SheNYC Arts To Present Eight New Full-Length Plays And Musicals For The 2026 SheNYC Summer Theater Festival

SheNYC Arts has announced the selected shows for the 2026 SheNYC Summer Theater Festival. The Festival will run July 14-26, 2026 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theatre (136 E 13th St, New York, NY 10003), presenting eight original full-length plays and musicals.

The 2026 SheNYC Summer Theater Festival will present six new full-length plays: Perihelion by Marilyn Schotland; Noc Čarodějnice (Night of the Witch) by Beck Farris; A High Lonesome Sound by Maddie Nguyen; Confirmed by Kristen Milburn; and Too Many Dead Birds on the Sidewalk by Aleyna Karaca. The Festival will also feature three original full-length musicals: Bury Your Gays, book, music, and lyrics by Sam Melton; South, book, music, and lyrics by Florencia Iriondo; and Wong Side of Time, book and lyrics by Scarlett (Chenchen) Long, music and lyrics by Wren Mied.

The SheNYC shows were selected after a rigorous, blind, months-long selection process out of hundreds of submissions from around the globe.

"Every year I'm blown away by the talent that submits to SheNYC, and the 2026 lineup is no exception. From a folk horror play set in 1667 Bohemia to a time-bending musical about Anna May Wong, to an intimate solo concert from the edge of the world - this group of writers has created something genuinely extraordinary. I could not be more proud to bring these eight shows to New York this summer," says SheNYC Arts Founder and Artistic Director Danielle DeMatteo.

Tickets to the performances will be available beginning June 8, 2026. Learn more about each show at www.SheNYCArts.org/she-nyc.

For more information on SheNYC's sister festivals - SheLA, SheATL, and SheDFW - visit www.SheNYCArts.org.

ABOUT THE SHOWS

Perihelion

By Marilyn Schotland

An astronomer, a medievalist, a student, and a psychic are on the hunt for a comet in Paris on the eve of World War II. When a devastating betrayal splinters their group, the resulting fallout will ripple across time in unexpected ways. A meditation on academia, queer kinship, and longing, Perihelion asks us to consider what we owe each other, and what happens when love isn't enough.

Noc Čarodějnice (Night of the Witch)

By Beck Farris

1667. Bohemia. A Lord. Three nuns. A closed casket. When Mother Antonia and her underlings arrive at Lord Lesovsky's isolated rural chapel to carry out burial rights for his only daughter, all is not as it seems. As they sleep in shifts, determined to pray over Marina's body at all hours, the nuns are plagued by nightmares, voices, apparitions, and for Sister Hedvika, a disturbing connection with the girl in the coffin. Noc Čarodějnice is a play about faith, family, betrayal, the power of extreme violence, and the harrowing realization that you may be the thing you are terrified of.

A High Lonesome Sound

By Maddie Nguyen

A pair of folklorist sisters in the 1940's find themselves at odds when Ruth, the younger, reveals her intent to leave the nomadic song-collecting life to get married. The elder, Loretta, finds this difficult to accept, especially since Ruth is marrying into the Campbell family, whose songs the sisters have spent years recording and whose matriarch, Alma, does not approve of Loretta's somewhat aggressive approach to folk song preservation. When an argument arises over the use and recording of the family's traditional wedding song, Loretta finds herself torn between her passion for her work and her love for her sister.

Confirmed

By Kristen Milburn

The 14-year-old girls of Holy Family have just a few questions before their Confirmation and formal designation as adults in the Church: What does it mean to be a good person? When will they gain agency over their choices? And how bad do you think Jesus' BO was? As they scramble to finish their volunteer requirements to confirm their faith, they welcome a new friend, confess their sins, and try to find their place in an institution that might not be growing with them.

Bury Your Gays (A New Musical)

Book, Music & Lyrics by Sam Melton

It's 2013 in Central Jersey's Dunmouth Township, where the 17-year cicadas refuse to die. Gio's father describes the mutant cicadas as "unnatural" - the same word he used last summer when Gio came out as a lesbian. Determined to find the reason for the cicadas' mutations and for her own queerness, Gio becomes obsessed with investigating the (un)natural. A new musical comedy about a gay-straight alliance encountering cosmic horrors in their high school basement.

Too Many Dead Birds on the Sidewalk

By Aleyna Karaca

It's 1953, and Edith's husband Clark has just been promoted to second-in-command at the Atomic Energy Commission. To celebrate, she invites his new boss, his femme-fatale wife, and old friends over for a cocktail party. Despite rising domestic tensions and the re-ignition of an old flame, Edith's keeping the party together - until a dead bird drops from the sky. As she watches bird after bird fall, she must determine what's real and what isn't, and who - or what - to trust.

Wong Side of Time (A New Musical)

Book & Lyrics by Scarlett Long; Music & Additional Lyrics by Wren Mied

Being Asian is one thing. Being a woman is another. But being a queer Asian woman in the arts? Lucy wonders if it can get any harder. She dreams of becoming the next Michelle Yeoh, Lucy Liu-even Anna May Wong. In 1935, Anna May Wong dreams of a life 100 years in the future. When they swap lives, two rebellious Asian women collide across time. Wong Side Of Time is a time-bending musical about ambition, identity, and the cost of rewriting your own story.

South (A Solo Musical)

Book, Music & Lyrics by Florencia Iriondo

2026 Theater Fans' Choice Awards - Live Stats

Best Featured Performer in a Play - Top 3

1. Laurie Metcalf - Death of a Salesman

8% of votes

2. Danny Burstein - Marjorie Prime

5.4% of votes

3. Ben Ahlers - Death of a Salesman

5.2% of votes

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