The Emporium Off-Broadway Tickets, News, Info & More
Classic Stage Company
136 East 13th Street New York City, NY 10003
More than 75 years in the making, an unfinished work by one of America’s greatest dramatists takes the New York stage at last. The Emporium unveils Thornton Wilder’s final play, brought to life through playwright Kirk Lynn’s masterful completion. As a young man journeys through the city and beyond, he encounters a world of wonder, meaning, and the elusive truths of life itself. Wilder’s long-unseen masterpiece is finally ready to be discovered, offering a rare chance to experience a new work from a legendary voice.
The Emporium - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR The Emporium
‘The Emporium’ Review: Thornton Wilder’s Metaphorically Resonant Lost Play
9 / 10
Quoted in a 1950 article in the New York Times, Wilder said his play was “a kind of a mixture of Horatio Alger and Franz Kafka, with a department store serving as the central image.” That did seem to be his m.o., mixing European experiments with narrative and form and a can-do American determination. It’s interesting to consider the department store as a relic, having given way to the mall, which succumbed to the big box store, before online retailers became the market leaders. Some might say that certain art forms are relics too, yet we pursue them because a life without them offers what exactly? Given the world we inhabit, which seems designed to drive us toward the monotony of Craigie’s, we probably need the Emporium more than ever.
‘The Emporium’ Review: Thornton Wilder Doesn’t Make the Sale
6 / 10
Lynn has a long catalog of excellent plays, and given another whack, he might find a more active approach to Wilder’s archive. In 2011, he and the Rude Mechs company brought “The Method Gun” to New York, and I still remember its audacity — at one point, the group performed incidental lines from Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire,” while dodging swinging pendulums. That spirit of danger is exactly what’s missing in this lugubrious Emporium. There might be a terror to adapting a giant like Williams or Wilder, but the answer ain’t reverence: You’ve got to get in there and dance.
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by Chloe Rabinowitz - May 20, 2026
Classic Stage Company celebrated the opening night of Thornton Wilder’s The Emporium, the New York premiere of master American dramatist Thornton Wilder’s final play. See photos from opening night here!
by A.A. Cristi - May 18, 2026
Read reviews for Classic Stage Company’s New York premiere of Thornton Wilder’s final play, The Emporium, adapted and completed by Kirk Lynn and directed by Rob Melrose.
by Chloe Rabinowitz - May 8, 2026
You can now get a first look at Classic Stage Company’s New York premiere of Thornton Wilder’s final play, The Emporium, adapted and completed by Kirk Lynn and directed by Rob Melrose.
by Luka Vonier - April 18, 2026
Rehearsals are underway for Classic Stage Company’s New York premiere of Thornton Wilder’s final play, The Emporium, adapted and completed by Kirk Lynn and directed by Rob Melrose. Watch in this video as the whole company chats more about what audiences can expect.
by Jennifer Broski - April 10, 2026
More than 75 years in the making, an unfinished work by one of America's greatest dramatists takes the New York stage at last. The Emporium unveils Thornton Wilder's final play, brought to life through playwright Kirk Lynn's masterful completion
by Chloe Rabinowitz - February 11, 2026
Classic Stage Company has revealed the cast for the New York premiere of Thornton Wilder’s final play, The Emporium, adapted and completed by Kirk Lynn.
The Emporium History
Other Productions of The Emporium
| 2026 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
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