TO THE PLAYGROUND to Make World Premiere at La MaMa

La MaMa will present the world premiere of To The Playground, written by Andy Bragen and directed by Drama Desk Award nominee Carolyn Cantor, running December 4 - 20, 2026 in a limited engagement at La MaMa's Downstairs Theatre, located at 66 East 4th Street. Previews begin December 4 for a December 8 opening.

The cast includes Cindy Cheung (Meat Suit at Second Stage, Laowang at Primary Stages), Ugo Chukwu (Purpose at Huntington Theatre, Primary Trust at Mark Taper Forum), Lortel, Drama Desk & Obie Award winner Mia Katigbak (Uncle Vanya at LCT, Deep Blue Sound with Clubbed Thumb), Drama Desk & Lortel Award nominee Annie Parisse (Clybourne Park on Broadway, Long Lost at MTC) and Christina Rouner (Coram Boy on Broadway, Dance Nation at Playwrights Horizons).

An afternoon passes, a week, a summer. The days are long and the weather is hot. The world may be falling apart, but first there's potty training. To The Playground is an ode to playgrounds and playground parents - a journey into the beauty, banality and anxieties of the longest shortest time.

Andy Bragen says, 'To The Playground is inspired by the many hours I spent with my now 12-year-old daughter at Tompkins Square Park. The play draws on voices and memories, on conversations, on fantasies, and nightmares, and boredom. It explores the lives of parents on the playground: their joys and obsessions, and their anxieties, both banal and existential, including climate anxiety - fears for our city, country and planet. Like so much of my work, this play is set in the East Village where I grew up and still live, and I am delighted that it is coming to life at La MaMa where I've been seeing plays since I was a kid.'

The creative team includes set design by Colleen Murray, lighting design by Bessie Award winner Thomas Dunn, costume design by Phuong Nguyen, and sound design and original music by Tony & Drama Desk Award winner Fitz Patton. Production Stage Manager is Dominique Nadeau. Creative and Production Manager is Kate Purdum. Key art by Desiree Nasim. Press Representative is David Gibbs/Darr Publicity.

Performances are Thursdays and Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 6pm, and Sundays at 4pm with additional shows on Tuesday, December 8 at 7pm and Wednesday, December 9 at 8pm. Run time is approximately 85 minutes. Tickets to all shows are $30 (adults), $25 (students and seniors) and $10 (La MaMa members). First ten tickets to every performance are $10, limit 2 per person. 

Andy Bragen Theatre Projects is a writer-centered company that produces formally ambitious highly theatrical plays. This is the company's third production. The first, Don't You F**King Say a Word premiered at 59E59 in 2016, and was directed by Lee Sunday Evans. Notes on My Mother's Decline was co-produced with The Play Company in 2019, and directed by Knud Adams.

Andy Bragen's honors include NYSCA and NYFA grants, Workspace and Process Space Residencies with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the Clubbed Thumb Biennial Commission, and a Jerome Fellowship. His produced plays include This is My Office (The Play Company), Don't You F**king Say a Word (59E59/ABTP), and Notes on My Mother's Decline (Playco/ABTP). Andy is an alum of New Dramatists, and has an MFA from Brown University.