MCNEAL Comes to San Jose Stage Company

San Jose Stage Company will launch its 43rd Season with the West Coast Premiere of MCNEAL, Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar’s riveting new drama exploring artificial intelligence, artistic integrity, and the razor-thin line between genius and fraud.

Directed by Randall King, MCNEAL runs September 24 – October 19, 2025 at The Stage (490 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113), following its acclaimed run at Lincoln Center Theater. The press opening will take place on Saturday, September 27, at 8:00 p.m. Tickets range from $34 – $84 and can be purchased through the Box Office at (408) 283-7142 or online.

Jacob McNeal is a great writer, one of our greatest, a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But McNeal also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. MCNEAL is a darkly comic, razor-sharp examination of technology’s escalating threat to art, authorship and human connection.

San Jose Stage Company previously produced Akhtar’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Disgraced in 2017, earning critical acclaim and strong audience response. With MCNEAL, The Stage continues its commitment to presenting Akhtar’s work to Bay Area audiences.  

The cast of MCNEAL will feature Johnny Moreno* as “Jacob McNeal,” Andre Amarotico* as “Harlan McNeal,” Storm White as “Natasha Brathwaite,” Bridgette Loriaux* as “Francine Blake,” Nicole Tung* as “Stephie Banic,” Abigail Esfira Campbell* as “Sahra Grewal,” and Celeste LeGrange as “Dipti.”.