The Festival formalizes our commitment to early-career playwrights, and creates a home for new work right here in midtown. If you’re a fan of boundary-breaking new theater, you’ll want to join us for Next Stage Festival. It all happens this winter at the Tony Kiser Theater.

The Festival Production:

JANUARY 31 - FEBRUARY 25, 2024

The Apiary
BY KATE DOUGLAS
DIRECTED BY KATE WHORISKEY

WITH STEPHANIE CROUSILLAT, CARMEN M. HERLIHY, APRIL MATTHIS, TAYLOR SCHILLING, NIMENE WUREH
 
22 years in the future, two lab assistants hatch a plan that could change the world. All they need are a few volunteers.

A raucous and provocative world premiere by Kate Douglas about sacrifice, ambition, and honeybees, directed by Kate Whoriskey (Clyde's).

TUESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2024

NANCY DENOVAN MUSICAL READING
EIGHTY-SIXED
BOOK BY JEREMY J. KING
MUSIC & LYRICS BY SAM SALMOND
BASED ON THE NOVEL BY DAVID B. FEINBERG
DIRECTED BY KEVIN NEWBURY
 
New York City used to be a party town, but 1986 finds everyone paralyzed with fear of AIDS. Everyone, that is, except BJ Rosenthal, who’s determined to keep the party going. When an ex-lover becomes ill, BJ is forced to face the nightmare enveloping him and redefine his life. Based on the celebrated novel of its time and set to a soaring pop score pulsating with joy and heart wrenching melodies, Eighty-Sixed unearths an epidemic that shook the world to reveal a community’s ferocious fight to reclaim its future.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2024

JUDITH CHAMPION READING SERIES
ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME
BY D.A. MINDELL
DIRECTED BY JESS MCLEOD

In the beginning, God created Adam 1 and Eve 1.

In the near-present, Adam 2 is a trans man, carrying a baby with his partner. Following a miscarriage, his twin sister, Eve 2, offers to perform his prenatal care through her neonatal genetics lab. When Adam 2 discovers the insidious nature of her research, their relationships and their beliefs are thrown into turmoil.

MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2024

THE GOOD GUYS
BY SARAH MANTELL
DIRECTED BY MEI ANN TEO

When Aarón joins a Connecticut group of Civil War reenactors, he is horrified to discover that visiting troops get to play as Union soldiers while he is forced to fight in Confederate uniform. When the unit’s leadership is usurped and gender, racial, and sexual identities come to light, the group must find a way to unite so they can finally fight as the North. A play about tents, spooning, queer romance, and the lengths we go to think of ourselves as the good guys.

MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2024

TIGER BEAT
BY KAELA MEI-SHING GARVIN
DIRECTED BY ANNIE TIPPE

Tiger Beat follows 2003 pop group Girls Next Door on their rise to teen stardom. As the band juggles choreography, awards shows, and crushes on teen heartthrobs, singer/songwriter Tess navigates her Asian American identity within the framework of the entertainment industry.?A?play with music?and?a coming-of-age story about pop stardom, questionable 2003 fashion choices, and finding one's place through art.

Fest Date: January 16 - March 11, 2024

Location: Tony Kiser Theater - 305 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036

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