Dear Friends,

I’m thrilled to welcome you to the 2026–2027 season as we celebrate 36 years of Theater J!

This season’s plays explore the enduring power of friendship, the complexities of love, and the transformative moments that shape who we are and who we become. From Belarus to Brooklyn, Pittsburgh to Pakistan, Cuba to California, the plays this season traverse centuries and continents to tell stories that awaken our imagination and encourage us to talk across difference. These plays illuminate how human connection can inspire courage, creativity, and act as a catalyst for change.

We open the season with the DC premiere of The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk by Daniel Jamieson, a captivating story about the life and love of Marc and Bella Chagall, set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution. Before the paintings, poems, and international acclaim, they were two young dreamers whose love for one another became a transformative force. The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk invites you to enter the world of Chagall’s paintings in a play that is a valentine to creative flight and imagination.

Our December production, Tropical Secrets, adapted by L. M. Feldman from Margarita Engle’s poetic novel, is a mesmerizing story for ages 8 and up. Set on the shores of Havana, it follows Daniel, a young German Jewish refugee who arrives in an unfamiliar land and forms a bond with Paloma, a young Cuban girl. Their inspiring determination celebrates how people can make a difference at any age.

We’re very excited that Michael Shayan, fresh off his Broadway debut, will be with us next season for Avaaz. It’s structured as an elegant Nowruz (Persian New Year) dinner party, in which Shayan, playing his mother, Roya, explores his Iranian heritage and his family’s complicated history. Poignant and extremely funny, Shayan invites us into his mother’s life, spanning from her early years in Iran to the life she made for herself in this country.

American Girls by Emily Feldman will make its world premiere in March! This play, commissioned by Theater J, is a coming-of-age story in which two friends navigate the pivotal awakenings of girlhood, shaped by the cultural touchstones of the Millennial generation. Emily Feldman’s dynamic portrayal of a friendship over decades confronts a timeless question: can a love born of innocence survive everything that comes after?

We close our season in June with the DC premiere of Emil Weinstein’s Becoming Eve, which was a recent hit in New York City. Growing up in a prominent dynastic Hassidic rabbinical family, Chava was expected to follow the tradition. When she reveals her trans identity, three rabbis clash over how to move forward in a story that will encourage you to read the old texts in new ways. Becoming Eve is based on the critically acclaimed memoir by Abby Chava Stein. I have never seen a story like this before on the stage and am thrilled to share it with our community in DC. 

The season ahead offers us powerful new stories that speak to the breadth and depth of Theater J’s mission, through artists illuminating the past and the complex realities of our current moment. I look forward to seeing you at the theater!

Hayley Finn

Theater J Artistic Director