BURN BOOK Premieres at 122 Community Center

This Halloween, audiences are invited into the world of spells, scandal, and survival of Burn Book, a new play by JJ McGlone, directed by Obie Award-winner Rory Pelsue, premiering at the historic 122 Community Center for a limited 12-performance run. Opening night is set for November 1, 2025.

Burn Book is a fanfiction colliding elements from three classics: American drama The Crucible, Millennial Pop hit Mean Girls, and 90s Cult favorite The Craft. Set in a fictional elite Massachusetts boarding school, the play explores the struggle for power, connection, and identity among a group of outsiders fumbling through late adolescence. 

Originally written for the Yale Cabaret in 2019, where it sold out its run and captured the imagination of the Yale Drama and greater New Haven community, Burn Book now arrives in New York fully realized for its intended audience.

“We want Burn Book to feel like a spell being cast, and an invocation – it’s a fanfiction, pulling from wickedly delicious sources that populated and shaped my own adolescent zeitgeist ” says playwright JJ McGlone. “It’s an attempt to get to the bottom of gay guys’ (or just my own) fascination with women who behave badly and give these queer characters the opportunity to exorcise some of those demons.”

The production is helmed by Obie Award-winning director Rory Pelsue (Circle Jerk, Last Bimbo of the Apocalypse), known for his bold, adventurous theatrical work Off-Broadway and in regional theaters nationwide.

The cast features playwright JJ McGlone (A Different Man)  alongside Daniel Liu (The Marriage of Figaro, Romeo and Juliet), Julian Sanchez (Spirit of the People, Invasive Species), and Leland Fowler (Sally & Tom, This Land Was Made).

The creative team includes an extraordinary roster of designers: Emmy-winning Erin Sullivan – Video Design (The Penguin, Dilaria), Lily Guerin – Set Design (Bad Shabbos, The Skin of Our Teeth), David Mitsch – Costume Design (Tchaikovsky's IOLANTA, HOLE!: The Musical), Bailey Trierweiler (Becoming Eve) & Tim White – Sound Design, Yichen Zhou – Lighting Design (Girls Will Be Girls, Your Name Means Dream).