Working Theater Unveils 41st Season Focused On Community, Advocacy, And Expansion

Working Theater has announced its 41st Season, a year dedicated to expansion, creative risk, and deep community engagement. Following the success of its 40th anniversary year, the company is setting the stage for a new era with trailblazing programs designed to sustain both Working Theater and the broader American theater landscape.

The season will open with the 5th Annual Mark Plesent Commission Fund Final Readings, featuring new plays by Max Garcia and Brian Francis Pickett. Unique within the American theater, the program supports playwrights without prior theater training, addressing the pipeline problem facing working-class artists. This year’s writers were mentored by Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok and Naomi Wallace, and their readings will spotlight stories of labor, resilience, and belonging.

In January, Working Theater will unveil an exciting new partnership spotlighting working New Yorkers, to be presented at La MaMa as part of the 2026 Under the Radar Festival. Details will be announced soon.

The company’s long-standing TheaterWorks! arts education program will return with two sessions this season. In partnership with 32BJ SEIU and the Climate Jobs Institute, TheaterWorks! offers 12-week playwriting and performance courses for working people, empowering participants to tell their stories, build skills, and foster community dialogue.

Additionally, Working Theater will launch a new Art & Political Activism series, led by Chris Myers, designed to deepen the connection between creative practice and social justice work.

In March, the company will present Control, a new play by Playwright-in-Residence Kallan Dana, developed with Action Lab. The work explores the experiences of air traffic controllers, revealing the pressures and humanity of those who keep the skies safe. The residency model combines artistic development with real-world advocacy, underscoring the company’s belief in theater as a catalyst for change.

Working Theater will also partner with acclaimed playwright Theresa Rebeck on a bold new contemporary response to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The commissioned play will receive a developmental reading in June 2026, with casting to be announced in spring 2026.

The season will conclude with the Second Annual Stage Left Festival, presented with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition, with support from CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies’ Murphy Institute and Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice. The two-week event will unite playwrights, activists, and audiences across New York City for a celebration of new plays and cultural organizing.

“We are producing more theater for working people than ever before, because our moment demands it,” said Artistic Director Colm Summers. “Not only are we offering a season of world-class art by, for, and with working-class people, but we’re building new models for the next generation — toward a working theater that works for everyone.”