This season, we will be producing a Mainstage production as well as a co-production of a new work, launching a digital magazine, and working on a new collaboration with Queens College. Across our tenth anniversary season, we will also continue our education work, present a special edition of our community program, storytime, as well as a to-be-announced tenth anniversary celebration, and other free public facing events.
From the editor: For my very first interview, I “ventured” to Astoria to meet my dear friend and collaborator Patricia Marjorie. Patricia is a multidisciplinary theatermaker from Brasília, Brazil, well-known in the New York theatrical landscape as a Props Designer, with extensive experience as an Actor, Director, Costume and Set Designer too. Like many of us, she fell in love with theater after experiencing the euphoria of performing on stage.
We are returning to CUNY Queens College to conceptualise the theatrical elements of a new exhibition at the Godwin-Ternbach Museum on campus. Alongside frequent collaborators Germán Martínez, Melannie Vásquez Lara, and Art Kopischke, we have conducted a range of interviews with Latine folks across the city to create soundscapes as part of the museum’s flagship fall exhibition, “Quinceañera: Dress and Memory in Latine Culture." The exhibit will run on campus for the duration of the Fall 2025 semester.
Written by Co-Artistic Director James Clements, this piece will make its world premiere in the Spring of 2026. The project, which has been in development since 2018, explores the complex and controversial life and career of Leni Riefenstahl. It has been developed through workshops in Berlin, New York, and Cleveland, and has been supported by the Berliner Schule Für Schauspiel, A.R.T./New York, the BorderLight Festival, Indiespace, the Playwrights Realm, the University of Southern California’s German Exile Studies Grant, and the cell’s Artist-in-Residence program.
As part of the preparation for this production, we are excited to share that they are Artists-in-Residence at the Goethe-Institut New York. The Institut, Germany’s cultural institute, operates worldwide, promoting knowledge of the German language abroad and fostering international cultural collaborations.
As part of the preparation for this production, the Neighbors are excited to share that they are Artists-in-Residence at the Goethe-Institut New York. The Institut, Germany’s cultural institute, operates worldwide, promoting knowledge of the German language abroad and fostering international cultural collaborations. The New York centre will host the Neighbors as they prepare for the production of “Beauty Freak.”
This new play by Andrew Watkins is a retelling of Sophocles’ Ajax, combining contemporary documentary theatre with the original text, at a soon-to-be-announced venue. Watkins, a respected writer and director working between New York and Berlin, has been developing the project since 2022 and will continue to shape it through an upcoming residency at Mercury Store in March 2026. We are thrilled to partner with Sanguine Theatre and Hamlet Isn't Dead to bring this production to life next Spring.
Established in 2017, “storytime” is a free night of storytelling and live music for the Neighborhood, held at various venues throughout New York. Each event features a specific theme (such as “Uplifting Black Stories,” “Not A Day Goes By” or “Waiting”) curated by the visiting musicians (including Eleri Ward, Kathryn Allison and Amyra León) and hosts (including Abby Feldman, Xavier Reyes and Ayla Sullivan). Any audience member who is willing to tell a story is welcome to, creating an authentic and powerful collective experience. This event has so far served over 3500 folks in the New York and online, and was recently recognized with a $15k NYC Department of Cultural Affairs CDF Grant. Most recently, “storytime” was part of the Six Foot Platform in DUMBO. Previous venues include: the cell theatre, Industry City Distillery and Starr Bar.
Returning as playwrights for a third year, this free youth education program creates a brave and welcoming space where young artists can share important ideas and generate exciting theatre that will be performed for their peers. Jane O’Leary, the Director of Education at Barrington Stage Company, noted, “[A]s playwright mentors in PMP, James and Sam are experts at knowing how to work with the teens to support them dramaturgically. Every year, we benefit from their craft and look forward to how they help the program grow artistically.”
Returning as playwrights for a third year, this free youth education program creates a brave and welcoming space where young artists can share important ideas and generate exciting theatre that will be performed for their peers. Jane O’Leary, the Director of Education at Barrington Stage Company, noted, “[A]s playwright mentors in PMP, James and Sam are experts at knowing how to work with the teens to support them dramaturgically. Every year, we benefit from their craft and look forward to how they help the program grow artistically.”
