Two World Premieres and More Set for Lucille Lortel Theatre 2026-27 Season

The Lucille Lortel Theatre has revealed new artistic programming and commissions. These initiatives include two world premieres, a fifth round of commissions of new plays, a digital play reading, a new season of online interviews with playwrights and theatre-makers; and more. 

Fantasma

From November 7–December 20, 2026, Primary Stages and Lucille Lortel Theatre, in association with Jan McAdoo, present the world premiere of Fantasma by Benjamin Benne and directed by Laurie Woolery at 59E59 Theaters. Set on Christmas Eve, three generations of women gather in Rosie’s newly renovated kitchen to make chuchitos – a traditional Guatemalan recipe passed down by heart, touch, and intuition. While her granddaughters attempt to document the dish step-by-step, they discover that what’s being preserved isn’t just food, and that recording and remembering are entirely different things. Spanning nearly two decades, Fantasma is a bittersweet exploration of what we keep, what we lose, and the impossibility of ever capturing it exactly right.

You Seem Sad

Ma-Yi Theater Company and WP Theater, in association with Lucille Lortel Theatre, present the world premiere of You Seem Sad by Leah Nanako Winkler and directed by May Adrales. Running April 3–May 2, 2027 at WP Theater, You Seem Sad weaves post-WWII Nagasaki and early-2000s New York City together through the parallel journeys of Keiko—a young unapologetic atomic-bomb survivor rebuilding her life in 1950s Japan—and Student 1, a half-Japanese twenty-something who is reckoning with her career, love and identity in contemporary America. With humor, brutal honesty, and heart, the play intertwines memory, personal pain and history into a layered portrait of two women shaped by different eras yet bound by a shared search for meaning, connection and  the pursuit of survival. 

The Alcove

Several programmatic initiatives are part of The Alcove at the Lortel, the Lortel’s new play development program for early and mid-career playwrights, led and curated by Caridad Svich, Artistic Director of New Play Development. 

American Nightmare

A free digital reading of American Nightmare by Lortel-commissioned playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak will stream online October 5-19, 2026. What begins as a routine negotiation in a Dubai conference room becomes a dangerous game of power, desire, and complicity, as two men circle each other across the widening gulf between empires in decline and empires on the rise. Directed by Donnacadh O’Briain, the reading stars Tom Byrne, Lanna Joffrey, Khalid Laith, and Joe Richardson with stage directions by Caden Cristiano and dramaturgy by Callan McCarthy and William Gregory. Registration is required and can be made at https://lortel.org/american-nightmare/.

Since 2023, The Alcove at the Lortel has awarded over 40 commissions to early and mid-career playwrights. The fifth round of commissioned playwrights are Amara J. Brady, Libby Carr, Alyssa Haddad-Chin, Max Langert, Katarzyna Müller, Dhari Noel, Reynaldo Piniella, Ro Reddick, Gretchen Suárez-Peña, and Mallory Jane Weiss. These commissions can also be followed by further development with dramaturgs, directors, or designers. 

Alcove Circle

Complimenting these playwrights are Alcove Circle, a dramaturgical/advisory circle of artists focused on holistic engagement with the Alcove’s new works focusing on sustainability and accessibility. Participants include Alison Kopit, Callan McCarthy, Bobbin Ramsey, Will Steinberger, Oscar Toeman, Rory Willats, and Sammy Zeisel.

Faith Initiative

Under the auspices of Leap of Faith Initiative, discretionary support will be given to artists or projects that are in the research and development stage or would benefit from additional development support including Annalise Cain, Claire Crowley, Emma Howard, James La Bella, and Liba Vaynberg.

The Alcove at the Lortel will also welcome playwright Frances Poet as its Fall 2026 virtual artists in residence. Poet will work on her play Lana Is Cured, a darkly funny coming of age tale.

Playwright’s Salon

Playwright’s Salon, a new digital offering, gives viewers an opportunity to hear some of the Lortel’s commissioned and affiliated playwrights reading in-process work in their own voice. The salon includes informal conversation after each reading about themes and craft issues shared in common. Currently streaming is a conversation between Elaine Ávila, Zizi Majid, and Zarina Shea. Future episodes include William Gregory, Daniel York Loh, and Annie Siddons on October 12; Claire Crowley, Erin Gruodis-Gimbel, and Danny Tejera on November 9; Dhari Noel, Eka Savajol, and Tristan Willis on December 14; Max Langert, Peter Pasco, Brian James Polak on January 11; and Savannah Reich, Iraisa Ann Reilly, and Gretchen Suárez-Peña on February 8.

Playwright’s Salon

The 2026-2027 season also welcomes the fifth season of Conversations from the Alcove, a web series hosted on the Lortel’s YouTube channel featuring conversations with playwrights on arts, ideas, craft and the world. In addition to the recently released chats with Reynaldo Piniella and Frances Poet, future episodes will Gabriel Vega Weissman on October 5, Ro Reddick on October 19, Gretchen Suárez-Peña on October 26, Benjamin Benne on November 2, Alyssa Haddad-Chin on November 16, Mallory Jane Weiss on December 7, Amara J. Brady on December 21, Max Langert on January 4, Claire Crowley on January 18, James La Bella on February 1, Libby Carr on February 15, Abi Zakarian on March 1, and Leah Nanako Winkler on March 29.

The Alcove at the Lortel will also participate in Craft Bites International with the Playwrights Guild of Canada with two sessions: November 16 with Amara Brady and on December 7 with Alyssa Haddad-Chin.

NYC Public High School Playwriting Fellowship