AFRICAN STEW Rolling World Premiere and More Set for Ground Floor Theatre 2027 Season

Ground Floor Theatre has revealed its 2027 season including an Austin premiere, a regional premiere, a world premiere, and a Tony-Award winning musical. Season memberships are available now at groundfloortheatre.org/frontrow.

Critically acclaimed Austin playwright, professor and radio host, Lisa B. Thompson brings her newest work, African Stew to GFT as part of a rolling world premiere. What happens when an African American middle-class woman and a wealthy Nigerian immigrant man meet, fall in love and decide to marry after only knowing each other for six months? What will their parents think of this cross class, intercultural and transcontinental union? In African Stew these characters come together for a meal in Oakland, California that highlights the pleasures and dangers of loving and misunderstanding in the Black Diaspora.

Written by Jen Silverman, The Roommate was first performed in the Humana Festival of New American Plays in 2015 and most recently seen on Broadway in 2024. This dark and funny regional premiere will star GFT Co-Founders Lisa Scheps and Patti Neff-Tiven as Sharon and Robyn. Directed by Karen Jambon, secrets and truths are revealed in The Roommate.

Developed through GFT Writes in 2025, Anne Bonny and Mary Read: Spinsters and Enemies of All Nations by Briandaniel Oglesby will make its world premiere in the 2027 Season. A theatrical reimagining of the somewhat true story of two women pirates who dressed as men. Oglesby brings a swashbuckling adventure that is part historical drama, part romantic comedy and part tragedy.

Closing the season is the critically acclaimed and global phenomenon, the Tony Award-winning rock musical, Rent with books, music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson. Originally produced Off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop in 1996, Rent was first seen as a workshop production in 1993. When it closed on Broadway in September 2008, 12 years after it opened, Rent became one of the longest running shows on Broadway.

Loosely based on the 1896 opera La bohème by Giacomo Puccini, Luigi Illica, and Giuseppe Giacosa, Rent tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village, in the thriving days of the bohemian culture of Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

“Our 2027 season focuses on relationships and reinvention…asking the question: 'What else is possible?',” said Artistic Director Lisa Scheps. “To say that I am looking forward to this season is quite the understatement. Not only are we doing two world premieres and producing a world class popular musical celebrating its 30th Anniversary, but I will have the opportunity to act on stage alongside my partner in the creation of GFT, Patti Neff-Tiven. With additional programming such as GFT Writes and QCamp, we have created a season that I hope you will fall in love with as much as we have at Ground Floor Theatre.”

2027 SEASON

African Stew | Feb 18 – March 6, 2027 | ROLLING WORLD PREMIERE

by Lisa B. Thompson | directed by Matrex Kilgore

When an African American woman and a Nigerian man announce their engagement after a swift courtship, their families gather for a meal in Oakland — and what begins as a celebration soon simmers with tension as cultural differences, familial expectations, and questions of identity bubble to the surface.

The Roommate | May 13 – 29, 2027 | REGIONAL PREMIERE

by Jen Silverman | directed by Karen Jambon

starring Ground Floor Theatre Founders Lisa Scheps and Patti Neff-Tiven

Sharon, in her mid-fifties, is recently divorced and needs a roommate to share her Iowa home. Robyn, also in her mid-fifties, needs a place to hide and a chance to start over. But as Sharon begins to uncover Robyn's secrets, they encourage her own deep-seated desire to transform her life completely. A dark comedy about what it takes to re-route your life – and what happens when the wheels come off.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read… | August 12 – 28, 2027 | WORLD PREMIERE

by Briandaniel Oglesby | directed by Megan Thornton

*developed through GFT Writes program in 2025.

*part of GFT's 2027 Directors Rising program.

Framed as the 1720s trial of Anne Bonny and Mary Read, this is a theatrical reimagining of the somewhat true story of two women pirates who dressed as men. It begins as a swashbuckling historical drama, becomes a romantic comedy, and ends as a tragedy. A play about outlaws in an unjust time that resonates with current events.

Rent | December 2 – 18, 2027

by Jonathan Larson | directed by Trace Turner | musical direction by Trey Shonkwiler

Loosely based on the 1896 opera La Boheme, this Pulitzer Prize and Tony winning rock musical tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in the East Village under the shadow of HIV/AIDS.

2027 SEASON PROGRAMS

GFT Writes | January – December 2027

GFT Writes is a yearlong fellowship for 4 Austin-based playwrights to write and revise in community with one another, supports Austin-based playwrights developing new plays centered on historically underrepresented communities. Each playwright develops a new play culminating in a public reading at Ground Floor Theatre. groundfloortheatre.org/writes

GFTQ Camp | July 19 – 30, 2027

GFTQ Camp is a tuition-free summer theatre program for LGBTQ+ teens ages 13 to 17. Over two weeks, campers build community, develop theatre skills, and explore the arts as a tool for social change. The camp culminates in a public performance of a devised original work on July 31. groundfloortheatre.org/camp

Directors Rising

Directors Rising is a program where a new or emerging director is given the helm of a main stage production under the mentorship of a seasoned GFT Director.