BETRAYAL and More Set for 1st Stage 2026-2027 Season

1st Stage has announced its 2026-2027 season. The season will begin with the Logan Festival of Solo Performance from August 20-30, 2026. This one-of-a-kind festival presents national, award-winning solo performers for two weeks of outstanding performances.

From October 8 to 25, 2026, 1st Stage will present Betrayal by Harold Pinter, directed by Artistic Director Alex Levy. Emma, Robert and Jerry have history. As her marriage to Robert comes to an end, Emma reconnects with Jerry, her former lover—and her husband's best friend—as the action unspools backward in time in an inventive retelling by the Nobel Prize-winning playwright. At once utterly domestic and dangerous, uncovering hidden truths and revealing how little we know about those we think we know so much about, it's an “elegy about time and memory (where) the greatest dramatic weight lies in what's unspoken” – The New York Times.

From December 3 to 20, 2026, 1st Stage will present The Tall Girls by Meg Miroshnik, directed by Madeleine Regina. Sometimes basketball is the only way out. Even for a girl. Even in the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The tiny hamlet of Poor Prairie doesn't see a lot of folks coming into town, least of all men – they've all left to find desperately needed work. So when one gets off the train, everybody talks, especially the high school girls looking for a meal ticket. The marryin' kind. But this man is mysterious. He's from Poor Prairie, but nobody knows where he's been and his story's got some…gaps. A few things are clear, though – he's teaching at the high school, he knows basketball, and most importantly, he has the only inflated basketball in town. Inspired by the flourishing and decline of high school girls' basketball teams in the 1930s rural Midwest, The Tall Girls asks: Who can afford the luxury of play? And what is the cost of childhood? “Out of the ordinary, in a genre unique unto itself, and thoroughly entertaining” – Atlanta Cultural Arts Review.

From February 11 to 28, 2027, 1st Stage will present The Travelers by Luis Alfaro, directed by José Carrasquillo. Humorous and poignant, The Travelers takes place in a monastery alongside Highway 99 in Grangeville, California, population 496 and home to migrant workers. When a stranger stumbles in with a gunshot wound, he is nursed by the brothers of the 936-year-old Carthusian Order — even as the Archdiocese is cutting financial support, casting a shadow. Funny and heartfelt, filled with ritual and absurd touches, The Travelers explores the brothers' struggles against poverty and the complexities of human connection. “Laugh-out-loud hilarious, magical storytelling…” – People's World.

From April 8 to 25, 2027, in co-production with Prologue Theatre, 1st Stage will present Jack Absolute Flies Again by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris, directed by 1st Stage Artistic Director Alex Levy. From the writer of the Broadway smash hit One Man, Two Guvnors comes a hilarious new play, set in 1940s British summertime. After an aerial dog fight, Pilot Officer Jack Absolute flies home to win the heart of his old flame, Lydia Languish. Back on British soil, Jack's advances soon turn to anarchy when the young heiress demands to be loved on her own, very particular, terms. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's classic comedy of manners, The Rivals, is given an uproarious Battle of Britain update by Richard Bean and Oliver Chris. “An enormously loveable show” – Sunday Times.

From June 3 to 20, 2027, 1st Stage will present Bulrusher by Eisa Davis, directed by Associate Artistic Director Deidra LaWan Starnes. Found floating in a basket on the river as an infant, Bulrusher is an orphan with a gift for clairvoyance that makes her feel like a stranger even amongst the strange: the taciturn schoolteacher who adopted her, the madam who runs her brothel with a fierce discipline, the logger with a zest for horses and women, and the guitar-slinging boy who is after Bulrusher's heart. Just when she thought her world might close in on her, she discovers an entirely new sense of self when a girl from Alabama comes to town. Passionate, lyrical, and chock full of down-home humor, this play is an unforgettable experience by a new, thrilling voice. “An engrossing rush... Eisa Davis' gleaming marriage of poetry and myth... has a big heart and a wide-open soul” – Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune.

Subscriptions and Flex Passes are available for savings of up to 50% off regular price tickets. Individual tickets will go on sale later in the summer. Subscriptions and Flex Passes can be purchased online at www.1ststage.org or by calling the 1st Stage box office at 703-854-1856.

ABOUT 1ST STAGE:

1st Stage Theatre is an award-winning professional theatre in the heart of Tysons, Virginia. The company serves as a cultural hub for the community producing first-rate theatrical productions as well as hosting professional musicians, orchestras, and visual artists, and providing educational opportunities for the community. 1st Stage's production of The Nance won 4 Helen Hayes Awards in 2025, including Outstanding Production, and was the most nominated production in the region. Other awards include the American Theatre Wing's National Theatre Company award.

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