Geffen Playhouse Announces Seven Productions For 2025/2026 Season Lineup, Featuring Three World Premieres

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES SEVEN PRODUCTIONS FOR 2025/2026 SEASON LINEUP, FEATURING THREE WORLD PREMIERES

THE WORLD PREMIERE OF “AM I ROXIE?,” WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY ROXANA ORTEGA, WILL LAUNCH THE NEW SEASON, FOLLOWED BY THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RUDI GOBLEN’S “LITTLEBOY/LITTLEMAN,” THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF DOUGLAS LYONS’ “TABLE 17,” AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF BETH HYLAND’S “SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA”

THE SEASON WILL CONTINUE WITH THE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF “DRAGON MAMA,” WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY SARA PORKALOB, FOLLOWED BY ATHOL FUGARD’S “MASTER HAROLD…AND THE BOYS,” AND CLOSE WITH THE WEST COAST PREMIERE OF PEARL CLEAGE’S “ANGRY, RAUCOUS, AND SHAMELESSLY GORGEOUS”

LOS ANGELES (April 15, 2025) – Geffen Playhouse today announced seven productions that will make up its 2025/2026 season lineup, marking the second season from Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney. The 2025/2026 season will launch September 3, 2025, and continue through July 12, 2026. The lineup will feature a mix of Los Angeles, West Coast and world premieres.

“Producing live theater is a beautiful challenge,” said Geffen Playhouse Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney. “With every show we strive to make compelling connections with audiences and living art. We dedicated more than half of the past year to workshops, readings, and deep conversations to push ourselves to meet that challenge with new audiences and emerging artists. It has helped us heighten our collaborative efforts and has brought us a lot of joy along the way. None of this would be possible without the mighty team here at the Geffen. It’s an honor for us to share these worlds and relationships with our community.”

Added Geffen Playhouse Executive Director/CEO Gil Cates, Jr., “Building on the remarkable success of his groundbreaking inaugural season, Tarell has curated a dynamic lineup of bold new works from emerging artists, alongside an eclectic array of compelling voices, for the Geffen’s 2025/2026 season. As both an artist and playwright, he possesses a profound ability to recognize transformative stories—ones that will deeply resonate with audiences and ignite meaningful conversations.”

The 2025/2026 Geffen Playhouse season will launch in its Gil Cates Theater with the world premiere of the fiercely funny one-woman tour-de-force Am I Roxie? written and performed by Roxana Ortega (The Casagrandes, The Groundlings). Ortega navigates the chaos of her mother’s mental decline with outrageous humor and unbreakable spirit. The season will continue in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater with the world premiere of littleboy/littleman, an electrifying tale of brotherhood and belonging that pulses with rhythm and emotion, pulling us into a world where family is everything, but dreams come at a cost, from playwright Rudi Goblen. Next up in the Gil Cates Theater is the West Coast premiere of Table 17 from the creative minds of Douglas Lyons (Chicken & Biscuits) and Zhailon Levingston (Cats: The Jellicle Ball), fresh off its hit Off-Broadway debut. This witty new play serves up romance, regrets, and the unexpected possibility of second chances.

The season will then pick up in the new year with the world premiere of SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA in the Gil Cates Theater. Darkly funny and haunting, from rising playwright Beth Hyland, this tragicomic thriller explores creativity, obsession, and our ghosts that refuse to be ignored. Next up in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater will be the Los Angeles premiere of Dragon Mama (Part II of The Dragon Cycle) written and performed by Sara Porkalob, marking Porkalob’s return to the Geffen after the wildly successful run of Dragon Lady (Part I of The Dragon Cycle) in the Geffen’s 2024/2025 season. Packed with ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and a killer ‘90s R&B soundtrack, this award-winning, high-octane solo show is a raw, hilarious, and deeply moving story of resilience, queer love, and what it takes to break free and find home. The season will continue in the Gil Cates Theater with Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”…and the Boys, a gripping, deeply personal drama that unflinchingly confronts the realities of race, power and betrayal, set in the charged atmosphere of a 1950s South African tea shop.

Completing the 2025/2026 season will be the West Coast premiere of Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous in the Gil Cates Theater, a sharp-witted and soulful new comedy about art, activism, and aging on your own terms from award-winning playwright Pearl Cleage (Blues for an Alabama Sky).

The S. Mark Taper Foundation is the Geffen Playhouse 2025/2026 season sponsor. The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people’s lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities.

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE 2025/2026 SEASON

Am I Roxie? (Gil Cates Theater)
WORLD PREMIERE
September 3 – October 5, 2025
Written & Performed by Roxana Ortega
Directed by Bernardo Cubría

In this fiercely funny one-woman tour-de-force based on her own life, writer/actor Roxana Ortega (The Casagrandes, The Groundlings) navigates the chaos of her mother’s mental decline with outrageous humor and unbreakable spirit. Playing everything from a mermaid-obsessed aunt to a prickly sherpa, Roxie takes us on a wild ride into an opera house, up a killer mountain, and through the doomscape of her own mind. Heartfelt and hilarious, Am I Roxie? explores duty, destiny, and how facing your darkest fears can reveal who you truly are.

littleboy/littleman (Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater)
WORLD PREMIERE
October 1 – November 2, 2025
Written by Rudi Goblen
Directed by Nancy Medina

When Nicaraguan brothers Fíto and Bastian clash over their visions of the American Dream, their choices send them on a collision course with fate—risking not just their futures, but their bond. Fíto, a poet, is impulsive and ambitious, willing to take risks to get what he wants. Bastian, a telemarketer, is steady and principled, holding onto caution as a guide. Blending poetry, live music, and ritual, this electrifying tale of brotherhood and belonging pulses with rhythm and emotion, pulling us into a world where family is everything, but dreams come at a cost.

The MCC Theater Production of
Table 17 (Gil Cates Theater)
WEST COAST PREMIERE
November 5 – December 7, 2025
Written by Douglas Lyons
Directed by Zhailon Levingston
Produced in Association with Jeffrey Richards & Mark Cortale
Featuring Gail Bean, Biko Eisen-Martin & Michael Rishawn

If your ex called, would you answer? Jada and Dallas were once engaged—now, they’re meeting for dinner to untangle the past. Between cheeky waiters, old wounds, and the undeniable spark that still lingers between them, their “casual” reunion may ignite a bomb neither of them can defuse. Fresh off its hit Off-Broadway debut and from the creative minds of Douglas Lyons (Chicken & Biscuits) and Zhailon Levingston (Cats: The Jellicle Ball), this witty new play serves up romance, regrets, and the unexpected possibility of second chances.

Production Sponsor: City National Bank

SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA (Gil Cates Theater)
WORLD PREMIERE
February 4 – March 8, 2026
Written by Beth Hyland
Directed by Jo Bonney

Sally, a once-celebrated novelist grappling with writer's block and overshadowed by her husband Theo’s rising literary fame, seeks solace and inspiration in the iconic Boston apartment once inhabited by Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes. But when eerie encounters begin to blur the line between inspiration and madness, Sally is forced to question what’s real, what’s imagined, and what her art may truly cost her. A darkly funny, gripping world premiere from rising playwright Beth Hyland, this tragicomic thriller explores creativity, obsession, and our ghosts that refuse to be ignored.

Dragon Mama (Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater)
Part II of The Dragon Cycle
LOS ANGELES PREMIERE
March 4 – April 12, 2026
Written & Performed by Sara Porkalob
Directed by Andrew Russell

Broadway star Sara Porkalob returns to the Geffen Playhouse for the second installment of “The Dragon Cycle.” In this next chapter, Maria Porkalob, Jr. dreams of a bigger, gayer life beyond Bremerton, WA. But when an unexpected chance to escape arises, she faces an impossible choice—stay with her struggling family or chase freedom in the wilds of Alaska. Packed with ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and a killer ’90s R&B soundtrack, this award-winning, high-octane solo show is a raw, hilarious, and deeply moving story of resilience, queer love, and what it takes to break free and find home.

“Master Harold”…and the Boys (Gil Cates Theater)
Written by Athol Fugard
April 8 – May 10, 2026

Step into the charged atmosphere of a 1950s South African tea shop in Athol Fugard’s “Master Harold”…and the Boys, a gripping, deeply personal drama that unflinchingly confronts the realities of race, power, and betrayal. On a rainy afternoon, Hally, a white teenager, passes the time with Sam and Willie, two Black waiters who have helped raise him by filling the gaps of a broken home with warmth, wisdom, and laughter. But as the day unfolds, playful memories give way to painful truths, and a single moment threatens to shatter the fragile bond between them forever.

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous (Gil Cates Theater)
WEST COAST PREMIERE
June 10 – July 12, 2026
Written by Pearl Cleage
Directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson
Produced in Association with Black Rebirth Collective

Anna Campbell is a trailblazing actress flush with accolades but short on cash. After returning to the U.S. to stage a career-defining comeback, she collides with a new generation that challenges her past, her politics, and her place in the movement. Award-winning playwright Pearl Cleage (Blues for an Alabama Sky) teams up with Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson (The Piano Lesson) to deliver a sharp-witted and soulful new comedy about art, activism, and aging on your own terms.

This production is made possible, in part, by support from Cast Iron Entertainment.

ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director/CEO Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Tarell Alvin McCraney and Board Chair Adi Greenberg. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org