Second Stage's NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL To Return This Winter
The festival supports a playwright’s development - from writers with partial drafts to early career playwrights ready for their New York debuts.
Second Stage Theater has revealed the lineup for its 2nd NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL, consisting of four distinct programs dedicated to supporting early career playwrights, which will take place this winter on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Casting for all events, as well as additional creative team members, will be announced at a later date.
THE NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL, which launched last year with the acclaimed production of Kate Douglas’ play, The Apiary, formalizes Second Stage Theater’s artistic pipeline, providing support at crucial early moments in a playwright’s development - from writers with partial drafts to early career playwrights ready for their New York debuts.
“Last year’s inaugural NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL was a resounding success, with the world premiere play, The Apiary, receiving an acclaimed, extended run, as well as three sold out one-night-only play presentations and a fourth for the musical Eighty-Sixed,” said Interim Artistic Director Bennett Leak. “We are especially excited to have one of the plays from last year’s Judith Champion Reading Series – On the Evolutionary Function of Shame – be this year’s centerpiece Festival Production, illustrating Second Stage’s ongoing development of new American plays and playwrights. We look forward to welcoming our audiences to the Next Stage Festival this winter for what promises to be another invigorating, thought-provoking slate of new works from the next generation of theater artists.”
THE NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL will officially kick off on January 27th, 2024, with The Nancy Denovan Musical Reading, a one-night-only reading of the new musical, INSIDE VOICES, with music and lyrics by Ross Golan and a book written by Golan and co-written by Danielle Koenig, directed by Michael Mayer.
The Festival’s centerpiece will once again bring the model of Second Stage’s Uptown Series to midtown with the fully staged, world premiere production of D.A. Mindell’s play, On the Evolutionary Function of Shame, directed by Jess McLeod, running on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center. Like last season’s critically acclaimed production of The Apiary, On the Evolutionary Function of Shame will receive a full production, running from February 12th to March 9th, officially opening February 26th.
THE NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL’s Judith Champion Reading Series will feature three new plays developed over a week of rehearsal with experienced directors, top-notch casts and targeted design support. Each play will receive a one-night-only presentation on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center. The 2025 plays are Keiko Green’s You are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!, directed by Zhailon Levingston; Jay Stull’s The Singularity Play, directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant; and Aurora Real de Asua’s Wipeout.
Once again, this year’s Festival will include the invaluable work of the Lark Playwrights Workshop, which will continue under the auspices of Second Stage Theater – five playwrights will be mentored by David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph, and May Adrales. The six private sessions that comprise this program occur every 2-3 weeks beginning March 31st.
More detailed information on the plays and writers is below. All events will take place on The Irene Diamond Stage at The Pershing Square Signature Center.
Second Stage Champion level donors and all subscribers receive early access to the Next Stage Festival. The Nancy Denovan Musical Reading and The Judith Champion Reading Series are complimentary, though seats must be reserved in advance.
Tickets for On the Evolutionary Function of Shame will go on sale at a later date.
THE NANCY DENOVAN MUSICAL READING
Inside Voices – Monday, January 27
Music, lyrics, book by Ross Golan
Co-Book by Danielle Koenig
Directed by Michael Mayer
In 1828 Germany, a 16-year-old boy mysteriously appears in Nuremberg’s town square. He doesn’t move. He doesn’t speak. Is he a thief? Is he a freak? From societal outcast to the most famous prodigy in Europe, Inside Voices tells the heart-pounding and epic tale of Kasper Hauser's controversial rise and harrowing fall. By multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ross Golan, Inside Voices is a New Alt Rock musical based on true events about the strength of survival, the power of love, the cost of fame, and the legacy we leave behind.
THE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION
On the Evolutionary Function of Shame – February 12 – March 9
Written by D.A. Mindell
Directed by Jess McLeod
Opening night is February 26
In the beginning, two people got kicked out of a garden for eating fruit. Many years later, Adam—a transgender man expecting a child—meets with his twin sister, Eve, a pioneering scientist. She offers her brother prenatal services from her cutting-edge practice. But what exactly does that entail? And does Adam even want Eve’s help?
Written by bold new talent D.A. Mindell and helmed by the refreshingly innovative director Jess McLeod, On the Evolutionary Function of Shame is a compelling exploration of identity, family, and the courage it takes to live authentically, no matter the expectations of society—or those closest to you.
THE JUDITH CHAMPION READING SERIES
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD! – Monday, February 24
Written by Keiko Green
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
Since Greg’s terminal diagnosis, he’s felt a deep connection to the Earth. To save himself, he’ll need to save the planet. His wife, Viv, desperately wants to savor every last minute with her husband. Meanwhile M, our emcee, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of the final year with their Dad. You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! is a heartfelt theatrical spectacle and a story as magical and strange as the world itself.
THE SINGULARITY PLAY – Monday, March 3
Written by Jay Stull
Directed by Keenan Tyler Oliphant
At a tech company in Manhattan, a troupe of downtown theater actors and a director gather to develop and rehearse a play written by an advanced AI named "Denise." But how does one perform a reality born of experience when the playwright has not experienced reality? What even IS reality? The Singularity Play is a new workplace comedy about the last living generation of human beings.
WIPEOUT – Monday, March 10
Written by Aurora Real de Asua
Three 70-year-old women who have never surfed. One 19-year-old hotrod instructor. The currents of the Pacific Ocean. What could possibly go wrong? A new play about friendship, grief, and the unpredictable tides of life, Wipeout is a septuagenarian surf comedy about what it takes to hang ten.
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