Chain Theatre’s Summer One-Act Festival Returns In July

Chain Theatre’s Summer One-Act Festival will return to Midtown Manhattan from July 10 through August 2, 2025, transforming its home at 312 W. 36th Street (3rd & 4th floors) into a high-energy theatrical mixtape.

Now in its annual summer tradition, the festival presents over 90 short plays spread across curated nightly blocks (each 75–90 minutes), offering a rotating menu of fresh voices and seasoned talent. The festival will feature both in-person and select streaming performances, extending its reach beyond New York.

Headlining Block #1: Paul Calderón’s THE INTERLUDE and VOICES FROM THE EDGE

Block #1 is anchored by a riveting double bill from Paul Calderón—actor, playwright, and co-founder of Primitive Grace Theatre Ensemble. Calderón, whose film and TV credits include Bosch: Legacy, Boardwalk Empire, and Fear the Walking Dead, presents two hard-hitting works that center stories of identity, trauma, and survival.
In The Interlude, a disillusioned boxing trainer pleads with his protégé—a female fighter showing signs of pugilistic dementia—to leave the sport behind. Voices from the Edge offers four women a stark platform to recount personal stories of gun violence in a haunting, testimonial style. Featuring members of Calderón’s multiracial, multigenerational ensemble, both pieces underscore the festival’s ethos of socially grounded, artist-driven storytelling.

Highlights from Additional Program Blocks

In Program #2, Emmy winner Cady McClain (Beyond the Gates, Law and Order: SVU) stars in Walter John Thompson’s WHAT HAPPENED WAS, a dark comedy exploring memory, longing, and the blurry divide between performance and reality. The piece is directed by legendary Obie and Drama Desk Award-winner Austin Pendleton (Between Riverside and Crazy, Orson's Shadow), marking one of the festival’s must-see pairings of actor and director.

Program #13 goes full fantasy with Peter Doyle’S INCREDIBLE HEAD, from David Andrew Laws, co-creator of Twenty-Sided Tavern. This surreal, Dungeons & Dragons-inspired adventure promises a heady blend of role-play, theater, and absurdist wit, tailor-made for the dice-rolling set.

Other featured works include MEETING MARLON, a sharp, offbeat comedy by screenwriter David Rich (Renegades, MacGyver, Stargate: SG-1), in which two actors navigate the ultimate audition—an encounter with the mythic Marlon Brando himself.

A Platform for Fearless Voices

This year’s festival reinforces the Chain Theatre’s mission to champion bold, socially relevant new work. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kirk Gostkowski, Chain has premiered pieces by Eric Bogosian, David Rabe, Lyle Kessler, and Jesse Eisenberg, who directed his first stage production at Chain before going on to win an Academy Award for A Real Pain.

“We don't do safe—we do real,” says Gostkowski. “This is where audiences and artists meet on equal ground to explore the world as it is, and imagine what it could be.”

Festival Details

Dates: July 10 – August 2, 2025
Location: Chain Theatre, 312 W. 36th Street, 3rd & 4th Floor, New York, NY
Runtime: 75–90 minutes per block
Streaming: Select performances available online