CITY OF LADIES to Premiere at Theater for the New City's Dream Up Festival

Theater for the New City's 2026 Dream Up Festival will include the world premiere of CITY OF LADIES, a new play by Lorraine Liscio, directed by Myriam Cyr, running September 5–13, 2026, in the Johnson Theater at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, New York City.

At the center of the play is Christine de Pizan, the celebrated medieval writer who dared to challenge the way women had been depicted, dismissed and defined by men.

Paris, 1418. France is fractured by political rivalries and the aftermath of Agincourt. Christine has already made her name as a writer. Now, as she fights to complete the work that will become her legacy, The Book of the City of Ladies, she finds herself caught between the powerful Duke of Burgundy, the intellectual authority of the Sorbonne and a kingdom sliding once more toward war.

She was asked to review a book. Then came war. City of Ladies asks a strikingly contemporary question from across six centuries: Who gets to write history — and what happens when a woman insists on writing herself into it?

Leading the company as Christine de Pizan is Obie Award-winning actor Angela Pierce, a graduate of The Juilliard School whose extensive television credits include Law & Order, Manifest, The Blacklist, The Deuce, Blue Bloods and 30 Rock. Her stage work includes productions at Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company and The Public Theater.

Joining Pierce is an accomplished ensemble including:

Salma Qarnain — Anastasia

A two-time Helen Hayes Award recipient and AUDELCO nominee, Qarnain made her Broadway debut in the Tony and Olivier Award-winning Life of Pi. Her television credits include FBI, The Blacklist, For Life and HBO Max's That Damn Michael Che.

Garrett Lee Hendricks — Burgundy

Hendricks' television credits include Law & Order and FBI, with film appearances in Black Heat and Call Her King. His stage credits include Dust of Egypt and Playing the Assassin.

ORSON COX — Sarto

Actor and director Orson Cox plays Sarto, the poet, in City of Ladies. The son of acclaimed actor Brian Cox, he brings his own theatrical perspective as both performer and director to Liscio's world of writers, poets and political intrigue.

MOLLY STERN — Marie

A New York-based performer and playwright, Stern trained at the National Theater Institute and LAMDA and graduated from Vassar College as a Drama major. Recent credits include King Lear, Forever and Sometimes, Bodice and her own play, Who'd Love Lucy?

Greg Stuhr

Stuhr most recently appeared on Broadway and in the Netflix presentation of Good Night, and Good Luck with George Clooney, directed by David Cromer. His Broadway credits also include Tracy Letts' The Minutes, Larry David's Fish in the Dark, David Mamet's November and the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.

Jason Pintar

New York actor and bass-baritone Jason Pintar has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and toured internationally in The Sound of Music. His New York and regional stage credits include Small Craft Warnings, The Underpants Godot, Waitress, Network and Jersey Boys.

For director Myriam Cyr, Christine de Pizan's battle is not simply an historical curiosity but a startlingly modern one: a woman claiming the authority to determine how women are seen, written about and remembered.

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