Theater J

Two (2) subscription seats for the 2026-27 season. From bold gestures to passionate pleas to surprising romance and unexpected transformation, the plays in our season reflect on our past and present and send us soaring toward the future. 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.