15 & 20-22 at The Judy Theatre at Playwrights Horizons. The inaugural line-up features "six new play readings inspired by frontline fights for racial and economic justice, including Ed Cardona Jr.’s La Dureza, Jonathan Caren’s Hit Machine, Lindsay Joelle’s The Garbologists, Laura Neill’s Foot Wears House, Pedro Rosario’s The Hero U Took, and Andrea Ambam’s Date of Release.
The Colorado New Play Festival runs June 13 & 14 in Steamboat Springs. The line-up includes Noah Diaz’s Creature Feature; Tuyết Thị Phạm’s Dawn; Carey Perloff’s Vienna, Vienna, Vienna; and Lauren M. Gunderson’s Muse of Fire.
Project Y Theatre’s Women in Theater Festival runs June 13-29 at A.R.T./New York Theatres. The annual event “seeking to broaden the opportunities for women in the entertainment industry” includes productions of E.M. Lewis’ Dorothy's Dictionary (co-directed by Andrew W. Smith & Michole Biancosino), a special Edinburgh Fringe preview performance of David Carl & Katie Hartman’s David and Katie Get Re-Married (directed by Michole Biancosino), a workshop staging of The Adventures of P*ssy Jones (written and directed by Gab Cody), the world premiere of Powersuits (created & performed by Lida Winfield and Michole Biancosino), and readings of several new plays: Emily Bice’s At the Liberty Inn (directed by Cameron King), Jeana Scotti’s Candy Girls (directed by Ashley Bufkin), Sally Seitz’s Six Inches Above the Knee (directed by Michole Biancosino), D.L. Siegel’s Heartbeat Ophelia (directed by Rachel Dart), and Chris Ulloth’s Graham Crackers and Oatmeal.
Amphibian Stage’s SparkFest'25 runs June 13 - 22 in Fort Worth, TX. This year’s festival spotlights the Native American and Indigenous community, featuring readings of Joseph D. Valdez’s Rotations of the Sky (directed by Rhiana Yazzie), Madeline Sayet’s The Fish (directed by Maddox Pennington), and Lee Cataluna’s Stuck in Honolulu (directed by R. Réal Vargas Alanis).
The Julie Lutz New Play Festival is now running through June 29th at Syracuse Stage. The line-up includes the world premiere production of Rogelio Martinez’s The National Pastime (directed by Johanna McKeon), a reading of Zizi Majid’s Milk (directed by Melissa Crespo & dramaturged by Kristin Leahey), and festival playwright-in-residence Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel.
Rorschach Theatre’s Magic in Rough Spaces New Play Lab runs June 13-15 in Washington, DC. This year’s readings include Zachariah Ezer’s The Single Raindrop (directed by Henery Wyand; dramaturgy by Divinia Shorter), Paige Conway’s Lost Girls (directed by Shana Laski; dramaturgy by Julia Marks), and Erica Smith’s It Will All Make Sense in the Morning (directed by Esteban Marmelejo-Suarez; dramaturgy by Jessica Singly).
2025-26 season updates
The Wilma Theater announced its 2025-26 season. The Philadelphia company will produce Evgeny Schwartz’s The Snow Queen (directed by Yury Urnov), Pig Iron’s Poor Judge (directed by Eva Steinmetz), James Ijames’ The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington (directed by Brett Ashley Robinson), and Suzan-Lori Parks’ The America Play (directed by Lindsay Smiling).
The Ojai Playwrights Conference announced its summer 2025 line-up. The projects receiving two-week workshops (culminating in public readings) are Lisa D’Amour’s Heléne, Deepak Kumar’s Stories in Mother Tongues, Regan Moro’s burn for You, JuCoby Johnson’s The Red Man, and Marvin González De León’s Madre de Dios.
Classic Stage Company announced its 2025-26 season. The Off-Broadway theatre will produce Joseph Stein and Stephen Schwartz’s musical The Baker’s Wife (directed by Gordon Greenberg), the world premiere of Ethan Slater and Marshall Pailet’s Marcel on the Train (directed by Pailet), and Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium (adapted and completed by Kirk Lynn and directed by Rob Melrose).
the regional theatre game of thrones
Founding artistic director Vincent M. Lancisi is retiring from Everyman Theatre next June. He has led the Baltimore theatre for 35 years.
(the end of) award season
The Tony Awards were announced on Sunday. The most awarded productions were Maybe Happy Ending (6) and Buena Vista Social Club (4); Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose won Best Play and Jonathan Spector’s Eureka Day received Best Revival of a Play. I’ve been watching this clip on loop of Cole Escola sprinting to accept their (very deserved) Best Actor award:
