LIBERATION and More Set For Studio Theatre's 2026-2027 Season
The Washington, DC company will also present Wish You Were Here, Punch, and more.
Studio Theatre announced their 2026-2027 season, featuring several recent New York hits and a bevy of familiar names and faces.
Wish You Were Here
The season will open with Wish You Were Here by Pulitzer Prize-winner Sanaz Toossi. Toossi's play English was a blockbuster hit at Studio in 2023. Wish You Were Here will be directed by returning director Sivan Battat, a one-time Studio apprentice whose directing career includes work at Playwrights Horizons, the Atlantic, and The Old Globe.
Wilderness Generation
The next production of the season will be Wilderness Generation, the hilarious new family drama from Pulitzer Prize-winner James Ijames. Ijames is best known for Fat Ham (2023), another one of Studio's most popular plays. Studio's production is in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company (PTC) where Wilderness Generation just wrapped up its world premiere. The PTC production's director, Taibi Magar, continues as the play's director for its Studio run.
We Had a World
We Had a World brings the cutting and poignant work of Joshua Harmon back to Studio. Harmon penned Admissions and Bad Jews, also both record-setting hits at Studio in 2019 and 2014 respectively. We Had a World enjoyed its first public reading at Studio in 2024, ahead of its acclaimed Off Broadway run at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2025. This production will be directed by Studio Associate Artistic Director Jess Chayes, in her Studio directorial debut.
Liberation
In the spring, Studio will bring Bess Wohl's Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation to DC, with the production led by the show's Broadway director, Whitney White. The show, an expansive and personal look at the promises and shortcomings of 1970s feminism, is part of a year-long co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Geffen Playhouse. Liberation won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and is currently nominated for Tony Awards for Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, and Best Costume Design of a Play.
Wine in the Wilderness
Next in the lineup will be Alice Childress's rarely-produced classic Wine in the Wilderness (1969). The show will be directed by frequent Studio collaborator Psalmayene 24, serving as the third in a series of twentieth-century classics of Black theatre that inform the contemporary repertoire, following his directing turns on The Colored Museum (2024) and Purlie Victorious (2026).
Punch
Studio will close its season with the latest play from acclaimed playwright James Graham, the 2026 Olivier Award winner for Best New Play, Punch. After a successful West End run, the show toured the U.K. to critical and audience acclaim. The show will be directed by David Muse, in his final production as Studio's Artistic Director.
In addition to featuring plays from beloved playwrights and works that have met with recent critical and commercial success, the season is also notable as the final season of Studio's longtime Artistic Director, David Muse. Muse is only the second Artistic Director in Studio's 48-year history, having succeeded Studio founder Joy Zinoman in 2009.
Muse, writing to subscribers about his final season at the helm of Studio, said, “I thought about going out with some nostalgic revivals from my 17 years here, or directing my face off this year, filling the season with plays from my personal bucket list. But there is too much good work out there right now that I want to share with DC audiences, so I've opted for a classic Studio season, albeit one filled with artists who have helped make my time here so rich.”
Videos
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The Motion Arena Stage (5/06-6/14) |
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AGUARDIENTE: WHERE MAGIC TRANSCENDS BORDERS GALA Hispanic Theatre (4/30-5/24) |
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A Mirror Prologue Theatre (4/16-5/17) |
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Soul Divas Lincoln Theatre (6/06-6/07) |
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Cabaret Dupont Underground (5/14-5/17) |
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Moulin Rouge! Kennedy Center [Eisenhower Theatre] (6/16-7/05) |
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The Play That Goes Wrong The Keegan Theatre (6/06-7/12) |
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Boogie Down Broadway: A Singalong Dance Party Elevation 27 (6/05-6/05) |
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CrazySexyCool – The TLC Musical Arena Stage (6/12-8/09) |
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How Sweet The Sound The Anthem (5/30-5/30) |
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