NORTH BY NORTHWEST Will Have North American Premiere at The Old Globe

The Old Globe has revealed its 2026 Season, a special lineup of theatre filled with original and classic plays, North American and San Diego premieres, two exciting Shakespeare favorites, and a new musical.

The season features three world premiere plays including the previously announced Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, in a new version by Erin Cressida Wilson (the films Secretary, The Girl on the Train), starring Katie Holmes (Broadway’s Our Town, The Roundabout Theatre Company’s The Wanderers), and directed by The Old Globe’s Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein (The Old Globe’s Henry 6, The Roundabout Theatre Company’s The Wanderers); the Globe-commissioned, Fiasco Theater Company’s Bartleby, adapted for the stage by Noah Brody (The Old Globe’s Into the Woods, The Imaginary Invalid) and Paul L. Coffey (The Old Globe’s The Imaginary Invalid, Fiasco Theater’s Twelfth Night) and directed by Emily Young (Ohio Northern University’s Spring Awakening, Fiasco Theater’s The Lucky Chance); and the heartfelt comedy Alien Girls by Amy Berryman (West End’s Walden, The New Galileos), and directed by Jaki Bradley (Berkeley Rep’s Mother of Exiles, Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Mama Metallica).

2026 Season:

Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler

February 7 – March 8, 2026 (opening: Thursday, Feb. 12)
In a new version by Erin Cressida Wilson
World premiere
Directed by Barry Edelstein

Film, television, and stage star Katie Holmes (Broadway’s Our Town, Off Broadway’s The Wanderers) brings to life a landmark role in one of the defining masterpieces of world drama. Hedda and Tesman have just returned from their honeymoon—and the cracks in their marriage are already showing. Bored and restless, Hedda tries to control those around her. But as her schemes tighten, her own world begins to unravel. Artistic Director Barry Edelstein, reuniting with Holmes in a vivid new version by Erin Cressida Wilson (Secretary, The Girl on the Train), brings a fresh and emotionally charged lens to this Ibsen classic.

August Wilson’s Fences

April 4 – May 3, 2026 (opening: Thursday, April 9)

Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Fences is a cornerstone of August Wilson’s The American Century Cycle, and a powerful exploration of fatherhood, identity, and legacy. Set in 1957, the play follows Troy Maxson, a former Negro League baseball star, now a sanitation worker. Grappling with the burden of his broken dreams, Troy struggles to assert control over his family and his future. Director and Old Globe favorite Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Deceived, Trouble in Mind), helms this deeply human portrait of a family’s love and resilience. Fences is a must-see event that resonates as deeply today as it did when it first took the stage.

Kim’s Convenience

May 15 – June 14, 2026 (opening: Thursday, May 21)
San Diego premiere
By Ins Choi
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
A Soulpepper Theatre Company and Adam Blanshay Productions production

Heart and humor take center stage in this award-winning comedy that inspired the hit Netflix series. Korean-born Mr. Kim runs a Toronto convenience store while raising his Canadian children with traditional values. As the neighborhood gentrifies and generational tensions rise, one family’s everyday struggles become a metaphor for a changing society. Written by and starring Ins Choi, Kim’s Convenience is a laugh-out-loud story of love, identity and resilience that the Toronto Star calls “a timeless, beautiful, and heartfelt ode to the immigrant experience.”

North by Northwest

July 3 – August 2, 2026 (opening: Thursday, July 9)
North American premiere
Adapted and directed by Emma Rice
Based on the Turner Entertainment Co. film North by Northwest
An Emma Rice Company, Kay & McLean Productions, and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions co-production
Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures and Kay & McLean Productions

Direct from England, theatre legend Emma Rice brings to the Globe her inventive take on the Alfred Hitchcock classic North by Northwest in a production hailed as “an undoubted triumph” (WhatsOnStage). When ad man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a Cold War spy, he goes on the run dodging airplanes, bad guys and a femme fatale who may not be what she seems. With six shape-shifting performers, a swinging ‘50s soundtrack, and the iconic backdrop of Mount Rushmore, Rice transforms the beloved thriller into a riotously funny high-speed theatrical ride.

Musical to Be Announced

September 6 – October 11, 2026 (opening: Thursday, Sept. 17)

Get ready! We’re putting the finishing touches on an electrifying new musical for fall 2026. If you loved Cabaret, Ride, and Regency Girls, then you won’t want to miss the next Globe sensation that’s sure to thrill San Diego audiences.

Fiasco Theater Company’s Bartleby

February 20 – March 15, 2026 (opening: Thursday, Feb. 26)
Globe-commissioned world premiere
Adapted for the stage by Noah Brody and Paul L. Coffey
From Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener
Directed by Emily Young

Fiasco Theater Company, who dazzled Globe audiences with Into the Woods and The Imaginary Invalid, returns with a striking new take on a Herman Melville’s darkly comic classic, Bartleby, the Scrivener. Set in the buttoned-up world of an 1850s law firm but infused with the spirit of The Office and the absurdity of Beckett, Fiasco Theater’s Bartleby is a hilarious and haunting reflection on work, will, and what happens when one mild-mannered employee refuses to go along with the program. “I would prefer not to,” says Bartleby—and chaos erupts. This Globe-commissioned world premiere promises a wildly theatrical rediscovery of one of American literature’s most indelible stories.

Alien Girls

April 18 – May 10, 2026 (opening: Thursday, Apr. 23)
World premiere
By Amy Berryman
Directed by Jaki Bradley

Tiffany is pregnant. Her Best Friend, Carolyn, is trying to be happy for her, but failing. When Carolyn's true feelings become public in the form of an essay that goes viral, the fallout may be irreparable. Time traveling through decades of friendship between two writers on the brink of huge life changes, Alien Girls is a heart-filled comedy about the tension between creating art and creating life.

The Hombres

May 30 – June 21, 2026 (opening: Thursday, June 4)
San Diego premiere
By Tony Meneses
Directed by James Vásquez

For Héctor and his crew of construction workers, the job site is all about grit and bravado. When their catcalling and jokes draw complaints from the yoga studio next door, instructor Julian invites them to try a class. Soon, they’re forced to reexamine everything they think they know about strength and flexibility. From Tony Meneses (El Borracho), The Hombres is a funny and deeply human look at machismo, friendship and the quiet bonds that form when men open their chakras and let their guard down.

Lowell Davies Festival Theatre

Measure for Measure

June 14 – July 12, 2026 (opening: Saturday, June 20)
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Vivienne Benesch

Justice and desire collide in Shakespeare’s timeless tale of power and hypocrisy. When Vienna’s Duke suddenly disappears, his morally rigid deputy Angelo takes control—determined to rid the city of vice. But when he condemns a young man to death and then propositions the man’s sister, his actions reveal the cracks in his facade of authority. Filled with rich characters, surprising twists, and a comic group of seedy grifters on the make, Measure for Measure explores who holds power, who gets punished, and what it truly means to be virtuous.

Cyrano

July 18 – August 9, 2026 (opening: Thursday, July 23)
By Jason O’Connell and Brenda Withers

Brilliant poet, dazzling swordsman, and hopeless romantic, Cyrano is as quick with a quip as he is with a blade. But behind his bluster lies shame about his physical appearance. When the beautiful, soulful Roxane—whom Cyrano has loved all his life—falls for a handsome young soldier, Cyrano’s insecurity prompts him to hide his true feelings and lend his rival the words to woo the woman they both adore. In this exuberant and irreverent adaptation of the classic Cyrano de Bergerac, comedy and pathos collide in a tale bursting with wit, romance, and panache. Cyrano is a celebration of love in all its forms—the bold, the bashful, and the heartbreakingly brave.

Much Ado About Nothing

August 2 – August 30, 2026 (opening: Saturday, Aug. 8)
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Barry Edelstein

Love, laughter, and mischief take center stage in one of the greatest romantic comedies ever written. Everyone can see that headstrong Beatrice and confirmed bachelor Benedick are perfect for each other—except Beatrice and Benedick! Their friends set out to bring them together, and soon elaborate schemes, false accusations, mistaken identities, and even a bumbling police force tangle in one of The Bard’s most beguiling theatrical delights. Celebrated Shakespeare director Barry Edelstein returns to the outdoor stage with this fast-paced, witty production full of colorful characters, brilliant wordplay, and genuine heart.

Topdog/Underdog

September 25 – October 18, 2026 (opening: Thursday, Oct. 1)
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Steve H. Broadnax III

Broadway director Steve H. Broadnax III returns to the Globe after last season’s thrilling Appropriate to direct an intimate new staging of Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize–winning modern classic, which The New York Times hailed as the greatest American play of the past 25 years. Brothers Lincoln and Booth hustle for survival through the street con game of three-card monte. Their bond is tested by rivalry, resentment, and the elusive promise of the American Dream. By turns funny, provocative, and charged, Topdog/Underdog charts the razor-thin line between ambition and self-destruction.