EUREKA DAY to Open at The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio

The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio will its 2026-27 season with Jonathan Spector's Eureka Day, winner of the 2025 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Directed by Allie Moss, the comedy runs November 5-22, 2026, in Studio Two at the Vern Riffe Center.

If you've ever sat through a PTO meeting where polite discussion somehow went completely off the rails, Eureka Day may feel hilariously familiar. When a mumps outbreak hits a proudly progressive California elementary school, polite discussion spirals into chaos, forcing its leaders to confront the urgent question of how to build consensus when no one can agree on what is true.

Set largely in school board meetings, Eureka Day finds humor in the assumptions people make about one another and the sometimes absurd lengths well-meaning people will go to remain polite and inclusive. Beneath the laughs, the play explores what it takes to have difficult conversations with people we disagree with, and how quickly we can stop listening when our most deeply held beliefs are challenged.

Following its 2018 world premiere in Berkeley, California, Eureka Day made its Broadway debut in 2024, where it was classified as a revival and went on to win the 2025 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. 

In keeping with The Contemporary's vision to serve as a civic and cultural conversation hub for Columbus, the theatre will extend the experience beyond the stage with Community Conversations throughout the production's run. Select performances will be followed by artist talkbacks, with additional post-show panel discussions planned around themes raised by the production. More information will be posted on the website as it becomes available.

Pay-What-You-Want preview performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, and 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Opening night is Saturday, Nov. 7, at 8 p.m. The production continues through Nov. 22 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays.