Spark Theatre Festival NYC Unveils Week Two Lineup
Performances run until September 28, 2025 at The Chain Theatre.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Sep. 19, 2025
Emerging Artists Theatre's bi-annual Spark Theatre Festival NYC is now in it's second week of performances. Running until September 28, 2025 at The Chain Theatre (312 W 36th St, 3rd Floor) the festival features over 60 new pieces, ranging from musicals, plays, and solo performances to storytelling, dance, and sketch comedy.
For the first time, the lineup will be presented in two formats-workshop productions and fully produced shows-giving audiences the chance to experience new works at every stage of development.
Tickets are $20-$40. Full schedule and tickets available now HERE.
WEEK TWO
Monday, September 15 at 7pm
Love and Kitty Kisses, Marge Cosgrove (play, workshop)
Writer Michael DiGaetano, director: Christopher Michaels
While making one last sweep of the St. Louis house she recently sold to move to NYC,, Marge Cosgrove found a manilla envelope containing the Christmas letters she used to write annually to friends and family.
Tuesday, September 16 at 7pm & Wednesday, September 17 at 7pm
Learning Curves (solo show, full production) **
Writer/performer Jake Lipman, director Susan Gross
A precocious girl named Jake grows up loving school, until she turns twelve, develops early, and a teacher crosses a line. Years later, she's invited back to a middle school reunion. Are there lessons to be learned by revisiting the past, people, and places that shaped you?
Thursday, September 18 at 7pm
The Only Ones (dance, full production)
Writer/choreographer John Reed
An exploration of family and identity asking the question: what do we do with the loneliness of our singular human experience?
Friday, September 19 at 7pm
Made In America? (short play, full production) **
Writer Yide Cai, director Lauren Komer
At an art gala featuring a single brick, a curator's tour unravels a gripping tale of globalization, legacy, and a tragic death.
Iliocostal (dance, workshop) **
Choreographer Jack Randel
Iliocostal is a duet exploring how sorrow transforms the body and spirit, revealing the uneasy line between healing and something unsettled.
We Will Never Be Silent Again (dance, full production) **
Choreographer Myrto Panagakis
"We Will Never Be Silent Again" is a tribute to feminism and collective power as nine warriors strive to fight for their right to be heard.
More than Enough (dance, workshop) **
Choreographer Emanuele Fiore
Looking within ourselves is like reading an old book that we were unable to open because of fear and prejudice. We're not looking for an ending, but the true heartbeat written in the unspoken words.
Tethered Ends (dance, workshop) **
ChoreographersLauren Gresens and Joey Anderson
An intimate movement study questioning how time and space manipulate the identities we've long told ourselves to be true.
Second Chance (short play, full production) **
Writer/director Audra Zook
At a strangely deserted bus stop, a woman gives a bad first date a second chance.
The Story of the Bagel (musical, full production) **
Writer John Brautigam
Join our host, Doctor Arthur Mitchell, on a journey through the vast, complicated history of the Bagel; that most special of Breakfast Breads!
Saturday, September 20 at 2pm
Sybil Creepe's House of Mysteries (play, workshop)
Writer Laurel Andersen, director: Erin Reynolds
Young scholar Arthur Tuck is on a quest for a magical artifact when he finds himself lost in a thunderstorm - good thing there's a foreboding Gothic manor to shelter him! What follows is a queer, romantic-fantasy-comedy featuring as many Gothic lit tropes as five actors can (in)humanly embody.
Saturday, September 20 at 5pm
That Era (dance, full production) **
Choreographer Skylar Tuttle
Two women in motion-curious, circling, slowly drawn together. A trance-like duet of recognition, intimacy, and becoming.
Dedos Libres (dance, workshop)
Choreographer Ashley Mariani
Three friends in Puerto Rico dancing the night away only to find out that the sweet sound of El Coqui will soon fade away.
My Shadows & My Reflections (dance, full production) **
Choreographer/Director Linden Ainsley
Some memories will be with us forever, whether they trail behind us like shadows or if we see them in our reflections.
Radha, Krishna and the Gopis (dance, full production) **
Choreographer Shloka Porwal
Blending Kathak and Western dance, this piece celebrates Krishna's divine charm, especially his playful flirtations with Radha and the Gopis.
I Am (Brooklyn) (solo show, workshop)
Writer/Actor Vince Bandille
Set against Bay Ridge's cracked pavement and an ancient pear tree, he navigates maternal storms, underworld whispers, and childhood scars with dark humor, melodic guitar interludes, and poetic resolve.
Saturday, September 20 at 7pm and Sunday, September 21 at 2pm
Illusion (musical, workshop) **
Book/Lyrics Donald Loftus, music Steve Zackim
Julian Eltinge, one of the world's first and greatest gender illusionists, rises to fame in early Hollywood, dazzling audiences while struggling to maintain his true identity in an era of rigid societal norms. As success turns to scandal, Illusion explores the tension between personal truth and public persona in a story of resilience, ambition, and self-acceptance.
Sunday, September 21 at 5pm
Misty and Rover (short play, full production) **
Writer Joanna Pickering, director Karen Carpenter
Misty and Rover is a dark, tragicomic one-act about two ill-fated lovers whose plan for eternal love unravels in chaos one late night on a New York fire escape.
Funeral for a Fish (short play, workshop)
Writer/Director Bambi Everson
What begins as a child's backyard funeral turns into a reckoning for two squabbling parents.
[UN] bound (dance, workshop)
Choreographer Sarah Blake
What happens when we finally realize we don't need to be what society or even ourselves tell us what we need to be? How does it feel to break free?
The Story of the Bagel (musical, full production) **
Writer John Brautigam
Join our host, Doctor Arthur Mitchell, on a journey through the vast, complicated history of the Bagel; that most special of Breakfast Breads!
Saturday, September 20 at 7pm
The Life of By Herself.pdf (dance, full production) **
Creator/Director Caroline DeFazio
A hybrid dance-theater piece devised from the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila.
The Game of Bluff (solo show, workshop)
Written by Susan Jeremy and Mary Fulham, director Mary Fulham
Susan Jeremy explores women gamblers in her family with a dynamic narrative, layered characters, and poignant flashbacks.
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