FRIGID New York to Present 2026-27 Season Lineup at UNDER St. Marks

FRIGID New York has announced the lineup of programming for their 29th season including the 5th annual Days of the Dead Festival, the 14th annual Gotham Storytelling Festival, the 18th Annual The Fire This Time Festival, and the 19th Annual New York City Fringe Festival (formerly FRIGID Fringe Festival).

All programming takes place at UNDER St. Marks (94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY 10009), unless otherwise noted. Most performances will also be available to live stream from home. For further information on FRIGID New York and to purchase tickets to any of their upcoming events, please visit www.frigid.nyc.

This season also sees long-time FRIGID staff and collaborator Jimmy Lovett stepping back from their role as Resident Artistic Director, though they will continue to curate the annual Queerly Festival and hope to find new collaborations with FRIGID going forward.

Festivals & Productions

Iris Bahr's Neurotica Fest

September 10-13

Launched in 2025 by multiple award-winning actor, writer, director and solo performer Iris Bahr (Curb Your Enthusiasm, Hacks, Stories from the Brink!) Neurotica Fest is a four day festival showcasing storytellers and stand-up comedians offering fresh perspectives, fascinating life stories, and compelling narratives. The festival will also feature an evening of short films and a special in-conversation event with bestselling author Kurt Andersen.

Days of the Dead Festival

October 16-November 1

Celebrate Día de los Muertos and Halloween with FRIGID New York at the Days of the Dead Festival curated by FRIGID New York's Resident Artistic Director Martha Lorena Preve in collaboration with Something from Abroad theater company members. A celebration of life and death, Days of the Dead is a festival inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos. During this time of year the dead return to earth to spend time with their families and enjoy their favorite things. It can be cheerful, sad, nostalgic, ritualistic and mysterious. It's all about the family and the community. The festival will be offering shows that have death and the afterlife as a theme as well as Halloween themed plays. We welcome everyone regardless of their cultural background or religious beliefs to celebrate our muertos together.

Gotham Storytelling Festival

November 3-15

Gotham Storytelling Festival brings together a variety of storytellers with a variety of storytelling styles to do what they do best! This year's theme is Stranger in a Strange Land. We'll hear stories about being where you are not from, as a traveler, an immigrant, an emigrant, an expat, a displaced person, or simply moving to the big city, or a small town.

Holiday Spirits

December 5th & 6th

Holiday Spirits is a two-night curated presentation of short play readings themed around the horrors of the winter and its holidays. From comedic ghosts to supernatural monsters, these plays harken back to the old tradition of telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve, something that has fallen by the wayside with the exception of A Christmas Carol. Humans have long huddled together around our little lights for safety and warmth and told each other stories of what might be out there as some sort of charm against the monsters being real, but sometimes they monsters get it anyway. FRIGID New York's Resident Artistic Director Martha Lorena Preve and guest director Jimmy Lovett will present the third year of these haunting readings December 5th and 6th as a fully FRIGID New York production.

The Fire This Time Festival

January 2027 at The Apollo

Obie Award-winning festival The Fire This Time was founded in 2009 by playwright Kelley Nicole Girod to provide a platform for early career playwrights of African and African American descent. Since its founding, the Festival has produced the plays of dozens of emerging writers whose works explore a wide range of themes and perspectives. The Festival also supports actors, directors, and technical personnel to help seed the pipeline with diverse talent and amplify underrepresented voices in theater in New York and beyond. The Fire This Time playwrights have gone on to have their plays produced in cities across the United States and work as writers in film and television. The Fire This Time Festival has evolved into an annual January event and continues to grow, expanding upon its core short play presentations to offer panel discussions, staged readings, a playwright's lab and other programs. The Festival has become a destination for diverse audiences, producers, and artists seeking new possibilities and opportunities in contemporary theater. Learn more about the Fire This Time Festival at firethistimefestival.com

The Sun Also Rises

Written by Sophie Simons, Presented by The House

March 4-13, 2027

This sapphic reinterpretation of the Hemingway classic imagines Jake and Brett as queer exes tangled among histories of friendship, debauchery, love, and heartbreak. On a group trip to Spain, Jake must grapple with her relationships to sex, gender, and Brett's new fiancé in the midst of social catastrophe. The Sun Also Rises dissects the innately queer longing for what could have been, and what might still be. A 2026 Queerly Festival favorite we're bringing back by popular demand!

New York City Fringe Festival

April 2027 - Venues TBA

New York City Fringe (formally the FRIGID Fringe Festival) is an open, lottery-based theater festival that gives artists an opportunity to let their ingenuity thrive in an environment that values freedom of expression and artistic determination. In true support of the Indie Theater Community, 100% of box office proceeds go directly to the artists whose work is being presented. New York City Fringe is a proud member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals.

Queerly Festival

June 2027

Founded in 2014, Queerly is FRIGID's annual celebration of all things artistic and LGBTQIA2S+. Queerly strives for diversity on and off stage, seeking out queer teams and artists of all kinds as well as a wide range of shows and performances. Our goal is to provide a space for queer artists who've rarely or never seen their identities portrayed on stage to be able to represent themselves and tell their stories their way, as well as to provide a space for queer celebration, pride, and strength. Queerly is curated by Jimmy Lovett, a trans, non-binary, bisexual marker and theater artist.

Little Shakespeare Festival

August 2027

This festival is a celebration of independent theater and performance that takes inspiration from the immortal bard, William Shakespeare. It brings together work that challenges the idea that Shakespearean theater belongs to the establishment and lives only in amphitheaters and on fancy stages. From small casts to punk remixes, the Festival platforms work undermines what audiences expect from the name Shakespeare. The Little Shakespeare Festival is curated by artist, educator, and Shakespearian improviser Conor Mullen.

Recurring Shows at UNDER St. Marks

Adam Wade, Live in New York

Third Wednesday of the Month @ 7pm

Adam Wade, the 20-time Moth Story Slam winner, creator of the #1 Best Selling Audible Original 'You Ought To Know Adam Wade' and from TV's 'Inside Amy Schumer' and 'Girls' returns to UNDER St. Marks! This monthly storytelling show will feature three to four different stories from Adam's extensive catalog. No two shows will be the same. Come and see this New York Times, Time Out New York, and CBS critics' pick LIVE on stage in New York! A different special guest storyteller will begin each show.

As You Mic It

Schedule Varies

As You Mic It: An Open Shakespeare Slam - Join us for a one-of-a-kind slam where you can compete to be crowned Best of the Bards! If you are slamming, come prepared to perform up to two of any Shakespeare monologue or sonnet of your choice (within 3 and a half minutes, memorization not required but encouraged). If you don't want to slam, come join us for some merriment, libations, and maybe even become a judge (no experience necessary)!

Awkward Teenage Years

Schedule Varies

True stories about the most gloriously awkward times in our lives - our teenage years! Awkward Teenage Years brings you the best storytellers in NYC to relive their joys and traumas for your entertainment - let's laugh and reminisce together! Enjoy tales of first loves gone wrong, failing the big test, finding your tribe, learning hard lessons, and most importantly - coming of age.

Book Spines Broken By My Purring Cat

Second Wednesday @ 7pm

An evening of monologues and stories, some soulful, some naughty. First volume Fanging My Way Through America covers her stint as the bathroom matron at Copa Cabana night club. Second volume, Fifty Sons and Daughters, gathers her mishaps as a college educator.

Comediumship

Third Sunday of Every Other Month @ 7pm

Psychic medium and stand up comedian Nelly Reznik will be performing Comediumship, an experimental combination of stand up comedy and audience readings. Readings may consist of connecting with loved ones who have passed, and receiving life guidance for audience members, all in a lighthearted way. Not everyone will receive a reading, but all in attendance should be open to it.

The Curio Society

Every Other Month at Parkside Lounge (317 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002)

Curio Society was officially founded in January of this year, and is organized around the art of bringing interesting stories from history to life. Short lectures, but make them funny. You could call it stand-up academia. Our shows feature 5 curated talks from speakers with all types of backgrounds, ranging from experts in their field to enthusiastic and well-informed civilians. Curio was founded by a group of veterans from Odd Salon, which wound down operations at the end of 2025. Our goal was to continue the tradition of making history relatable and fun, while adding our own new spin on the concept of the "salon."

Daniel Simonsen Free to Fail

Schedule Varies

A night of experimental comedy with New York's Funniest Stand-Up 2022 winner Daniel Simonsen. Come watch the Norwegian build material as he works both scripted and completely unscripted. As seen on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Electric Moon Cabaret

Schedule Varies

Welcome to Electric Moon Cabaret, where sultry meets edgy in a provocative fusion of glamour and grit. Our cabaret is your playground for the night, where every performance is a bold blend of seductive allure and rebellious energy. A place where the performers are hotter than your last Tinder date and you can slip into something that says, 'I'm here to play,' get ready for a night that's as unpredictable as it is unforgettable. Electric Moon Cabaret is quite the adventure-and yes, we have been known to break a few hearts along the way.

FRIGID Nightcap

Third Wednesday of the Month @ 9:30pm

Come get weird after dark! The East Village's riotously unpredictable late-night spectacle is a wondrously offbeat collision of comedy, music, burlesque, arts, and more. It's the most unique destination for anyone who just isn't ready to call it a night quite yet.

It's Getting Tired Mildred

Second Saturday of the Month @ 9:30pm

Welcome to Mildred Springs! A quaint city in the vague Northeastern United States. A city not unlike other cities. Join us while the bold and the beautiful citizens of Mildred Springs live the days of their lives. Some might be young and restless. Some might be doctors working at Sacred Corpuscle Memorial, a general hospital. But they've all got one life to live. Join us as their world turns. Join us as their guiding light leads them on their constant search for tomorrow. Join us as they hang on to the edge of night and you will be transported to another world. The world of It's Getting Tired Mildred. Set in the 1980's, known for riding the line between camp and loving homage to the soap opera genre, and featuring a dynamic cast of the indie theatre pros, It's Getting Tired Mildred hooks audience members to come back month after month to see what happens next.

Living Radio

First Monday of the Month @ 7:00pm

Every month, we remix current events to imagine what a slightly altered world could look like. Five brand-new radio plays, written with inspiration from the news, featuring a rotating cast and creative team, exploring alternate presents. The results range from the absurdly wacky to the poignantly reflective, from apocalyptic to aspirational-but they're always clever, fun, and inspired. It's the news-only better.

Lovely Shoes and Friends

Third Tuesday of the Month @ 7pm

A monthly variety show featuring improvisation and character, sketch, storytelling acts that originated during the fleeting moments of improvisation jams.

The Open Mic Downstairs

Every Tuesday at 9:30pm

At The Open Mic at FRIGID New York the focus is the stage! Sign-ups get 7 minutes to try anything in one of the most supportive rooms in New York City. Whether it's a performance art piece, comedy, music, storytelling, dance, or something entirely off the top of your head, you'll find a home in the attentive welcoming community.

Paper Kraine

Last Wednesday of the Month @ 7:30pm

Paper Kraine was created in 2016 to bring together works in development, artists, and audiences in support of nonprofits. Monthly, the PK team curates a new works sample platter around a theme and donates all proceeds to a selected nonprofit. Try something new, delicious and strange. Come for the art. Stay for the community. We encourage risk-taking, question-asking, and the development of a supportive community of artists seeing, encouraging, and challenging each other's work with the ultimate goal of enriching the artistic community through cross-pollination and meeting new people. Learn more at www.paperkraine.com.

[Peter BD Presents...]

Schedule Varies

A changing show about connection, kinship, fellowship, transition, correspondence, altercation, relation, exchange, consociation, bond, communication, and more.

Sins and Stardust Burlesque

Schedule Varies

Sins and Stardust Burlesque is a spellbinding series from producers Stiletto Sinclair and Jackie Galaxy, featuring a rotating cast of dazzling burlesque stars, high-energy go-go dancing, and unforgettable headliners. From classic striptease to genre-bending surprises, no two nights are ever the same, just unforgettable performances and a whole lot of glitter-fueled mischief.

A Spanglish Affair Open Mic

Third Mondays at 7:00pm

We are excited to provide a safe space for artists to explore and share their art in front of a live audience. If there's something you've always wanted to do, this is a space for you to do it! While our company focuses on Spanish and Spanglish content, this is not a requirement for your piece-if you're someone with art to share, this space is for you. Here are some ideas for types of performers we're looking for: singers, dancers, comedians, performance art, burlesque, actors, visual artists, clowning, spoken word, poetry. THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!

Resident Artists

Something From Abroad

Something from Abroad produces material from a variety of cultural backgrounds to bring stories from abroad and give them a voice in today's America. We are a theater company started by a couple of 'broads' from abroad. We are proud to promote original art created by women. Something from Abroad is the curator of the Days of the Dead Festival where they perform their traditional Dia de Muertos Cabaret. This year Something from Abroad celebrates ten years since their inception which started at FRIGID New York. You can also see the company performing monthly at the Spanglish Affair Open Mic.

Playwright Mark-Eugene Garcia & Director Rodrigo Bolaños

Mark-Eugene Garcia and Rodrigo Bolaños are a married creative team whose artistic partnership is rooted in a shared passion for bringing Latine voices and stories to life onstage. Their first collaboration began in 2004, when Rodrigo performed in the workshop of With Bated Breath (then titled Up in the Air), written by Mark-Eugene. That early connection launched a creative relationship that has grown alongside their marriage-merging storytelling, direction, music, and performance. This group is a recipient of the NYSCA support for the Artists grant and will be performing Mark's new play 'Unmissed Connections' this fall. A stage reading will take place on October 11th and performances will take place between Dec 3rd and 6th.

Michael Hagins

Michael is a published African-American Playwright, Director, Fight Director, Actor, and Producer. Michael is a Member of Dramatists Guild and an Advanced Actor-Combatant for the Society of American Fight Directors. Michael was born in Brooklyn, New York, but raised in a small town in Florida for his childhood. He has used the racism and prejudice he dealt with at an early age to fuel his writing, which he has done since the age of 9. Michael is an avid lover of Shakespeare, having performed or directed every play in the Shakespeare Canon, and has performed, directed and taken part in over 1,000 plays and films over his artistic career.

Michael is the Artistic Director for C.A.G.E. Theatre Company, a Resident Director for Shakespeare Sports Theatre Company, and Literary Director for Fork the Odds Productions.

Vermillion

In her second year of her residency at FRIGID New York Vermillion will present two volumes from Book Spines Broken By My Purring Cat, an evening of monologues and stories, some soulful, some naughty. First volume Fanging My Way Through America covers her stint as the bathroom matron at Copa Cabana night club. Second volume, Fifty Sons and Daughters, gathers her mishaps as a college educator. Second Wednesdays. She will also host Lovely Shoes and Friends, a monthly variety show featuring improvisation and character, sketch, storytelling acts that originated during the fleeting moments of improvisation jams. Third Tuesdays.

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