THE BIG BANG BENEFIT Comes to Judson Memorial Church in February

Judson Memorial Church will host The Big Bang Benefit, a two-night festival of live readings, music, and communal dinners celebrating the church's 133-year tradition of supporting bold, artist-driven work in downtown New York, on Thursday, February 5th and Friday, February 6th at 6pm & 8:30pm, with a community dinner served in between. Tickets start at $30, with special pricing available for artists. 

Each evening features two live readings of new plays and screenplays, with a shared community dinner with musical performances by Ava Delaney and Nev Sings in between. The lineup includes new work by C.A. Johnson, Susanna Fogel, Rachel Bonds, and Michael Mitnick, with direction by Lonny Price and Mike Donahue. Actors scheduled to appear include Betsy Aidem, Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Ephraim Birney, Gus Birney, Nicholas Byers, Julia Chan, Ann Dowd, Ira Glass, Ari Graynor, Francis Jue, Richard Kind, Ken Marks, Nate Miller, Gayle Rankin, and Ariel Woodiwiss, with additional artists to be announced.

"Judson has always been a place where artists and neighbors sit at the same table," said Jonathan Caren, founder of The Big Bang series. "This benefit is about keeping that tradition alive-sharing new work, good food, and real conversation in a space that's been doing this for over a century."

All proceeds from the benefit will go towards the continued artistic programming of Judson Commons, the secular arts and justice arm of Judson Memorial Church, including The Big Bang: Works in Progress. The event is produced by Jonathan Caren, Serena Berman, Hayley Jonsen Watkins, Michelle Vera, and Layomi Oloritun.

The Big Bang is a free monthly cold-reading series at Judson Memorial Church featuring excerpts of works in progress, open casting sign-ups, and a rotating musical guest. Since launching in fall 2024, it has become a regular gathering point for playwrights, screenwriters, actors, and audiences across the city.