RJ Theatre Company Expands Into Literary Fiction With New Novel MASQUERADE

RJ Theatre Company has announced an expansion into literary fiction, marking a new phase for the New York-based company founded by Emma Tadmor. Known for its formal rigor and stripped-down production aesthetic, the company will now develop fiction projects alongside its stage work.

The company described the move as a continuation of its existing artistic focus, noting that its work has long examined performance, identity, and the tension between lived and observed experience. The transition to fiction will allow those themes to be explored through interior perspectives while maintaining the precision and restraint that define its productions.

The company’s first novel, MASQUERADE, written by Emma Tadmor, is currently in development with Martina Ferragamo and Ishq Pradhan. Set within an elite acting program, the story follows a group of young performers as their pursuit of transformation begins to erode the boundary between self and role. As competition intensifies and relationships become entangled, the distinction between performance and reality dissolves, raising questions about identity, visibility, and control.

The project reflects themes familiar to audiences of the company’s stage work, including the collapse of performed identity into lived reality and the pressures of artistic training. The conservatory setting places those ideas within a heightened environment shaped by ambition, vulnerability, and constant observation.

RJ Theatre Company has also outlined a release strategy that incorporates performance into the rollout of the novel. Each chapter will be written in close third person from a single character’s perspective and released as a short video on the company’s social media platforms, with actors performing the text as monologues. The approach extends the company’s interest in blurring the boundary between theatre and other forms, presenting the novel as both a literary and performative work.

The company is also the producing organization behind the Circle Theater Festival. Additional details about MASQUERADE, including casting and release plans, will be announced at a later date.