What Will the Neighbors Say? Theatre Company Announces Tenth Anniversary Season

What Will the Neighbors Say? Theatre Company (WWTNS?) has announced its tenth anniversary season. Led by Co-Artistic Directors James Clements and Sam Hood Adrain, the company—founded in 2016—remains dedicated to provoking questions through untold stories.

The anniversary season features a mainstage co-production, new collaborations with fellow theatre companies, an international residency, education initiatives, and free community programs.

Mainstage Premiere: Beauty Freak

In Spring 2026, the Neighbors will return to Nancy Manocherian’s the cell theatre for the world premiere of Beauty Freak, written by Clements. The play explores the complex and controversial life of filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl and has been in development since 2018. Workshops have taken place in Berlin, New York, and Cleveland, supported by the Berliner Schule Für Schauspiel, A.R.T./New York, the BorderLight Festival, Indiespace, the Playwrights Realm, USC’s German Exile Studies Grant, and the cell’s Artist-in-Residence program.

Brian Reager, Associate Artistic Director at the cell, shared: “Partnering with WWTNS? on Beauty Freak is both thrilling and daunting. Leni Riefenstahl’s story is a cautionary parable that demands examination: can art ever be considered inherently good? James Clements’s incisive play dares to pose this question, and we look forward to the challenging dialogue it is certain to engender among audiences.”

As part of preparations, WWTNS? will also serve as Artists-in-Residence at the Goethe-Institut New York, where the company will further develop the production.

Collaboration: Moments After Ajax

Also in Spring 2026, WWTNS? will co-present Moments After Ajax, a new play by Andrew Watkins, with Sanguine Theatre and Hamlet Isn’t Dead. A retelling of Sophocles’ Ajax, the piece blends documentary theatre with classical text. Watkins has been developing the project since 2022 and will continue work during a residency at Mercury Store in March 2026.

Watkins noted: “When seeking co-producers for Moments After Ajax, they were my first choice, not only for their downtown theater savvy in an era of uptown envy, but for the rare combination of intellectual rigor, artistic innovation and moral compassion they bring to every project.”

Education and Mentorship

The company will return for a third year as mentors in Barrington Stage Company’s Playwright Mentoring Project, part of their What Will the Kids Say? programming. The free youth education program creates space for teens to generate and perform Original Theatre. Jane O’Leary, Director of Education at Barrington Stage, praised the partnership: “James and Sam are experts at knowing how to work with the teens to support them dramaturgically. Every year, we benefit from their craft and look forward to how they help the program grow artistically.”

Community and Digital Programming

• From the Neighborhood: A new free online culture magazine curated by Italian writer and frequent collaborator Federica Borlenghi, spotlighting emerging and established creatives.

• CUNY Queens College Partnership: WWTNS? will collaborate with Germán Martínez and Melannie Vásquez Lara to create soundscapes for Quinceañera: Dress and Memory in Latine Culture at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, opening September 25, 2026.

• storytime & Fundraiser: The company will present a special tenth-anniversary edition of their popular community storytelling program and host their annual fundraiser for a partner nonprofit.

• Anniversary Celebration: A to-be-announced celebration will mark the milestone year.

Reflecting on the season, Clements said: “This tenth anniversary season offers us opportunities to both look back and forward—back over a decade of provocative original work and community-building, and forward to a dynamic and bold new season that continues our legacy and brings in new Neighbours.” Hood Adrain added: “This season contains the ingredients of all of our work—political theatre, collaborations, community engagement, and education. What a privilege it is to run this organisation as it enters its second decade.”

About What Will the Neighbors Say?

What Will the Neighbors Say? is an investigative theatre company that provokes questions through untold stories. Led by an international cohort of artists, the company presents overlooked social, cultural, and historical narratives that challenge audiences to reflect on the current moment. Through original plays, arts education workshops, and community gatherings, the troupe incites rowdy and rigorous debate both in the theatre and throughout the “Neighborhood.”

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