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Catch Oscar Isaac, Parker Posey, Kara Young, a new Suzan-Lori Parks' musical and more
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it's bursting with exciting new Off-Broadway shows. Out of the dozens of openings, we're spotlighting 16 promising productions, such as a new musical with a book by Suzan-Lori Parks and songs by Jimmy Cliff, a rare revival of a Lorraine Hansberry's play starring Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan, a radical reimagining of Chekhov's The Seagull with Parker Posey, the return of Classical Theatre of Harlem's Twelfth Night starring Tony nominee Kara Young and the world premiere of an unpublished play by A Tree Grows in Brooklyn author Betty Smith. We couldn't include everything, so be sure to browse the listings in TDF's Show Finder to see what else is playing. Also, all of our picks for January are still running!
In terms of COVID-19 safety protocols, rules vary by venue. While we are trying to keep this article up to date, please double-check the protocols before purchasing tickets so you arrive prepared.
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BAM Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton Street between Ashland and Rockwell Places in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Previews begin February 4. Opens February 23. Closes March 19.
Masks are optional.
Oscar Isaac (Scenes from a Marriage, Hamlet, Star Wars) and Rachel Brosnahan (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Othello) star in an overdue revival of Lorraine Hansberry's prescient drama of identity, idealism and love. The playwright's follow-up to A Raisin in the Sun surprised small-minded critics when it premiered on Broadway in 1964 because it wasn't a "Black" play. Instead, Hansberry delved into a scene she knew intimately: bohemian, progressive, well-meaning white folks. Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane, A Life) directs this production, which centers on the tumultuous marriage of a Greenwich Village couple cracking under the strain of politics, thwarted artistic ambitions and flailing friends. If you want to see this one, buy tickets now. It's well on its way to selling out.
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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin February 7. Opens February 27. Closes March 18. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required for Tuesday evening and Sunday matinee performances only.
The Mint is known for unearthing forgotten gems. But the company is actually giving Becomes a Woman its world premiere! The brainchild of Betty Smith, author of the enduring, autobiographically inspired classic A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the play was written while she was auditing courses at the University of Michigan. The drama has a lot in common with her signature novel, including an adolescent protagonist with the same name, Francie Nolan, who lives with her family in Brooklyn and learns some hard lessons during her coming of age. Although Becomes a Woman won a $1,000 prize that allowed Smith to continue her theatre studies at Yale, it was never produced or published. While she's best known for her books, playwrighting was Smith's first love and she was quite prolific, despite having little commercial success in the theatre. Come see the dramatist who could have been!
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The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 West 42nd Street between Dyer and Tenth Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin February 7. Opens February 28. Closes April 9.
Masks are only required at designated performances.
Polarizing playwright Thomas Bradshaw (Intimacy, Burning) returns to The New Group with his incisive update of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, about a group of NYC theatre folks who head to a house in Hudson Valley for a little rest and recreation. But even in the country they can't get away from their urban rivalries and toxic romances. Scott Elliott directs an ensemble cast that includes indie favorites Parker Posey, Hari Nef and Ato Essandoh.
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New York City Center, 131 West 55th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin February 7. Opens March 1. Closes March 26. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required for Tuesday evenings and Sunday matinee performances only.
It's easy to condemn a man for behaving badly. But what if the dude's your dad? That's the loaded premise of Emily Feldman's new play, which finds Lou (Tony winner Frank Wood) and his daughter Ella (Aya Cash from FX's You're the Worst) learning unexpected things about each other during a road trip. Daniel Aukin directs.
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Classic Stage Company, 136 East 13th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues in the East Village
Previews begin February 9. Opens February 26. Closes March 26. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
Obie-winning playwright Marcus Gardley (The House That Will Not Stand, the upcoming movie musical of The Color Purple) is no stranger to adaptation. His plays include imaginative riffs on Shakespeare and Lorca. Now he's putting his own stamp on the Odysseus saga by resetting the epic in modern-day Harlem as a soldier named Ulysses Lincoln attempts to reconnect with his family while his ancestors debate his fate. Directed by Stevie Walker-Webb (Ain't No Mo'), black odyssey is a tantalizing mash-up of mythology, African-American history and poetry.
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Atlantic Theater Company's Linda Gross Theater, 336 West 20th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Chelsea
Previews begin February 9. Opens February 27. Closes March 26. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are required.
After many years developing and producing plays as the cofounder of Rising Circle Theater Collective, Deepa Purohit makes her Off-Broadway playwrighting debut with Elyria at Atlantic Theater. Directed by Awoye Timpo (runboyrun & In Old Age, Good Grief), the piece revolves around two women connected by an event in their shared past that's impacting their futures. The all-South Asian cast includes Nilanjana Bose and Gulshan Mia as the intertwined duo, as well as the playwright's husband, NYC stage stalwart Sanjit De Silva.
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NYU Skirball, 566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South in the West Village
Begins February 11. Closes February 19. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Proof of vaccination required. Masks are optional.
The Classical Theatre of Harlem, one of NYC's most celebrated Black companies, brings its Afrofuturist take on Twelfth Night downtown for a limited run. A critically acclaimed smash last summer, the production once again stars Clyde's Tony nominee Kara Young as a luminous Viola, who's torn asunder from her twin Sebastian during a shipwreck only to find true love in Illyria... after lots of cross-dressing complications of course. The company's associate artistic director Carl Cofield helms this stunning, streamlined and song-filled mounting of Shakespeare's sparkling romantic comedy, which costars most of last year's cast including the fabulous Christina Sajous as Olivia and the invaluable Carson Elrod as Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
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Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begins February 12. Opens March 3. Closes March 19.
Masks are required.
The last time Playwrights Horizons and Page 73 Productions coproduced a show, the result was A Strange Loop, which went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and the Tony Award for best new musical. So we're excited about this world premiere by Agnes Borinsky, an up-and-comer whose last play, A Song of Songs, was presented by Jeremy O. Harris in Brooklyn. The Trees centers on a brother and sister who build a makeshift queer paradise in the tiny park near their dad's house. But can this utopia survive in a judgmental world? Experimental theatre visionary Tina Satter (Is This A Room) directs a diverse, genderqueer cast in this poetic exploration of community.
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Soho Rep, 46 Walker Street between Broadway and Church Street in Soho
Previews begin February 15. Opens February 28. Closes April 16.
Masks are optional.
Presented in Bangla and English, Public Obscenities explores queer cross-cultural intimacy. Written and directed by Shayok Misha Chowdhury, it centers on a Bengali American student and his Black American boyfriend, who go on an extended trip to the former's family home where long-buried secrets surface. Don't dismiss this as another skeletons-in-the-closet story. The setting, characters and language are rarely seen on New York stages, and Soho Rep has an incredible track record of presenting surprising, boundary-breaking work. Want to catch the show on the cheap? There are 99-Cent Sunday performances on March 5, 12 and 19—tickets are sold in person, first come, first served.
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The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in the East Village
Previews begin February 16. Opens March 15. Closes April 9.
Masks are required at Tuesday evening and weekend matinee performances only.
The Public Theater presents Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks' new musical adaptation of the 1972 movie The Harder They Come about Ivan, a young singer who arrives in Kingston, Jamaica, eager to become a star. After falling in love and cutting a record deal with a powerful music mogul, Ivan soon learns that the game is rigged. Featuring Grammy Award-winner Jimmy Cliff's hits "You Can Get It If You Really Want" and "Many Rivers to Cross," this new musical is co-directed by Tony Taccone and Tony Award winner Sergio Trujillo. Note: If you're feeling lucky, try entering the digital lottery to win free tickets to the first preview on Thursday, February 16. Details are on The Public's site.
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Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, 150 West 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue in Lincoln Square
Previews begin February 16. Opens March 13. Closes April 16.
Masks are optional.
Lincoln Center Theater presents Keith Bunin's new play The Coast Starlight about six strangers connecting and communing on a train speeding from Los Angeles to Seattle. During the trip, they grapple with their past choices as each tries to find a way forward. Tyne Rafaeli (Selling Kabul, Epiphany) directs this travelogue of life's bumpy road.
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St Ann's Warehouse, 45 Water Street near New Dock Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Previews begin February 18. Opens February 28. Closes March 19.
Masks are optional.
When does a place become home? That's the central question of Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy's unforgettable play about refugees from multiple countries who created a makeshift community nicknamed the Jungle, a real-life camp in Calais, France. St. Ann's Warehouse presents an encore run of this critically acclaimed production, an immersive and emotional deep dive into the plight of undocumented immigrants inspired by true stories and starring a few former Jungle dwellers.
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Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West
Previews begin February 21. Opens March 7. Closes April 1. If you're a TDF member, log in to your account to purchase discount tickets.
Masks are optional.
Keen Company presents the first NYC revival of Crumbs from the Table of Joy, an early play by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage (Sweat, Ruined). Set in the 1950s, this drama centers on 17-year-old Ernestine Crump as she comes of age in the wake of her mother's death. In search of a better life, Ernestine's father relocates the family from Florida to Brooklyn, where the Crumps grapple with an unwelcoming neighborhood and a country on the brink of great change.
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New York Theatre Workshop, 79 East 4th Street between Bowery and Second Avenue in the East Village
Previews begin February 22. Opens March 13. Closes April 2.
Masks are optional.
Written by Liliana Padilla and the winner of the 2019 Yale Drama Series Prize, this play takes place in a do-it-yourself self-defense class filled with college students grappling with a mix of emotions. As they learn how to fight off their would-be attackers, they experience rage, anxiety and trauma, but also unexpected desire. Tony winner Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown) and Steph Paul co-direct the production with the playwright.
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Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue between 66th and 67th Streets on the Upper East Side
Begins February 25. Closes March 25.
Masks are optional.
Like The Jungle, this immersive work is also inspired by an urgent social issue: families falling through the cracks in the welfare system. Written and directed by Alexander Zeldin and based on years of extensive community interviews, LOVE takes place in a shelter during the holiday season. The actors sit among the audience with the house lights up as everyone sees the impact of housing insecurity, mental health struggles and government cutbacks. But even in desperation, affection can still flourish. The Park Avenue Armory presents the US premiere of this production, which had a critically acclaimed run at London's National Theatre.
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The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street near Astor Place in the East Village
Previews begin February 28. Opens March 9. Closes April 9.
Masks are required at Tuesday evening and weekend matinee performances only.
Hilarious, no-holds-barred playwright and performer Ryan J. Haddad (Hi, Are You Single?, The Politician on Netflix) is behind Dark Disabled Stories, an autobiographical dark comedy about the crap he's forced to put up with in a world not built for his walker and cerebral palsy. Jordan Fein directs this amusing and infuriating exploration of ableism. Note: If you're feeling lucky, try entering the digital lottery to win free tickets to the first preview on Tuesday, February 28. Details are on The Public's site.
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Top image: Kara Young and Christina Sajous in Classical Theatre of Harlem's Twelfth Night, which is having an encore run at NYU Skirball this month. Photo by Richard Termine.
Raven Snook is the Editor of TDF Stages. Follow her on Facebook at @Raven.Snook. Follow TDF on Facebook at @TDFNYC.
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