Spotlight on Plays: May 2026

Spring has sprung, and with it’s arrival, comes new plays for theatre lovers of all kinds. Whether you live for intense dramas or would rather escape with zany comedies, there’s something for everyone both on and off-Broadway in May 2026.

Plays on Broadway

Celebrity Autobiography

(Previews: 5/16/2026, Opening: 5/18/2026, Closing: 9/6/2026)

The Off-Broadway smash Celebrity Autobiography, created by Eugene Pack, will make its Broadway premiere at the Shubert Theatre featuring an all-star, constantly-expanding, rotating cast. Celebrity Autobiography is the international hit comedy sensation featuring a constantly-expanding rotating cast of today’s celebrities from TV, film and stage, sports, and, yes, even politics, acting out OTHER celebrities’ unintentionally hilarious autobiographies live on Broadway.

The rotating cast of Celebrity Autobiography currently includes: Brooke Adams, Pamela Adlon, Scott Adsit, Lewis Black, Christie Brinkley, Danny Burstein, Mario Cantone, Bob Costas, Tate Donovan, Chloe Fineman, Will Forte, Gina Gershon, Kathy Griffin, Jeff Hiller, Jackie Hoffman, Christopher Jackson, Ken Jeong, Gayle King, Stewart Lane, Susan Lucci, Ralph Macchio, Ben Mankiewicz, Andrea Martin, Donna McKechnie, Eric McCormack, Bobby Moynihan, Laraine Newman, Oscar Nunez, Cheri Oteri, Eugene Pack, Tiler Peck, Billy Porter, Dayle Reyfel, Phil Rosenthal, Tony Shalhoub, Sherri Shepherd, Molly Shannon, Jennifer Tilly, Kenan Thompson, Nia Vardalos, Bruce Vilanch, Rita Wilson, and Alan Zweibel.

Plays Off-Broadway

Lizzy Sunshine

(Previews: 5/6/2026, Opening: 5/6/2026, Closing: 5/16/2026)

Lizzy Sunshine is a fast-paced, interactive comedy that explores a rarely discussed perspective: what it means to love someone struggling with addiction—and the emotional coping mechanisms that come with it. Blending clown, character comedy, and audience participation, the show follows Lizzy, a relentlessly optimistic performer determined to keep her show—and her reality—intact, even as everything begins to unravel. When her onstage partner fails to appear, Lizzy turns to the audience to help carry the performance forward, creating a chaotic and deeply human theatrical experience.

Latest:

The People Versus Lenny Bruce

(Previews: 5/7/2026, Opening: 5/14/2026, Closing: 6/28/2026)

The story of Lenny Bruce and his New York trial is more relevant now than ever. A heart-breaking and thought provoking story filled with humor, this theatrical adaptation is the story of comic Lenny Bruce and his lawyer Martin Garbus who tried to save his client from the system – and from himself. At the conclusion of the trial, License Inspector Herbert Ruhe, the Prosecuter’s witness, said the following to Attorney Allen Schwartz: “We aimed for Bruce. We picked him out of all the performers. I know he was not obscene, yet in a way I feel he had to be convicted.” These words were spoken in 1964 but they could have easily been said in 2026

Latest:

New Born

(Previews: 5/8/2026, Opening: 5/8/2026, Closing: 6/8/2026)

A tree surgeon falls in love. A young woman searches for her lost friend on the prairie. A new mother is consumed by an unlikely celebrity friendship. In three monologues, unrelated individuals find their smallest choices ripple into seismic changes that connect them across centuries and continents. An unforgettable evening of theater exploring relationships, identity, and change from acclaimed British playwright Ella Hickson.

 

This Is Not About Me

(Previews: 5/13/2026, Opening: 5/15/2026, Closing: 6/7/2026)

A spiraling playwright dramatizes the secrets of her broken relationship, but as passion blurs into obsession she loses her grip on the narrative. Should she let truth get in the way of a good story? In this tender will-they-won’t-they, we are catapulted through a decade of Eli and Grace’s relationship. As they spin in each other’s orbit, we unravel how much they mean to each other and why it fell apart. Meticulously hand crafted by multi-disciplinary artists, this “beautifully conceived and brilliantly performed” (British Theatre Guide) non-linear love story is a metatheatrical rollercoaster through heartbreak and hyperreality. Catch the 5 star, kaleidoscopic cult-hit for their Stateside debut.

Latest:

Go Down Moses

(Previews: 5/13/2026, Opening: 5/17/2026, Closing: 5/31/2026)

Inspired by a true story, Go Down, Moses is set on a college campus in 1985 and follows ethics professor Philip Hoffman and newly appointed Dean of Students Albert Becker—two men bound by a shared history in the Civil Rights Movement—now navigating a new generation of activism. When a student from the South Bronx invites a controversial speaker to campus, long-standing tensions erupt, and questions of free speech, institutional responsibility, and systemic inequity come sharply into focus. Though set nearly four decades ago, Go Down, Moses speaks directly to the urgent debates shaping today’s campuses and communities—who gets a platform, how institutions respond to extremism, and what safety, inclusion, and accountability truly mean.

Latest:

Obit

(Previews: 5/14/2026, Opening: 5/18/2026, Closing: 5/30/2026)

When an anxious soon-to-be father returns to his estranged dad’s chaotic New York apartment, he’s pulled into a messy, darkly funny confrontation with family history, forgotten memories, and the unraveling mind of a man he thought he’d already said goodbye to, until an obituary forces him to rewrite what legacy really means. Balancing dark, biting humor with emotional urgency, Obit. explores dementia, generational inheritance, and the fear of becoming one’s parents, while asking what, if anything, we leave behind when memory fails.

Latest:

A Night of Chekhov

(Previews: 5/16/2026, Opening: 5/16/2026, Closing: 6/28/2026)

duse productions presents a night of chekhov three of chekhov’s rarely produced comic masterworks – swan song, the proposal, and the bear – performed as one complete evening. funny, warm, and completely alive. swan song an aging actor wakes alone in an empty theatre after his farewell performance. a meditation on talent, regret, and time. sets the emotional tone of the evening. the proposal a man arrives to propose marriage but cannot stop arguing. comic escalation of miscommunication and pride. the bear a creditor confronts a widow. Explosive comic energy. closes the evening on full force.

 

A Woman Among Women

(Previews: 5/16/2026, Opening: 6/4/2026, Closing: 6/28/2026)

It’s a summer day in Northampton, Massachusetts and Cleo, founder of the local women’s wellness center, holds court in her backyard. As friends, family and neighbors pass through, the air hums with a tension that may destroy the community she’s worked so hard to build. With A WOMAN AMONG WOMEN, playwright Julia May Jonas (Netflix’s Vladimir, LCT3: Your Own Personal Exegesis) delivers a sharp, subversive counterpoint to Arthur Miller’s All My Sons. “Fascinating, playful, and ultimately wrenching” (Vulture), Jonas offers a new take on the American tragedy.

Latest:

SMALL

(Previews: 5/20/2026, Opening: 5/28/2026, Closing: 7/25/2026)

Bobby is a small Puerto Rican/Italian kid from Long Island with a big dream. Soon he’s galloping headlong into the strange, obsessive world of professional horse racing. But the track is as dangerous as it is exciting, full of colorful characters and powerful beasts. The jockeys and their associates form a makeshift brotherhood even as they wrestle with the extremes of their sport. But will Bobby outgrow his dream or be consumed by it? SMALL is a tour-de-force about finding and losing yourself in the messy process of growing up as one young man’s dreams unexpectedly lead him from the Belmont racetrack to the Broadway stage.

Latest:

• Robert Montano’s SMALL to Play Returning NYC Engagement Off-Broadway (4/22/2026)

Can I Be Frank?

(Previews: 5/21/2026, Opening: 5/21/2026, Closing: 6/27/2026)

In a desperate attempt to prove they can think about someone other than themself, Morgan Bassichis turns to the work of queer comedian, musician, and performance artist Frank Maya. Maya was among the first out gay comedians on network television and on the precipice of mainstream success before he died from AIDS-related complications in 1995. This new “solo” performance humbly attempts to ensure Maya’s legacy is no longer overlooked while finally resolving the bottomless queer search for fame, father figures, and laughter in times of crisis.

Latest:

Romeo and Juliet

(Previews: 5/22/2026, Opening: 6/11/2026, Closing: 6/28/2026)

Never was there a story of more woe, or more romance, than the Bard’s timeless tale of two young lovers from warring families. As the Montagues and Capulets are torn apart by ideology and simmering violence spills into the streets of the border town of Verona, Romeo and Juliet dare to defy a world determined to keep them apart. In this bold new staging, the play unfolds in English, but Romeo and Juliet speak to one another in Spanish, a language reserved only for their shared world.

Latest:

• LaChanze-and-More-in-Free-Shakespeare-in-the-Parks-ROMEO-JULIET-Rehearsals-20260504″ target=”_top”>Photos: Francis Jue, LaChanze and More in Free Shakespeare in the Park’s ROMEO & JULIET Rehearsals (5/4/2026)
• LaChanze-and-More-Join-ROMEO-JULIET-at-Shakespeare-in-the-Park-20260319″ target=”_top”>Francis Jue, LaChanze, and More Join ROMEO & JULIET at Shakespeare in the Park (3/19/2026)

David Copperfield

(Previews: 5/29/2026, Opening: 6/6/2026, Closing: 6/28/2026)

Fresh from its sell-out premiere run in London, Guildford Shakespeare Company’s “unmissable” adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “favorite child,” David Copperfield is the whirlwind tale of a young man’s life from humble beginnings to literary renown: a journey of romance and adventure filled with lovable rogues, wily scoundrels, and benevolent patrons.