Tickets Now On Sale For HERE Arts Center Winter and Spring 2026 Programming
The lineup features The Pearl - Morvarid, BUM BUM (or, this farce has Autism) and more.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Nov. 20, 2025
HERE Arts Center has revealed additional programming for their Spring 2026 lineup including the HARP world premiere of DREAM FEED by The HawtPlates as part of the Under the Radar Festival, the return of Puppetopia in February, and the world premiere of James Scruggs' participatory theater intervention OFF THE RECORD: ACTS OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE in collaboration with Thomas Giovanni.
"At a time when artistic freedom is increasingly restricted and repressed, it feels incredibly meaningful to support the limitless visions of artists who are reconstructing the world we live in while staying rooted in curiosity, hope, and wonder," said HERE Co-Directors Jesse Cameron Alick, Annalisa Dias, Lanxing Fu, and Lauren Miller. "As we dream forward into HERE's future, we couldn't be more thrilled to deepen relationships with artists who have long been a part of HERE's creative ecosystem and seed relationships with artists who will make their HERE debut this Spring."
HERE members get exclusive early access to all programming at HERE! Audiences and community members can unlock priority access to all HERE Arts Center has to offer by becoming a HERE member, gaining first access to complimentary member tickets, opening nights and special events, and behind-the-scenes experiences.
WINTER LINEUP
The Pearl - Morvarid
Directed by Soroush Taheri
Written by Ghotbeddin Sadeghi
Performed by Maneli Hosseinpour, Soroush Taheri Aval, Yasha Khozoui, Oyku Guven
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
December 3-7, 2025
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
The Pearl is a historical feminist play that reimagines the Mongol invasion of Iran through the untold perspective of women. Rather than focusing on the conquerors, the story highlights the resilience, courage, and resistance of women who defied violence and terror. It is a narrative of survival, strength, and solidarity that sheds light on overlooked voices in history.
BUM BUM (or, this farce has Autism)
Written by Dave Osmundsen
Presented by EPIC Players
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
December 4-14, 2025
Mainstage Theater
EPIC Players, New York's leading neuroinclusive theater company, presents the world premiere of BUM BUM (or, this farce has Autism); a sharp-witted, genre-bending comedy by award-winning Autistic playwright Dave Osmundsen. Blending farce, satire, and social critique, BUM BUM is a radical, hilarious takedown of how media and society package neurodivergence for mass consumption. EPIC's neurodivergent cast brings authenticity and bite to this bold new work, continuing the company's mission to challenge stereotypes, increase representation, and center Disabled artists as creative leaders. And, in a perfectly meta turn, EPIC holds a mirror to the industry and joyfully dismantles the very tropes they've spent years replacing.
Qing Bai: Innocence (Legend of the White Snake)
Directed by Tara P. Nyingjè
Written by Tara P. Nyingjè and Ophelia He
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
December 12-14, 2025
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
Qing Bai: Innocence is an original experimental theater piece inspired by The Legend of the White Snake. Set within a world of the broken bridge, rivers, and rain, Qing Bai reimagines the ancient Chinese legend through movement, sound, and ritual gesture. Performed entirely in Mandarin with English subtitles provided, the piece delves into transformation, memory, and the liminal space between human consciousness and primal instinct.
Puppet Parlor
Curated and hosted by Basil Twist
Featuring Joey Arias, Sophie Becker, Tau Bennett, Jono Mainelli, and more to be announced
Dream Music Puppetry
December 17-19, 2025
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
Basil Twist's annual puppet celebration returns to HERE for three nights in December! Featuring Joey Arias performing songs from his new Christmas album, Tau Bennett premiering a gorgeously grotesque character from his show Medicine Men, and downtown ventriloquist Sophie Becker. With live music by Jono Mainelli.
January in NYC Festival Showcases
Official Puppet Business' Bill's 44th & Kat Mustatea's The Mutables
January 9-11, 2026
Dorothy B. Williams Theater and Edge Space
For three days only in conjunction with January in NYC Festivals, APAP and more, experience bold new work from visionary artists redefining what's possible on stage. Back from touring east Asia, Official Puppet Business presents their international sensation Bill's 44th, described by the NYTimes as "buoyant, mesmerizing, joy-inducing." And after a sold-out run at HERE this Fall, visionary Romanian choreographer and transmedia artist Kat Mustatea presents a special showcase from The Mutables, featuring a demo of the BodyMouth instrument. The Mutables will be presented off-site at Edge Space. Edge Space is a co-op for live performance experiments located at 457 Broome Street www.edgecut.org. Both projects are available for touring!
Dream Feed
Written & Performed by The HawtPlates
Directed by Phillip Howze
A HARP World Premiere
January 9-25, 2026
Mainstage Theater
Drop into Dream Feed, the latest electro-acoustic vocal work from two-time Grammy Award-winning theatrical family band The HawtPlates. Can we remember our own dreams? Can we share the dreams we have in common? Can we awaken ourselves to the origin of our aspirations? In this shared dream sequence and live concept album, The HawtPlates metabolize the surreal allure of the active mind within a slumbering body through trip-like lullabies and bold reverie. A 2023 HERE Artist Residency Program (HARP) commission with additional co-commissioning support by Under the Radar, this psychedelic live concept album makes its world premiere at the 2026 Under the Radar Festival.
Any Minute Now
Written by Alix Sobler
Directed by Peter Jay Fernandez
Starring Alison Cimmet, Jess Gabor, Jay O. Sanders
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
January 15 - February 1, 2026
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
The world is burning. An innocent man sits in jail. The laws of physics are unraveling... But it's when the Campbells are suddenly reunited after 40 years that things get really weird. "Any Minute Now" is an 80-minute, mind-bending, dark comedy that explores what happens when one American family is brought face-to-face with past mistakes and a future that's irreversibly doomed.
Puppetopia
Curated by Barbara Busackino and Basil Twist
Dream Music Puppetry
February 17 - March 1, 2026
Mainstage and Dorothy B. Williams Theaters
A winter review of HERE's puppetry state of mind; Dream Music's annual celebration of imagination, possibility, exciting techniques and community creation. Featuring the World Premiere of PARCHED by Official Puppet Business, RUBY & CHARLIE by Jessica Simon & Co, and more to be announced soon. Puppetopia Puppet Passes are on sale now!
SPRING LINEUP
ENTANGLED: 12 SCENES IN A CIRCLE K OFF THE I-40 IN NEW MEXICO
Conceived and Produced by SOCIETY
Written by Mona Mansour and Emily Zemba
Directed by Scott Illingworth
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
March 10-29, 2026
Mainstage Theater
Off the I-40 in the American southwest sits a Circle K gas station where something strange is happening: Time and space shift, happy couples suddenly break up, and people disappear for days after stepping into the tiny bathroom. Is this place a portal, tied to the decades of deathly scientific research just a few miles away? In this play - born from ensemble research, debate, and playwright-driven improvisation - theories of free will and quantum science play out in massive dance parties and micro emotional exchanges. Tickets on sale soon.
Dear John
Created & Performed by Rachel Lin
Directed by Tara Elliott
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
March 5-19, 2026
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
Dear John is a solo show based on a true story created and performed by Rachel Lin. It's 2011, and for a certain recent graduate and actor-hopeful, things are not going...well. When a Facebook message from a mysterious stranger named John arrives, she's forced to reckon with a past that comes hurtling back. Weaving together Facebook DMs, hand-written letters, recorded interviews, and anecdotes of living as an undocumented immigrant kid in NYC's Chinatown, Dear John is documentary theater about the ways we try (and fail) to reach each other, over and over again.
Off the Record: Acts of Restorative Justice
By James Scruggs in collaboration with Thomas Giovanni
A HERE World Premiere
April 3-19, 2026
Mainstage Theater
The world premiere of Off the Record: Acts of Restorative Justice is a participatory theatrical intervention aimed at the American Criminal Justice System, and an offering for those with active criminal records to have a free consultation with criminal justice attorneys.
The Menopause Monologues
Created by Carrie Vanhouten
Produced by Lulu Braunstein
Directed by Lisa Anne Morrison
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
April 30 - May 3, 2026
Mainstage Theater
The theatre movement that's bringing real life menopause stories out of the darkness and into the spotlight through a collaborative and multi-disciplinary production. Each performance is followed by a Q&A with a certified menopause doctor or specialist.
Constance: A Confession
Experiments in Opera Writers' Room
Librettists Susan Bywaters, Lisa Clair, Sam Norman and Ed Valentine
Composers Jasmine Galante, Elizabeth Gartman, Mattie Levy, and Roger A. Martinez
Directed by Shannon Sindelar
Music Direction by Dmitriy Glivinskiy
Produced by Experiments in Opera
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
May 13-16, 2026
Mainstage Theater
Developed in EiO's The Writers' Room, Constance: A Confession is a comedic journey following one woman's devotion to the long art of the con. The opera starts with a shocking act of violence in a grad school art class, and continues as Constance finds work as a psychic, becomes a wellness influencer and grows her online empire into a cult-with deadly consequences. Scored for four singers and all-star experimental ensemble Hypercube, this new opera takes a biting look at the power of storytelling in the hands of a charismatic figure.
Criminal Queerness Festival 2026
Co-Produced by National Queer Theater and HERE Arts Center
June 2026
Mainstage Theater
National Queer Theater's Criminal Queerness Festival (CQF) showcases groundbreaking new works written by artists from countries where queerness is criminalized or censored. At a time when authoritarianism is on the rise globally, CQF elevates refugee, asylee, and immigrant queer voices and enriches the cultural fabric of New York City by introducing audiences to bold, original works that challenge Western norms and inspire global change. Tickets on sale soon.
Camping
Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt
Produced by Colt Coeur
Hosted by HERE Arts Center
June 2026
Dorothy B. Williams Theater
This is a love story. It's hands that smell of Dolce and Gabbana Light Blue after days spent clutching fistfulls of her hair. It's the rain hitting the earth in a way that reminds you of blood, that makes you think the world's holding a knife to your underwear. It's the spins. It's running out of air because you gulped too much of it while you were sobbing. It's waking up hot and sticky. It's desperately falling in love with your Best Friend inside a camping tent while everything outside rages. Tickets on sale soon.
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