Theater for the New City Dreams Up
Edgy Theater for New Yorkers
By: Susan Hall - Aug 17, 2026
Dream Up 2026 maintains the festival's commitment to new works. This year it offers 23 productions comprising 18 world premieres, one special engagement, one workshop, and three shows with previous production histories. Audiences will savor the excitement, awe, passion, challenge and intrigue of new plays from around the country. The Festival is helmed by the theater's Literary Manager, Michael Scott-Price.
To facilitate review coverage, many of the shows' schedules are laid out over a span of two weeks; some run even longer. For your planning convenience, I would like to illustrate the scope of the festival with a few highlights:
"#OneInnocentWoman," written and directed by Matt Okin
World Premiere, 100 minutes no intermission
Johnson Theater, $20
8/31 @ 6:30 PM, 9/2 @ 6:30 PM, 9/3 @ 9:00 PM, 9/6 @ 2:00 PM, 9/7 @ 6:30 PM, 9/9 @ 9:00 PM
"#oneinnocentwoman" is a rhythmic burst of comedic, melodramatic, tragic, and highly theatrical energy featuring five actors portraying 40+ characters in the challenging life of one American female as she ages from seventeen into her forties. A modern-era "period" piece, moving from the late 1980's through the very early 2000's, the stylized nature of the play allows for an ultimately poignant reflection on what gender roles mean today. www.mattokin.com
"Be A Man," written and directed by James Bastone
World Premiere, 85 min.
Cabaret Theater, $18
9/4 @ 6:30 PM, 9/5@ 8:00 PM, 9/6 5:00 PM, 9/7 @ 6:30 PM, 9/8 @ 6:30 PM, 9/9 @ 9:00 PM, 9/10 @ 9:00 PM, 9/11 @ 6:30 PM, 9/12 @ 2:00 PM
After being dumped by his girlfriend, Richard decides to attend the Be A Man seminar hosted by John Hancock. What begins as a simple seminar divulges into a reckoning of Richard's love life, masculinity, and future. Comedic, poignant, and timely "Be A Man" is a show for all audiences wrestling with what it means to live and love in the 21st century.
"The Box," written and directed by Patrick Hamilton
World Premiere, 80 min.
Community Space Theater, $20
8/23 @ 8:00 PM, 8/24 @ 9:00 PM, 8/25 @ 9:00 PM, 8/29 5:00 PM, 9/1 @ 6:30 PM, 9/3 @ 9:00 PM
A taut, darkly comedic psychological thriller about masculinity, fear, and the quiet violence of expectations. On the night Stephen plans to propose to his girlfriend Alice, her father arrives first with a shocking ultimatum that forces Stephen to confront the darkest truths about their relationship. As the night spirals out of control, Stephen must hide a devastating secret while fighting to save the future he thought he wanted.
"City of Ladies" by Lorraine Liscio, directed by Myriam Cyr
World Premiere, 90 min.
Johnson Theater, $20
9/5@ 8:00 PM, 9/8 @ 6:30 PM, 9/10 @ 6:30 PM, 9/11 @ 9:00 PM, 9/12 5:00 PM, 9/13 @ 11:00 PM
One book, Two dukes. A kingdom on the brink. Christine de Pizan's City of Ladies--where feminist defiance meets the fires of history.
"The Book of the City of Ladies," written in 1405 by Christine de Pizan, is a pioneering feminist allegorical work. It defends women against medieval misogyny by constructing a metaphorical city populated by famous, moral, and intellectual female figures from history, religion, and mythology. https://punctuate4.org/our-story
"Love Insurance" by Rita Mercury, directed by Brooke Tyler Benson
World Premiere 100 min.
Community Space Theater, $20
9/2 @ 6:30 PM, 9/3 @ 9:00 PM, 9/4 @ 9:00 PM, 9/6 @ 2:00 PM, 9/7 @ 9:00 PM, 9/9 @ 6:30 PM, 9/12 @ 8:00 PM
What if love could be insured? What if heartbreak could be prevented before it ever happened? In a world where emotions are carefully managed and love is treated like the greatest financial risk, one unexpected encounter begins to crack a perfectly designed system. Blending sharp comedy, romance, magical realism and quiet philosophy, "Love Insurance" is a 100-minute journey through rain, tea, music, memories, impossible choices and the question we all eventually face: is a safe life worth living if it means never truly loving? Bring your favorite tea mug.
"Magnus," written and directed by Wendy Biller.
World Premiere, 80-85 min.
Community Space Theater, $15
8/27 @ 6:30 PM, 8/28 @ 9:00 PM, 8/29@ 8:00 PM, 8/30 @ 2:00 PM 8/31 @ 6:30 PM
The Weimar Republic clashes with Hollywood in this raucous dance comedy. Two aging queer writers hope their project on sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld, whose sex institute was destroyed by the Nazis, will be the success story they are hoping for as they pitch it to a Hollywood producer. A tale narrated by Hirschfed himself, told with an ensemble of dysfunctional characters played by Aaron Applebey, Tabitha Bradley, Taylor Brandon, Caroline Hawthorne, Louise Heller and S. Brian Jones.
"Mahogany Hall," book and lyrics by Katharine McNair; music and score by Michael Gallant
World Premiere, 65-75 min.
Community Space Theater, $15
9/8 @ 9:00 PM, 9/9 @ 6:30 PM, 9/10 @ 6:30 PM, 9/11 @ 9:00 PM, 9/12 5:00 PM
A dramatic musical about the women living and working in the Mahogany Hall brothel in New Orleans' Storyville District in1929. The piece takes its audience to where magic meets the banal and difficult circumstances that women, both past and present, have faced – and continue to. While the musical acknowledges harsh realities, it's full of lively music and hope, as Mahogany Hall's characters are determined to set a new course for themselves and gain their economic freedom.
"Queensbridge" by Marlin Thomas, directed by DeMone Seraphin
World Premiere, 75 min.
Cabaret Theater, $15
8/29@ 8:00 PM, 8/30 @ 2:00 PM, 8/30 5:00 PM, 9/5 @ 5:00 PM, 9/8 @ 9:00 PM, 9/10 @ 6:30 PM, 9/11 @ 9:00 PM, 9/12 5:00 PM, 9/13 @ 2:00 PM
Queensbridge is the largest public housing project in North America. This production renders it through an oral history project that became a play.
During an oral history interview, a decades-long resident of the nation's largest housing project recounts the trauma of living there, his complicity in it, and his attempt at redemption. A man called Pharaoh holds court for an interviewer recording the history of his home. Around him, the neighbors of six decades return. Each interview is a record of how a person arrives in a place like this and what the place makes of them. The play is political but not partisan. Threaded through every memory is the Voice of NYCHA -- the smooth, official account of the development, contradicted line-by-line by the people who actually lived there. https://QueensbridgeStagePlay.US
Curious on what else is offered?
Visit the festival's website at: http://dreamupfestival.org.