Annex Theatre Unveils 2025–2026 Season: Season 39 — THE WRITING IS ON THE WALL
Seattle company enters its 39th season with new leadership and original work.
By: A.A. Cristi Dec. 23, 2025
Annex Theatre will present its 2025–2026 season, marking the company’s 39th season and 40th year of operation. The season will feature five mainstage productions by local playwrights, alongside the continuation of the Work-In-Progress staged reading series and the launch of a new Industry Night Reading program.
The season will be the first under the leadership of Artistic Director Lucien Oberleitner, who was elected by the Annex Theatre Company in mid-2025. Oberleitner’s appointment follows the theatre’s longstanding model as a democratic collective focused on community accountability and the development of new work.
In a statement included with the season announcement, Oberleitner addressed the broader challenges facing artists and arts organizations, noting the effects of funding instability, displacement, and the lasting impact of COVID-19 on Seattle’s arts ecosystem. “Annex goes into its 39th season with joy and determination, eager to provide local artists with the support necessary to assert their visions and experiences of the world,” Oberleitner said. “Even as conditions continue to intensify, we are committed to remaining a bastion of hope and resistance, preserving the autonomy of local artists and encouraging audiences, old and new, to come together and experience collective imagination.”
The season theme, The Writing Is On The Wall, reflects what the company describes as a moment of urgency for both artists and audiences. Alongside the season launch, Annex Theatre will also debut a rebuilt website and backend ticketing system, developed by Marketing & Development Director Justin Lauer in partnership with Managing Director Stephen McCandless.
NEXT EXIT
Written by j.chavez and directed by Max Koh, Next Exit is a new play set on the side of a highway during a record-breaking heatwave. The story follows Miguel, who passes time in conversation with a dead possum while questioning memory, mortality, and the presence of a mysterious figure in the surrounding forest.
WIFE OF HEADLESS MAN INVESTIGATES HER OWN DISAPPEARANCE
Written by Yussef El Guindi and directed by Lucien Oberleitner, this world premiere centers on a reporter who loses time after dining with a tech billionaire and returns home to discover her husband alive, functional, and without a head. The play examines perception, power, and reality through surreal storytelling.
DISAPPEARANCE AT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN LEATHERDYKE SNOWPICNIC
A new play by Monty Rozema and directed by Adrian Prendergast, Disappearance at the Rocky Mountain Leatherdyke Snowpicnic follows Lois, a newcomer at a sapphic kink retreat who becomes entangled in a mystery after a picnicker vanishes. The play blends comedy, suspense, and genre tropes.
FIGURE DRAWING FOR DUMMIES
Selected from Annex’s Work-In-Progress series for full production, Figure Drawing for Dummies is written by Daisy Schreiber and directed by Sammy Weinert. The play explores authorship, consent, and artistic legacy through the story of a painter whose viral success is built on a nude portrait of her partner.
RAT CAGE
Written by Coco Justino and directed by Em Majewski, Rat Cage follows burlesque performer Vendetta Payne as she navigates family, labor, media exploitation, and survival in a satirical examination of monetized trauma and performance culture.
WORK-IN-PROGRESS: STAGED READINGS
Annex Theatre will continue its Work-In-Progress staged reading series, offering developmental readings of six new plays. The 2026 lineup will include We Forget to Remember by Anna Tatelman, Deadheading by Miranda Mars, The Crockpot by Peter Davies, Caesar: The Promise of Harlem by Tré Cotten, College or Bust by Mateo Acuña-Bracken, and Waiting for Mushrooms by hk goldstein.
INDUSTRY NIGHT READINGS
New to the season, Annex will introduce Industry Night Readings, a one-night-only series designed to highlight culturally urgent plays for artists, producers, and community partners. The inaugural slate will include Celebrity Dream Date by Keenya J. Jackson, Saffron Stain by Ferdos Heidari, Madres de la Revolución by Leora Lihach, and Good Shepard by Monique Hebert.
Additional production details, including ticketing information, will be announced by Annex Theatre.
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