Second Stage Season Will Include MARJORIE PRIME and BECKY SHAW on Broadway

Evan Cabnet, Artistic Director of Second Stage Theater (Evan Cabnet, Artistic Director; Adam  Siegel, Executive Director), has just announced five productions for the Company’s upcoming 47th Season, the first programmed under his leadership.  

“Second Stage’s extraordinary body of work comes from its commitment to contemporary American writers  through second stagings of modern classics and by nurturing playwrights through every step of their creative  trajectory,” said Second Stage Theater’s Artistic Director Evan Cabnet. 

“This season, my first, is a snapshot of the vast landscape of modern American theater. On Broadway, we are  producing two masterful contemporary plays, both Pulitzer finalists, by Jordan Harrison and Gina Gionfriddo.  Off-Broadway, we are producing two world premieres, one by Talene Monahon, the other by Aya Ogawa,  incredible artists whose singular voices have made them two of our most exciting talents. I’m also thrilled to  celebrate the return of Adam Bock’s work to the New York stage after almost ten years. Each play offers a  distinct and thrilling perspective on our world, and each took my breath away. With intellect, compassion,  humor, and power, these writers have created five stories that perfectly capture our time. 

I have been a fan of Second Stage since I moved to New York at eighteen years old. To lead such a storied and  venerated organization into its new chapter— honoring its extraordinary past, looking ahead to its bright  future— is the opportunity and honor of a lifetime. I cannot wait to see you at the theater this fall.” 

ABOUT THE SEASON 

Second Stage Theater’s 2025-26 season will feature the Broadway debut of acclaimed playwright Jordan  Harrison, when his 2014 play, MARJORIE PRIME, returns to New York in a Broadway production at the Hayes  Theater (240 West 44th Street). The play, which was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize, will once again be  directed by Obie Award-winner Anne Kauffman and will begin previews November 20th and officially open on  December 8th. 

Spring 2026 will feature the Broadway debut of playwright Gina Gionfriddo when her acclaimed 2008 comedy,  BECKY SHAW, opens at the Hayes Theater. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, BECKY SHAW received its New York  premiere with Second Stage Theater in 2009. Directed by Trip Cullman, this Broadway debut production will  begin previews March 18th, 2026, in advance of an opening on April 8th. 

Second Stage’s off-Broadway slate will kick off in October with the world premiere play, MEET THE CARTOZIANS,  by Talene Monahon, directed by Tony Award-winner David Cromer on the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing  Square Signature Center (480 West 42nd Street). Previews are scheduled to begin on October 29th and opening  is scheduled for November 18th.

2026 will kick off with MEAT SUIT, or the shitshow of motherhood, written and directed by Aya Ogawa. The  production will begin performances on February 11th on the Irene Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square  Signature Center in advance of a February 25th opening night.  

And playwright Adam Bock will return to Second Stage Theater, which produced his 2005 breakout play,  Swimming in the Shallows, in the Uptown Series, with a new production of his 2007 black comedy, THE  RECEPTIONIST. This acclaimed play will conclude the season, beginning previews in mid-April 2026 on the Irene  Diamond Stage at the Pershing Square Signature Center.  

Casting and full creative teams for all productions will be announced at a later date.  

Full Season Subscriptions are now available, 5-Play packages are $450. For those 30 years of age and younger,  Flip the Script 5 Play packages are $150. To purchase a subscription, please visit 2ST.com or call 212-246-4422.   Single tickets for all productions will go on sale at a later date. Groups of 10 or more can reserve tickets now by  emailing Groups@2st.com. 

Second Stage Theater's programs are made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of  Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the  support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. 

MARJORIE PRIME 
BROADWAY PREMIERE 
By Pulitzer Prize Finalist Jordan Harrison 
Directed by Tony Award nominee Anne Kauffman 
Performances begin November 20, 2025 
Opening December 8, 2025 

What would you say to someone you lost, if you could see them again? What if they’re a better listener now  than when they were alive? Pulitzer Prize finalist Jordan Harrison reinvents the family drama in his richly spare,  wryly funny, and powerful MARJORIE PRIME, directed by Tony Award® nominee Anne Kauffman (Mary Jane).  A heart-achingly beautiful rumination on aging and artificial intelligence, memory and mortality, love and legacy,  MARJORIE PRIME examines the blurred line between a life lived and a life remembered. 

Jordan Harrison (Playwright) was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for Marjorie Prime, which had its New York  premiere at Playwrights Horizons. His newest play, The Antiquities, was recently seen in a joint production  between Playwrights Horizons, Vineyard Theatre and Goodman Theatre. Harrison’s other plays include The  Amateurs (Vineyard Theatre) and Maple and Vine (Playwrights Horizons). He is the recipient of a Guggenheim  Fellowship and the Horton Foote Prize, among others. As a screenwriter, his credits include three seasons of the  Netflix series “Orange is the New Black.” Harrison’s debut novel, Miss Archer, is forthcoming from William  Morrow/HarperCollins, and he is writing the screenplay adaptation for 3000 Pictures.

Anne Kauffman (Director). New York Philharmonic, BAM, Ars Nova, NYTW, Roundabout Theatre Company,  Encores! Off-Center, Women’s Project, Playwrights Horizons, MCC, The Public, P73 Productions, New Georges,  Vineyard Theater, LCT3, Yale Rep, Steppenwolf, Goodman Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Z Space, American  Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep. She is a Resident Director at Roundabout Theater, Artistic Associate  and Founding Member of The Civilians, a Clubbed Thumb Associate Artist and co-creator of the CT Directing  Fellowship, a New Georges Associate Artist, an SDC Executive Board Member, Vice President and Trustee of  SDCF 2020-2023 and Artistic Director of City Center’s Encores! Off-Center 2017-2020. Kauffman’s awards  include a 2024 Tony nomination for Best Director for Mary Jane, a 2023 Tony nomination for Best Revival for  The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, three Obies, the Joan and Joseph Cullman Award for Exceptional Creativity  from Lincoln Center, the Alan Schneider Director Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, a Drama League award and the  Joe A. Callaway. Co-creator of the Cast Album Project with Jeanine Tesori. 

BECKY SHAW 
BROADWAY PREMIERE 
By Pulitzer Prize Finalist Gina Gionfriddo 
Directed by Obie Award-winner Trip Cullman 
Performances begin March 18, 2026 
Opening April 8, 2026 

A blind date spirals spectacularly off the rails in BECKY SHAW, the razor-sharp dark comedy from two-time  Pulitzer Prize finalist Gina Gionfriddo. When it made its New York premiere Off-Broadway at Second Stage,  BECKY SHAW left critics and audiences reeling, and The New York Times called it, “ferociously funny! A tangled  tale of love, sex and ethics.” Now, this hilarious hit play is back and it's making its Broadway debut. Strap  yourselves in— BECKY SHAW will make you laugh, gasp, and maybe take a break from dating...permanently. 

Gina Gionfriddo (Playwright) is a playwright and television writer. She is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer  Prize in Drama for her plays, Becky Shaw and Rapture, Blister, Burn. Gina’s play, After Ashley, was presented Off Broadway by the Vineyard Theatre and garnered two Obie Awards—for Gionfriddo’s writing and Kieran Culkin’s  performance. Her other plays include U.S. Drag (Susan Smith Blackburn Prize) and Can You Forgive Her? which  premiered in Boston at The Huntington Theatre and was presented Off Broadway by the Vineyard. Gina has  written for the television dramas The Alienist, FBI: Most Wanted, Cold Case, Borgia, House of Cards, and three  incarnations of Law & Order. Most recently, Gina was commissioned to adapt Thomas Harris’ novel, The Silence  of the Lambs, for theatre. 

Trip Cullman (Director). Broadway: Cult of Love, The Rose Tattoo, Choir Boy, Lobby Hero, Six Degrees of  Separation, Significant Other. Select Off Broadway: Lonely Few (MCC and The Geffen); Moscow Moscow  Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow, YEN, Punk Rock (Obie Award), A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The  Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Of New York City (MCC); Days Of  Rage, The Layover, The Substance of Fire, Lonely I’m Not, Bachelorette, Some Men, Swimming In The  Shallows (Second Stage); Unknown Soldier, The Pain Of My Belligerence, Assistance, A Small Fire (Drama Desk  nomination), The Drunken City (Playwrights Horizons); Choir Boy (MTC); Murder Ballad (MTC and Union Square  Theatre); The Mother, I’m Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic); Roulette (EST); The Hallway Trilogy:  Nursing (Rattlestick); The Last Sunday In June (Rattlestick and Century Center); Dog Sees God (Century  Center); US Drag (stageFARM); and several productions with The Play Company. London: The Colby Sisters of  Pittsburgh, PA (Tricycle). Select regional: Geffen, Alliance, Old Globe, La Jolla, South Coast Rep, Bay Street,  Williamstown Theater Festival.

MEET THE CARTOZIANS 
WORLD PREMIERE 
By Talene Monahon 
Directed by Tony Award-winner David Cromer 
Performances begin October 29, 2025 
Opening November 18, 2025 

Part riveting historical drama, part scorching satire, Talene Monahon’s MEET THE CARTOZIANS pulls back the  curtain on a startling chapter of American history you may never have heard.  

This bold, witty new play follows two sets of Armenian Americans: one man fighting for legal recognition in the  1920s, while a century later, his descendant fights for followers and a competent glam team. A wildly  imaginative and deeply compelling story of culture and heritage, MEET THE CARTOZIANS asks who gets to  belong—and at what cost? 

Talene Monahon (Playwright) is a person of Armenian and Irish descent and a playwright of actor descent.  Off-Broadway: The Good John Proctor (Bedlam Theater, The New Yorker’s “Top 10 Best Plays of 2023”), Jane  Anger (New Ohio; 2022 Off-Broadway Alliance Best New Play Nominee), How to Load a Musket (Less than Rent;  TheaterMania’s “The 10 Best Theater Productions of 2020”), and Frankie & Will (MCC). Regional: Trinity Rep,  Shakespeare Theater of D.C., The Warehouse Theater, Maryland Ensemble Theater, and Peterborough Players.  International: The Good John Proctor (Jermyn Street Theater, London, Off-West End Nominee–Best New Play).  Her plays have been developed with SouthCoast Rep, Classic Stage Company, Lincoln Center, Clubbed Thumb,  Northern Stage and LA Shakespeare. Talene’s work is published by TRW and has also been featured in The  Cincinnati Review and McSweeney’s. She teaches Playwriting at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Education:  B.A. Senior Fellow, Dartmouth College. Talene was featured in the NYTimes 2023 list of “Rising Theater Stars.” 

David Cromer (Director). New York credits include Dead Outlaw; Good Night, and Good Luck; The  Antiquities; The Counter; I’m Almost There; Prayer for the French Republic; Camp Siegfried; A Case for the  Existence of God; The Sound Inside; The Band’s Visit; The Treasurer; The House of Blue Leaves; Brighton Beach  Memoirs; Nikolai and the Others; The Effect; When the Rain Stops Falling; Tribes; Adding Machine; Our Town; and Orson’s Shadow. For his work he has received a Tony Award, a Drama Desk, three Obies and three Lortels,  and in 2010 he was named a MacArthur Foundation fellow. 

Meat Suit, or the shitshow of motherhood 
WORLD PREMIERE 
Written and Directed by Aya Ogawa 
Performances begin February 11, 2026 
Opening February 25, 2026 

WARNING: Motherhood is not for the faint of heart...and neither is this play.  

Meat Suit, or the shitshow of motherhood, written and directed by Aya Ogawa, is a gloriously genre-defying  theatrical carnival that plunges audiences into the raw, hilarious chaos of being a mom. Performed by mothers  for mothers, or those who love mothers, or simply those who have mothers, this play blends bouffon-inspired  physicality, sharp satire, original songs, and total absurdity. Beneath the bedlam and humor, MEAT SUIT

confronts a deeper theme: how every birth triggers quiet deaths—the mother’s autonomy, sense of self, and  personal desire—and whether anything of the person she was survives. Come laugh, cringe, and cry through the  unfiltered mess no one warned you about. 

Aya Ogawa (they/them) (Playwright/Director), is a Tokyo-born, Brooklyn-based theater-maker. They have  devised, written and directed many plays including oph3lia (HERE), Journey to the Ocean (Foundry Theatre)  and Ludic Proxy (The Play Company). They received an Obie Award for The Nosebleed (Japan Society/Chocolate  Factory Theater, Lincoln Center Theater) which subsequently ran at Woolly Mammoth Theatre (2023) and  toured to Walker Art Center, REDCAT and Wexner Center for the Arts (2024). Recipient: Doris Duke Artist Award  (2025), Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting (2023); Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award  (2023); The Playwrights’ Center’s McKnight Foundation National Residency & Commission (2023-24); Resident  playwright, New Dramatists; MacDowell Fellow. 

THE RECEPTIONIST 
By Obie Award-winner Adam Bock 
Director TBD 
Performances begin April 15, 2026 
Opening May 7, 2026 

It’s business as usual at the Northeast Office where the cheerfully dutiful receptionist answers phones, brews  coffee and gossips with co-workers. But when an unexpected visitor from the Central Office walks through the  door, business becomes far from usual. THE RECEPTIONIST is a jet-black comedy about bureaucracy and  complicity that’s biting in its humor and chilling in its relevance. 

Adam Bock’S (Playwright) other plays include Before The Meeting, A Life, A Small Fire, The Drunken City, The  Thugs, The Typographer’s Dream, and Swimming in the Shallows – and have been produced at Manhattan  Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, Soho Rep, Clubbed Thumb, and Second Stage Uptown in NYC; and all over  the US, in Canada, Australia and the UK and Argentina. He has received the Obie, the Guggenheim, a NEA, a  Clauder Prize, the Bay Area Theatre Critics, Glickman, and Heideman Awards, and been nominated for multiple  Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards.