Playwrights Set For TBTB's TRANSCENDENCY RISING: SHORT PLAYS ABOUT DEFYING LIMITATION

Theater Breaking Through Barriers will present Transcendency Rising: Short Plays About Defying Limitation, a new evening of original short works by some of the most celebrated voices in American theatre. Performances run March 21 – April 11, 2026.

The production features six new plays exploring various aspects of transcendence – or moving beyond challenging circumstances – to reach higher ground, all written by an extraordinary roster of playwrights including Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt, Moonstruck), Tony Award nominee Lyle Kessler (Orphans), and Tony Award nominee Bekah Brunstetter (The Notebook, “This Is Us”), alongside acclaimed writers Cate Allen (Lick), Kathryn Grant (The Good Counselor), and Jeff Tabnick (The Intimacy Effect).

Together, these playwrights offer moving, provocative, and often unexpected portraits of resilience, illuminating the moments when individuals dare to transcend circumstance, expectation, and self-imposed boundaries in pursuit of something greater.

As with all TBTB productions, the evening features a dynamic company of performers with and without disabilities, embodying the company’s enduring belief that artistic excellence and disability are not mutually exclusive, but mutually enriching. As with all TBTB productions designed for accessibility and inclusion, they will all be fully captioned and utilize audio description throughout. 

“This evening brings together some of the most important voices in American theatre to explore what it means to transcend adversity and defy the limits of the human experience. These plays remind us that the human spirit is inherently expansive. At Theater Breaking Through Barriers, we believe the stage is a place where possibility expands, where barriers dissolve, and where audiences are invited to see the world and each other with renewed clarity and compassion.” Nicholas Viselli, Artistic Director, Theater Breaking Through Barriers

Transcendency Rising: Short Plays About Defying Limitation includes: 

From Buffalos by Adam Linn; Directed by Nicholas Viselli
Featuring Fareeda Pasha (TBTB’s Brecht on Brecht; Film: Silent Partner)

How The Universal Will Spends Its Sundays by Jeff Tabnick; Directed by Eric Nightengale
Featuring Ann Marie Morelli (NY: A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Dan Teachout (NY: Hamlet), Aya Ibaraki (NY:  The Lady from the Sea), and Melanie Portsche (TBTB’s Day in Dark: A Tale of Too Much Light).

Monologue by Tatiana G. Rivera, Directed by Nicholas Viselli
Featuring Katharine Rose Kessler (The Lesson)

Forgotten Corners Of Your Dark, Dark Place by Bekah Brunstetter; 
Directed by Brian Leahy Doyle
Featuring Jennifer Elizabeth Bradley (Regional: Come From Away), Jamie Petrone (“FBI: Most Wanted”), Amanda Cortinas (NY; And We Danced), and Emma Shafer (Regional: What the Constitution Means to Me)

Original Monologue by Marc Winski; Directed by Nicholas Viselli
Featuring Marc Winski (National Tour: Grease)

The Upside Down Man by John Patrick Shanley; Directed by Ivette Dumeng
Featuring Nelson Avidon (TV: CBS’ “East New York”) and Veronica Cruz (Film: Our Bodies and Other Shames)

Sounds of Stillness by Dipti Mehta; Directed by Nicholas Viselli
Featuring Dipti Mehta (TV: CBS’ “FBI”)

The Calling by Kathryn Grant; Directed by Ann Marie Morelli
Featuring Carla Brandberg (TV: Netflix’s “Archive 81”),  Scott Barton (Regional: Fifth of July), Enrique Huili (NY: Mogadishu Ghost Story), and Melanie Portsche (TBTB’s Day in Dark: A Tale of Too Much Light).

Redemption by Lyle Kessler; Directed by Nicholas Viselli
Featuring Xen Theo (Dial M for Murder)