BD Wong-Led THE GLASS MENAGERIE and More Set For Philadelphia Theatre Company 2026/27 Season
The season also includes Purpose and Liberation.
Philadelphia Theatre Company has announced its 2026/27 season, featuring three mainstage productions and a family-friendly theatrical event that together explore stories of family, legacy, and identity across generations. The 52nd season includes the Philadelphia premiere of Liberation by Bess Wohl; Purpose, the Tony Award-winning play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins; a reimagined solo performance of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie starring Tony Award winner BD Wong; and The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System, a musical adventure for young audiences and families.
“Across this season, we're drawn to stories about how people come together across generations, experiences, and time,” said PTC Co-Artistic Director Tyler Dobrowsky. “These plays explore family, inheritance, and identity, and they're also invitations to come together and experience something as a community. We're creating a space where audiences can gather with friends and family, across ages, and see themselves reflected in the stories onstage.”
A strong 2025/26 season laid the groundwork for what comes next, with productions including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Primary Trust, a contemporary adaptation of Caesar, and the world premiere of James Ijames' Wilderness Generation. Building on that momentum, Co-Artistic Directors Tyler Dobrowsky and Taibi Magar continue advancing the theater's commitment to work that is both artistically ambitious and deeply accessible. Intimate storytelling and inventive theatrical approaches define the upcoming season, creating shared experiences that resonate with audiences across generations.
Liberation
The season opens with the Philadelphia premiere of Liberation by Bess Wohl, directed by PTC Co-Artistic Director Taibi Magar and produced in association with Baltimore Center Stage (Baltimore, MD). Set in a small-town Ohio rec center in the early 1970s, the play follows a group of women who gather for a consciousness-raising meeting, sharing stories about work, marriage, motherhood, race, desire, and ambition. As the play moves between past and present, Liberation explores what those conversations made possible and what remains unfinished. Funny, intimate, and deeply human, the play asks what freedom truly looks like and what we inherit from the generations who came before us. Performances run October 9 – 25, 2026.
Purpose
PTC kicks off 2027 with another Philadelphia premiere: Purpose, winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and 2025 Tony Award winner for Best Play by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The production is directed by Philadelphia's own three-time Barrymore Award-winning director, Amina Robinson, and produced in association with Geva Theatre (Rochester, NY). When Nazareth Jasper returns home during a winter storm, he is pulled back into a family shaped by legacy, expectation, and long-held secrets. As tensions rise and truths surface, the play examines the weight of family history and the challenge of forging one's own path within it. Purpose uses sharp humor and emotional depth to offer a riveting portrait of how identity is shaped, both by where we come from and by the choices we make. Performances run February 5 – 25, 2027.
The Glass Menagerie
Closing the season, a reimagined production of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, adapted by Taibi Magar and Tony Award-winning actor BD Wong, brings a fresh perspective to an American classic. Directed by Magar and performed as a solo performance, the production unfolds through a singular lens, with Wong embodying every member of the Wingfield family. Reframed through Tom's memory decades after he leaves home, the story becomes a meditation on longing, memory, and the emotional cost of breaking away. This striking theatrical event offers a new way into one of the most enduring works of the American canon. Performances run April 9 – May 2, 2027.
All productions will be accompanied by community nights, pre- and post-show discussions, student matinees, and expanded community engagement programming that deepen connections among artists, audiences, and the stories on stage.
The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System
PTC will also present TheaterWorksUSA's production of The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System on stage December 4 and 5, 2026. Designed for schools, families, and young audiences, this musical adventure brings the beloved book series to life through an interplanetary journey led by Ms. Frizzle and her students, with original direction and choreography by Connor Gallagher. Gallagher is a New York-based director and choreographer whose work spans theater, film, and television, with credits including Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theater, and The New Group, as well as choreography for artists including Ariana Grande and Travis Scott.
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