PERFORMANCE DATES
February 12 - March 9
WHERE
The Pershing Square Signature Center
THE NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL
NOW PLAYING / THE IRENE DIAMOND STAGE
THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTERÂ
ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME
BY
D.A. MINDELL
DIRECTEDÂ BY
JESS MCLEOD
WITH JORDAN BARBOUR, KAYLI CARTER, ELIZABETH RAMOS, IMANI RUSSELL, CODY SLOAN, RYAN JAMAAL SWAIN
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?Â
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.Â
THE IRENE DIAMOND STAGE
THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER
On the Evolutionary Function of Shame
February 12th – March 9th
Inside Voices
Monday January 27 @ 7pm
You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World!Â
Monday February 24 @ 7pm
The Singularity PlayÂ
Monday March 3 @ 7pm
Wipeout
Monday March 10 @ 7pm
JANUARY – MARCH / THE IRENE DIAMOND STAGE
THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER
2STÂ NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL
NEW WORKS BY D.A. MINDELL, ROSS GOLAN, KEIKO GREEN, JAY STULL, AND AURORA REAL DE ASUA
We’re thrilled to announce Second Stage Theater’s 2025 Next Stage Festival! 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 The Pershing Square Signature Center.
The centerpiece of the Next Stage Festival is the Festival Production, a world premiere production of On the Evolutionary Function of Shame by D.A. Mindell. Plus, the Nancy Denovan Musical Reading and the Judith Champion Reading Series offer one-night-only readings of new works by early-career playwrights.
Second Stage members and subscribers receive priority 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 to On the Evolutionary Function of Shame and the readings will go on sale at a later date.
THE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION
FEBRUARY 12 – MARCH 9
ON THE EVOLUTIONARY FUNCTION OF SHAME
BY D.A. MINDELLÂ
DIRECTED BY JESS MCLEOD
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?Â
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.Â
NANCY DENOVAN MUSICAL READING
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MONDAY, JANUARY 27
INSIDE VOICES
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.
JUDITH CHAMPION READING SERIES
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD!
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.
MONDAY, MARCH 3
THE SINGULARITY PLAY
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.
MONDAY, MARCH 10
WIPEOUT
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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THE NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL is made possible in part by the New American Voices Fund, which was established in 2016 by a lead gift from David Stone.
The Judith Champion Reading Series is funded by a grant from the Judith Champion Charitable Fund and Mel Litoff.
The Nancy Denovan Musical Reading is funded by a grant from Christopher and David R. Murray.
New Play Development at Second Stage is supported by a grant from the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. Second Stage Theater’s programs are made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. This season is supported by a grant from the Howard Gilman Foundation.
BEGINS FEBRUARY 2025 / HAYES THEATER
Â
THE STEPPENWOLF PRODUCTION OF
PURPOSE
BY
BRANDEN JACOBS-JENKINS
DIRECTEDÂ BY
PHYLICIA RASHADÂ
WITH
ALANA ARENAS, GLENN DAVIS, JON MICHAEL HILL, LaTANYA RICHARDSON JACKSON, HARRY LENNIX, KARA YOUNG
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From the Tony Award-winning playwright of Appropriate and directed by two-time Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad comes Purpose.Â
For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black political power and familial duty. Spirited, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama from one of the country’s most celebrated voices.
PERFORMANCE DATES
May 14 - June 22
WHERE
The Pershing Square Signature Center
BEGINS MAY 14 / THE PERSHING SQUARE SIGNATURE CENTER
LUNAR ECLIPSE
BY
DONALD MARGULIES
DIRECTEDÂ BY
KATE WHORISKEY
WITH
REED BIRNEY, LISA EMERY
“Maybe forgetting yourself once in a while is a good thing.”
From Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies (Dinner with Friends, Collected Stories) comes a stirring new play about the fragility of memory and the passage of time.
Late on a summer night, in a field on their Kentucky farm, a long-married couple, George and Em, have come to watch a lunar eclipse. As the seven stages of the celestial phenomenon unfold, the two sip bourbon and reflect on land and legacy, children and dogs. But as more and more is revealed, they realize they are as much a mystery to each other as the heavens above. Lunar Eclipse is a funny, moving, universal story of a couple reckoning with the time they’ve spent on earth and the time they have left.