Keen Company 2025–2026 Season To Include New MIXTAPE SERIES and More

Keen Company has announced programming for its 2025–2026 season, which will include the launch of Keen’s Mixtape Series, a bold new collection of one-night-only theater experiences co-curated by Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Adam Gwon, Ato Blankson-Wood, and Mona Mansour.

The season will also feature the 2026 Gala honoring Julia Jordan and Marsha Norman and the 20th Anniversary of the Keen Teens Festival of New Plays.

Keen Company will embrace this transitional year as an opportunity to refocus, reimagine, and reignite what makes theater so vital: bringing people together to share something beautiful and ephemeral.

“For our first season with Keen, Annie and I are doing everything we can to support creative expression,” said Artistic Director Kelly Kerwin. “In a time when thinking outside the box is necessary, we’re launching Keen’s Mixtape Series. Each Mixtape show will be a constellation of artists and performances curated by some of the most dynamic artists in New York.”

Producing Director Annie Middleton added, “Keen’s mission of celebrating the complexities of hope and the joys of the human condition permeates every facet of the Mixtape Series. Each evening will bring curiosity and wonder into an overwhelming and chaotic world.”

KEEN’S MIXTAPE SERIES

Think of your favorite mixtape—full of unexpected bangers, wild mashups, and deep cuts. That’s the idea behind Keen’s Mixtape Series: a one-night-only live experience where each show is a handpicked compilation curated by a different visionary artist. Each event will offer a surprise mix of genres, ideas, and voices—analog fun in a digital world.

Tickets ($30–$50) are available at www.keencompany.org/mixtape.

Mixtape 1: Curated by Monica Bill Barnes & Robbie Saenz de Viteri
Wednesday, December 3 at The Space at Irondale (85 S Oxford St, Brooklyn, NY)
Featuring Ira Glass, The Bengsons, David Cale, and more.

Mixtape 2: Curated by Adam Gwon
Monday, March 2, 2026 at National Sawdust (80 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY)
Featuring Jennifer Jancuska + BringAbout Development, an excerpt of a new musical by Rona Siddiqui, Bryce Pinkham, Zack Fine, and Kirya Traber, and more.

Mixtape 3: Curated by Ato Blankson-Wood
Monday, April 13, 2026 at TBA Venue

Mixtape 4: Curated by Mona Mansour
Monday, May 4, 2026 at TBA Venue
Featuring Heidi Rodewald and more.

GALA 2026: HONORING Julia Jordan AND Marsha Norman

Monday, February 9, 2026 at Manhattan Penthouse (80 Fifth Avenue)

Keen Company will honor acclaimed playwrights and advocates Julia Jordan and Marsha Norman, two artists whose tireless work has advanced gender and racial parity in the American theater.

“For our first Keen Gala, we are ecstatic to honor Julia Jordan and Marsha Norman,” said Kerwin. “They are changemakers and rabblerousers who have dedicated their careers to creating a more inclusive theater industry.”

Tickets ($500–$5,000) are available at www.keencompany.org/gala26.

20TH ANNIVERSARY OF KEEN TEENS FESTIVAL OF NEW PLAYS

May 15–17, 2026 at Theatre Row (410 W 42nd St)

Now in its 20th year, Keen Teens continues to offer New York City high school students a free, professional Off-Broadway experience. Participants collaborate with professional playwrights, directors, and designers to create and perform world premieres. Many of these works are later published in The Keen Collection by Concord Theatricals and licensed for productions worldwide.

Since 2007, Keen Teens has launched the Off-Broadway debuts of more than 600 young actors and commissioned over 55 new plays and musicals.