FANTASMA World Premiere and More Set for Primary Stages 2026/2027 Season

Primary Stages has unveiled its 2026/27 Season at 59E59 Theaters, including the inaugural project in the Primary Stages Studio Series, as well as the launch of their new Flex Pass ticket program.

The Primary Stages 2026/27 season will kick off in November 2026 in 59E59’s Theater A with Fantasma by Benjamin Benne (Alma, Manning) and directed by Laurie Woolery (Manahatta), presented by Primary Stages and Lucille Lortel Theatre in association with Jan McAdoo. The season will conclude with Baby Shower Katie by Beth Hyland (Sylvia Sylvia Sylvia) and directed by Jaki Bradley (All Nighter), beginning performances in February 2027 in 59E59’s Theater A. Both of these productions will be World Premieres and mark the New York debuts of these talented playwrights.

Beginning this season, Primary Stages is adding a third production to their programming with the launch of the Primary Stages Studio Series, presented in 59E59’s Theater B. The Primary Stages Studio Series offers artists a professional space to test their boldest ideas. Here audiences are invited into the living process of making theater, witnessing work evolve across a limited run where no two nights will be the same. Aasif Mandvi: A Work in Progress, written by & starring Aasif Mandvi (“The Daily Show,” “The Brink,” Disgraced), and directed by Kimberly Senior (Bella Bella), will be the inaugural Studio Series project, and will begin performances in January 2027.

Casting and full creative teams will be announced at a later date. Primary Stages is the Resident Off Broadway Theater company at 59E59 Theaters.

Primary Stages also announced today a new ticket program, the Primary Stages Flex Pass. The Flex Pass allows patrons to purchase a 2-ticket pass for $100, or a 4-ticket pass for $200, which can be used on Standard seats for the Theater A productions in Primary Stages 2026/27 Season (Fantasma, Baby Shower Katie) for a savings of up to $184. Patrons 35-years-old and under qualify for the Young Patron Flex Pass, which allows the purchase of a 2-ticket pass for $40. Tickets can be redeemed at the purchaser’s discretion for one or both shows. Additionally, tickets to the inaugural Primary Stages Studio Series production, Aasif Mandvi: A Work in Progress, are available as an add-on for $40 each with the purchase of any Flex Pass.

All Primary Stages Flex Pass holders receive:

access to the best seats with exclusive ticket presales for Primary Stages productions.
no booking fees.
flexible & free ticket exchanges.
discounts & deals at local restaurants.

The Primary Stages Flex Pass is now available at www.primarystages.org/flex-pass. Single tickets for the 2026/27 Primary Stages Season will go on sale to the public on August 25.

The World Premiere of FANTASMA

Presented by Primary Stages and Lucille Lortel Theatre
In association with Jan McAdoo
By Benjamin Benne
Directed by Laurie Woolery
November 7 – December 20, 202
In 59E59 Theaters’ Theater A

On Christmas Eve, three generations of women gather in Rosie’s newly renovated kitchen to make chuchitos – a traditional Guatemalan recipe passed down by heart, touch, and intuition. While her granddaughters attempt to document the dish step-by-step, they discover that what’s being preserved isn’t just food, and that recording and remembering are entirely different things. Spanning nearly two decades, Fantasma is a bittersweet exploration of what we keep, what we lose, and the impossibility of ever capturing it exactly right.

Fantasma was developed at the Primary Stages Liff Lab, a new play development program named by The Sulzberger Rolfe Foundation in memory of legendary theater agent Samuel “Biff” Liff. 

Fantasma was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory with support from the Elizabeth George Foundation. Developed in The Playwrights’ Center’s 40th Anniversary PlayLabs (Artistic Director: Jeremy Cohen), Duke University’s New Works Labs Residency, and The Public NYC. Additional dramaturgical contributions by Andy Knight, Sarah Lunnie, and Wendy Weckwerth. 

Aasif Mandvi: A WORK IN PROGRESS

Written by & Starring Aasif Mandvi
Directed by Kimberly Senior
January 9 - February 6, 2027
In 59E59 Theaters’ Theater B
Part of Primary Stages Studio Series

A funny, furious, and deeply personal solo show about the stories we tell ourselves, how long they hold, and what's left when they finally don't. Part immigrant epic, part celebrity confession, part 3am parental spiral, Aasif Mandvi traces the journey of the immigrant boy who crossed an ocean to chase the American dream, mastered every room he was never supposed to be in, and perfected the art of making the right people comfortable, only to realize that all along, the joke was on him.

The Primary Stages Studio Series offers artists a professional space to test their boldest ideas. Here audiences are invited into the living process of making theater, witnessing work evolve across a limited run where no two nights will be the same. Aasif Mandvi: A Work in Progress is Primary Stages’ inaugural Studio Series project.

The World Premiere of BABY SHOWER KATIE

By Beth Hyland
Directed by Jaki Bradley
February 27 - April 11, 2027
In 59E59 Theaters’ Theater A

Best friends Rebecca and Hannah are at a crossroads: Rebecca desperately wants a child, while Hannah can’t imagine anything worse. Across four baby showers (thrown for three different women named Katie), Rebecca and Hannah are forced to confront their divergent dreams, the absurd expectations placed on mothers, and the terror and uncertainty that can surround pregnancy. BethHyland’s irreverent new comedy asks what happens when the life we have been told to want no longer fits the person we are becoming.

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