New Works Festival Begins This Weekend At The Long Beach Shakespeare Company
From poetic remix to pitch-black comedy, the New Works Festival is a celebration of daring storytelling and theatrical invention.
The Long Beach Shakespeare Company’s New Works Festival will return to the Helen Borgers Theatre this weekend with a bold lineup of fresh voices and theatrical surprises.
Kicking things off is Speak I Will, a radical reimagining of the Bard’s canon that blends 32 of Shakespeare’s plays, four sonnets, and even the legendary lost play Cardenio into a fever dream of high drama and high fashion. Iconic characters like Lady Macbeth, Henry V, Beatrice, and King Lear collide in a mashup that’s part literary remix, part renaissance rave. Directed with style and swagger, Speak I Will fuses classical language with contemporary urgency—Shakespeare for the Spotify generation.
On Saturday afternoon, the tone turns urgent and emotional with The Lives to Come, a gripping new drama set against the backdrop of a corrupt pharmaceutical empire. When two young lovers discover they’re the key to a life-saving treatment, they’re forced to navigate corporate greed, personal sacrifice, and the thin line between science and survival. With shades of Romeo and Juliet and the high-stakes maneuvering of Succession, this timely piece dives deep into the ethics of medicine and the price of love.
Saturday evening delivers a dynamic dark-comedy double bill: Death Takes a Vacation and The Apollo Waltz.
In Death Takes a Vacation, the Grim Reaper decides to take some much-needed PTO—by crashing with a suburban couple. As Death gets cozy on the couch, boundaries blur and hilarity ensues in a comedy that’s equal parts absurdist and eerily relatable.
Then comes The Apollo Waltz, a sharply observed psychological chamber piece centering on a famous writer, his acid-tongued daughter, and his much younger second wife. Tensions simmer and secrets unravel in a battle of wit and wounds, evoking echoes of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with a noir twist.
Performances take place at the Helen Borgers Theatre (4250 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA). Tickets are $25, with $15 student pricing available. Seating is limited—advance purchases are strongly encouraged at LBShakespeare.org.
Videos
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The Most Happy Fella North Coast Repertory Theatre (6/03-6/28) |
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Melt : The Play The Marilyn Theatre at the Lee Strasberg Institute (6/11-6/13) |
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In the Blink of an Eye: A Musical Memoir The Pico (6/19-6/21) |
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A Role Playing Game The Hobgoblin Playhouse on Gardner (Main Stage) (6/08-6/28) |
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Riverdance 30 – The New Generation Ahmanson Theatre (4/13-4/18) |
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Dead John The Madnani Theater (6/06-6/27) |
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Magic at the Biltmore with David Minkin The Biltmore Los Angeles (3/28-3/28) PHOTOS |
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He-Man: Episode 3 Akbar (6/22-6/22) |
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Mike Blaha: Pivotal Nomad Broadwater Studio (6/07-6/24) |
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hashtag what i did on my summer FAKEcation Upstairs @El Centro (6/06-6/23) |
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