THE ESSENTIALISN'T World Premiere and More Set for HERE Arts Center 2025-26 Season

HERE Arts Center has revealed its programming for their 2025-26 season, in addition to transformations to HERE's programming models. This dynamic lineup marks the first full season curated by the organization's new co-directors, Jesse Cameron Alick, Annalisa Dias, Lanxing Fu, and Lauren Miller.

HERE's 2025-26 season will include the World Premiere of The Essentialisn't by Eisa Davis, the return of Dream Music Puppetry's Puppet Parlor, Puppetopia and a presentation of Dimension Zero by Boxcutter Collective, the World Premiere of Dream Feed by The HawtPlates as part of the Under the Radar festival, the World Premiere of Off The Record: Acts of Restorative Justice by James Scruggs in collaboration with Thomas Giovanni, the launch of HERE's new Performance Lab, and so much more. HERE will also develop projects by Janani Balasubramanian, nicHi douglas, Angélica Negrón, and Piehole through its flagship HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) and new work by Venturous Playwright Fellow Nissy Aya in association with the Playwrights' Center (MN) and Venturous Theater Fund.

Also today, HERE Arts Center announced new pathways for independent artists and producers to build relationships through HERE's programming, creating adaptive opportunities for multidisciplinary creators.

HERE DEVELOPS - Nurturing artistic innovation through three pillars: the flagship HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP), a three-year commissioning program that has supported multidisciplinary artists for nearly three decades; the newly launched Performance Lab, an experimental new work playground; and Cultural Worker Empowerment, including fiscal sponsorship and workforce development.

HERE PRODUCES - Supporting the creation of new performance works through commissioning, residency, co-productions, and original productions. This includes HERE Productions of interdisciplinary works emerging from HARP and Performance Lab; the nationally acclaimed Dream Music Puppetry program; and year-round multidisciplinary festivals and responsive civic programming.

HERE HOSTS - A performance series presenting extraordinary multidisciplinary artists and ensembles through flexible partnerships. This program transforms HERE's legacy SubletSeries into a model of mutual investment and shared benefit.

HERE members get exclusive early access to this season! Audiences and community members can unlock priority access to all HERE Arts Center has to offer by becoming a HERE member, gaining first access to complimentary member tickets, opening nights and special events, and behind-the-scenes experiences.

HERE Memberships are available NOW, with single ticket sales beginning August 1 for the general public.

PROGRAMMING LINEUP

The Essentialisn't

Written and performed by Eisa Davis

September 10-28, 2025

Can you be Black and not perform? Incorporating art gallery aesthetics and an electronic soul score, Eisa Davis performs a piece about performance, exploring the cultural techniques that make musical expression a kind of imprisonment - or a transcendent liberation.

Welcome Back to HERE

Season Kickoff Celebration

September 2025

Special events and parties to celebrate the upcoming year at HERE.

The Mutables

Created by Kat Mustatea

October 8-12, 2025

Using a unique sensor-based instrument for embodied speech called BodyMouth, this eerie performance intertwines bodies and vocals as dancers sound out words phoneme-by-phoneme by enacting specific gestures in sequence, turning the body quite literally into a mouth.

Dimension Zero

Created by Boxcutter Collective

October 21-24, 2025

An anti-capitalist puppet-filled rock-n-roll space opera that tells the story of Zandora 606, an alien sent to planet Earth, who bands together with an unlikely assortment of New Yorkers to save the Universe.

The Passion According to Janair

Written by Ana Carbatti and Andressa Furletti, Directed by Andressa Furletti

Presented by Group Dot BR

November 5-23, 2025

A solo performance inspired by renowned Brazilian author Clarice Lispector's The Passion According to G.H., about the life of a domestic worker in Rio de Janeiro.

BUM BUM (or, this farce has Autism)

By Dave Osmundsen, Presented by EPIC Players

December 2025

A sharp-witted, genre-bending comedy by award-winning Autistic playwright Dave Osmundsen.

Puppet Parlor

Curated and hosted by Basil Twist

December 17-19, 2025

Dream Music Puppetry's annual celebration of new puppetry gems sure to be seasonal yet always saucy!

Dream Feed

Created by The HawtPlates

January 2026

An electroacoustic song cycle by one of NYC's most exciting theatrical bands that drops audiences into the humor, terror, beauty, and allure of an active mind within a slumbering body. A 2023 HARP commission with additional commissioning support by UTR, this psychedelic live concept album makes its world premiere in the 2026 Under the Radar Festival.

Puppetopia

Curated by Barbara Busackino and Basil Twist

February 2026

A winter review of HERE's puppetry state of mind; Dream Music's annual celebration of imagination, possibility, exciting techniques and community creation. Featuring the World Premiere of PARCHED by Official Puppet Business.

Entangled

Created by Society

March 2026

In this play - born from ensemble research, debate, and playwright-driven improvisation - theories of free will and quantum science play out in massive dance parties and micro emotional exchanges that may have epic implications.

Off The Record: Acts of Restorative Justice

By James Scruggs in collaboration with Thomas Giovanni

April 2026

A participatory theatrical intervention aimed at the American Criminal Justice System, and an offering for those with active criminal records to have a free consultation with criminal justice attorneys.

Constance

Presented by Experiments in Opera

May 2026

Developed in EiO's The Writers' Room, Constance: A Confession is a comedic journey following one woman's devotion to the long art of the con.

Performance Lab

Throughout the year

An experimental playground for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary artists that builds upon HARP's commissioning model to create opportunities to develop and share new work.

New and Ongoing Partnerships

Throughout the year