RJ Theatre Company and The Actor Launchpad to Present CIRCLE FESTIVAL 2025

RJ Theatre Company has revealed the complete lineup for Circle Festival 2025, returning August 30 through October 19 with twelve groundbreaking productions at AMT Theater. Produced in association with The Actor Launchpad, this year's festival builds on the momentum of its sold-out debut, which drew over 1,000 audience members to The Flea Theater.

Now in a larger 99-seat venue, Circle Festival continues its commitment to raw, immediate storytelling without commercial dilution.

"The world is literally burning, and we're still making theater," said Artistic Director Emma Tadmor. "Maybe that's exactly what we need—not more efficient solutions or optimized experiences, but the stubborn, inefficient, gloriously human act of gathering together to tell stories."

Circle Festival operates on a simple principle: just a room, an audience, and the courage to make something real. The 2025 lineup features emerging voices and established artists sharing works-in-progress for the first time.

Programming Highlights

NEW VOICES:
Women, queer, and neurodiverse artists exploring identity through innovative forms. Includes Enmeshment, a movement-driven ensemble piece examining identity boundaries, and The Alarm, about a teenage boy who won't wake up and the AI alarm clock that learns to talk to him.

ESTABLISHED ARTISTS:
Works-in-progress from seasoned theater-makers, including pieces developed and workshopped at The Actors Studio. Sunbreak, by Jonathan Goetzman, is a tightly wound family drama in which two estranged sisters must confront long-buried secrets after a funeral. Three Short Plays by Edward Allan Baker features blue-collar portraits of tenderness and betrayal, chosen and led by Actors Studio lifetime member Suzanne Di Donna.

LATE-NIGHT CABARET:
Sugar and Salt, inspired by Sweet Charity, reimagined by a fully trans cast, and Women Who Cut, a dark satire about sex, power, and revolutionary sisterhood.

Complete 2025 Lineup

• The Alarm by Harry Cooke – Dark comedy about technology and consciousness

• Into Your Hands by Nick Navari – Solo piece about grief and memory

• City Limits by Matt Benedetti – Noir mystery set in 1939 New York

• Packed by Elise Wilkes – Comedy about strangers packing an ex's apartment

• Enmeshment by Caity Ladda – Movement-based exploration of identity

• Another Kind of Holding On by Genevieve Scott – Time-bending drama about memory

• The Caves by Adrienne Gomez – Survival drama on a snowy mountain

• Lodestone by Constance Girard – Multimedia ritual blending opera and movement

• Sunbreak by Jonathan Goetzman – Family drama about grief and reconciliation

• Women Who Cut by Ariella Carmell – Dark chamber drama about power

• Sugar and Salt – Musical reimagining based on Sweet Charity by trans performers

• Three Short Plays by Edward Allan Baker – Working-class portraits

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Original Score - Top 3

1. The Rescues , The Rescues - The Lost Boys

41.2% of votes

2. Jim Barne, Kit Buchan - Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)

28% of votes

3. Cinco Paul - Schmigadoon!

22.9% of votes

Vote Now! View Live Stats