2ST NEXT STAGE FESTIVAL

NEW WORKS BY D.A. MINDELL, ROSS GOLAN, KEIKO GREEN, JAY STULL, AND AURORA REAL DE ASUA

We’re thrilled to announce Second Stage Theater’s 2025 Next Stage Festival! The Festival formalizes our commitment to early-career playwrights, and creates a home for new work right here in midtown. If you’re a fan of boundary-breaking new theater, you’ll want to join us for Next Stage Festival. It all happens this winter at the The Pershing Square Signature Center.

The centerpiece of the Next Stage Festival is the Festival Production, a world premiere production of On the Evolutionary Function of Shame by D.A. Mindell. Plus, the Nancy Denovan Musical Reading and the Judith Champion Reading Series offer one-night-only readings of new works by early-career playwrights.

Second Stage members and subscribers receive priority access to the Next Stage Festival. The Nancy Denovan Musical Reading and The Judith Champion Reading Series are complimentary, though seats must be reserved in advance.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2025

JUDITH CHAMPION READING SERIES

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO THE END OF THE WORLD!

BY KEIKO GREEN

DIRECTED BY ZHAILON LEVINGSTON

Since Greg’s terminal diagnosis, he’s felt a deep connection to the Earth. To save himself, he’ll need to save the planet. His wife, Viv, desperately wants to savor every last minute with her husband. Meanwhile M, our emcee, searches desperately to find meaning in the chaos of the final year with their Dad. You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! is a heartfelt theatrical spectacle and a story as magical and strange as the world itself.

Date: January 27 – March 10, 2025