(Pittsfield, MA) – Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Greg Reiner, is pleased to announce its complete 2026 season, including the addition of three World Premieres.
“BSC’s season is a thrilling reflection of who we are right now as a society, wrestling with division and longing for connection. At the Boyd-Quinson Theater, the searing, timely world premiere of The Zionists dives headfirst into identity and the fault lines of our political moment, while the virtuosic tour-de-force of Vanya presents one actor embodying the full spectrum of the human contradiction,” commented BSC Artistic Director Alan Paul. “At the St. Germain Stage, between the sharp wit and heart of Dead Girl’s Quinceañera and the cosmic intimacy of The Urmetazoan, we’re exploring mystery, memory, and the ties that bind across generations — and even galaxies. It’s an exciting season because it’s alive and designed to bring us together in the dark to experience something unforgettable.”
“This season, in addition to our productions of classics like A Chorus Line, Noises Off and Driving Miss Daisy, BSC is producing four World Premieres as part of an ambitious eight-play season,” notes Managing Director Greg Reiner. “New work is the lifeblood of the theater, and ensures that our stages remain vibrant, urgent, and forward-looking. We are deeply committed to stories of depth, craft, and emotional truth. By investing in new voices and powerful writing, we’re not only serving today’s audiences, we’re helping to shape theater’s future.”
BOYD-QUINSON THEATER
The Boyd-Quinson Theater season will open with the World Premiere of The Zionists: A Family Storm (June 16-July 3), produced in association with Miami New Drama. This provocative play by S. Asher Gelman (Afterglow) and directed by Chloe Treat (Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 for Broadway Asia), focuses on a Jewish family gathering for a reunion at a Caribbean island as a storm encroaches, and old grievances give way to new political fears in the aftermath of October 7.
Also newly added is Vanya (October 8-24), Simon Stephens’ one-actor adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya that recently thrilled audiences in London and New York in a production starring Andrew Scott. Alan Paul directs BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold (BSC: Harry Clarke, Freud’s Last Session, Breaking the Code), in an intimate setting that will have the audience seated onstage. The production, with reduced seating for 125 patrons, will create a unique relationship between the performer and audience that will emphasize a collective experience.
This special limited run of Vanya is not part of the 2026 season subscription, and is available as an additional production. Tickets will go on sale for Vanya at www.barringtonstageco.org in April.
As previously announced, the Boyd-Quinson season will feature a new production of A Chorus Line (July 15-August 8), the legendary Broadway musical that won nine 1976 Tony Awards and the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The greatest of all backstage musicals, A Chorus Line, playing at BSC for the first time in a co-production with Geva Theatre, will be directed by Alan Paul, with choreography by Parker Esse and music direction by Helen Gregory, and is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Tams-Witmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.com.
The Boyd-Quinson Theater season also includes Michael Frayn’s door-slamming, sardine-flying, contact lens-losing comedy, Noises Off (August 19-September 6). A company of actors rehearsing a hopeless sex farce onstage find themselves hilariously derailed by bitter rivalries, petty grievances and barely concealed affairs unfolding behind the scenes. One of the most beloved Broadway and West End comedies makes its BSC debut in a production directed by Gordon Greenberg (Broadway: Holiday Inn, The Heart of Rock and Roll; Off-Broadway: The Baker’s Wife).
ST. GERMAIN STAGE
Newly added to the season at The Blatt Center for the Performing Arts in the St. Germain Stage is the World Premiere of Dead Girl’s Quinceañera (August 5-August 29) by Haitian-American playwright Phanésia Pharel (Off-Broadway: The Waterfall), in a collective World Premiere by Barrington Stage Company, The Goodman Theatre, and Hartford Stage. This wildly funny and ferociously smart new play, directed by Hartford Stage’s artistic director Melia Bensussen, is a landmark co-production and major milestone in uplifting Phanésia Pharel, one of the most exciting young female voices in contemporary American theater.
Dead Girl’s Quinceañera is a darkly hilarious take on true-crime obsession, teenage bravado, and what happens when girls decide to stop waiting for answers. When Maria goes missing from her quinceañera, three best friends race to solve the mystery— interrogating suspects, inventing theories, and roasting each other along the way. The play effortlessly blends humor with emotion and inventive storytelling that keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.
Also added to the season is the World Premiere of The Urmetazoan (September 30-October 25), written by Alex Rugman and directed by Jack Serio (Off-Broadway: Well, I’ll Let You Go, Grangeville). The work of acclaimed London-based playwright and theatermaker Rugman, The Urmetazoan focuses on the unbreakable bonds between two sisters as one prepares to leave Earth for deep space.
As previously announced, the St. Germain Stage season opens with Driving Miss Daisy (May 27-June 21), starring BSC Associate Artist and audience favorite Debra Jo Rupp (BSC: Boeing Boeing, The Cake, Becoming Dr. Ruth; TV: “That 70s Show”), making her 11th appearance with the Company, Ray Anthony Thomas (Broadway: I Need That, American Buffalo, Trouble In Mind) and Matthew Korinko (founder, Slow Burn Theatre Co.). Directed by BSC Founding Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, Alfred Uhry’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Driving Miss Daisy is a tender, quietly powerful play about the evolving friendship between an elderly Jewish woman and her African American chauffeur as they navigate prejudice, aging, and change in the American South. Uhry’s play was later adapted into the acclaimed film version that won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture. Driving Miss Daisy is a co-production with Palm Beach Dramaworks.
The St. Germain Stage season also features the World Premiere of Estate Sale (June 30-July 25) by Keelay Gipson (NY & Regional: The Red and the Black, imagine sisyphus happy, #NEWSLAVES, Mary/Stuart). Gipson’s touching new play, directed by Steph Paul (Regional: Sanctuary City at Steppenwolf Theatre, Off-Broadway: How to Defend Yourself), focuses on a man coping with grief and loss following the death of his parents, while clearing the objects in their house for an estate sale. Afro-surrealist artist, professor and award-winning playwright Gipson is a BSC Sparks Grant recipient. This production is generously supported in part through a Theater Development Grant from the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation.
Additional details on the 2026 BSC season, including the gala, concerts, and cabarets, will be announced in the coming weeks.
THE BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY 2026 SEASON
Boyd-Quinson Theater, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA
World Premiere
Barrington Stage Company and Miami New Drama Present
THE ZIONISTS: A FAMILY STORM
By S. Asher Gelman
Directed by Chloe Treat
June 16-July 3
Opening Night: June 20
A prominent Jewish family, fractured by the politics and the aftermath of October 7, gathers for a fragile reunion at a luxury Caribbean resort. As a sudden hurricane bears down outside their bungalow, an even fiercer storm erupts within, forcing them to confront old wounds, clashing values, and the ties that may no longer bind them. In this urgent and deeply human World Premiere, The Zionists lays bare how identity, politics, and history can tear families apart – and the struggle to hold them together in an increasingly divided world.
A CHORUS LINE
Conceived and originally directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett
Book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante
Music by Marvin Hamlisch
Lyrics by Edward Kleban
Originally co-choreographed by Bob Avian
Choreography by Parker Esse
Music Direction by Helen Gregory
Directed by Alan Paul
Co-Production with Geva Theatre
July 15-August 8
Opening Night: Sunday, July 19
17 dancers audition for a coveted spot in the next hot Broadway show. To make it, they must prove they have more than just talent — this will take grit. In a major musical production, Alan Paul directs the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning musical that eclipsed all others when it shot to fame 50 years ago.
NOISES OFF
By Michael Frayn
Directed by Gordon Greenberg
August 19-September 6
Opening Night: Sunday, August 23
Doors slam, actors don’t know their lines, the leading lady can’t find her sardines, the ingénue is on auto-pilot — and they haven’t even raised the curtain yet! Noises Off, the ultimate farce, invites us behind the scenes as a bumbling cast rehearses a fantastic flop.
VANYA
By Simon Stephens
Co-created by Simon Stephens, Andrew Scott and Sam Yates
after Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya
Starring BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold
Directed by Alan Paul
October 8-24
Opening Night: Sunday, October 11
Mark H. Dold stars in this one-man adaptation of Chekhov’s classic tale of love, art, and attempted murder. Comedic and tragic, our shared humanity is thrust into sharp focus in Vanya. This fresh adaptation explores the kaleidoscope of human emotions, harnessing the power of the intimate bond between audience and one actor playing all of the roles, in a tour-de-force performance.
n.b. This special run of Vanya is not included in season subscriptions.
St. Germain Stage, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA
DRIVING MISS DAISY
By Alfred Uhry
Starring BSC Associate Artist Debra Jo Rupp,
Matthew Korinko, and Raymond Anthony Thomas
Directed by Julianne Boyd
Co-Production with Palm Beach Dramaworks
May 27-June 21
Opening Night: Saturday, May 30
Debra Jo Rupp and Ray Anthony Thomas star in this beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning play that explores the life-changing relationship between two people bridging societal divides. Set in 1948 Georgia, Daisy, a Jewish widow, and Hoke, her Black chauffeur, surprise each other — and themselves — as they develop a 25-year relationship built on respect, understanding, and affection.
World Premiere
ESTATE SALE
By Keelay Gipson
Directed by Steph Paul
June 30-July 25
Opening Night: Sunday, July 5
A son confronts the impossible task of clearing his recently deceased parents’ home in this World Premiere play. Award-winning playwright and multi-disciplinary artist Keelay Gipson’s semi-autobiographical Estate Sale reveals how the objects of our lives inform, reveal, and preserve our personal mythologies.
This production is generously supported in part through a Theater Development Grant from the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation.
World Premiere
DEAD GIRL’S QUINCEAÑERA
By Phanésia Pharel
Directed by Melia Bensussen
Co-Production with The Goodman Theatre and Hartford Stage
August 5-August 29
Opening Night: Sunday, August 9
When Maria goes missing at her quinceañera, her three best friends are on the case. Armed with hours of true-crime podcasts and tv procedurals, only they can solve the mystery.
World Premiere
THE URMETAZOAN
By Alex Rugman
Directed by Jack Serio
September 30-October 25
Opening Night: Sunday, October 4
In the near future, two sisters face an imminent goodbye as one prepares to leave Earth for deep space. As they look back on the lives they’ve shared, they must confront whether their bond can endure the vast distance between them.
Tickets
Season subscriptions are now on sale. Single tickets for the 2026 season will go on sale in early spring. For more information, visit BarringtonStageCo.org.
About Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul and Managing Director Greg Reiner, is an award-winning theater located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in the heart of the cultural Berkshires. BSC’s mission is to produce compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs.
BSC attracts more than 60,000 patrons each year annually and earned national honors for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theater Conservatory, Youth Theater, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company is integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.
BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theater’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden & Adolph Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).
BSC supports the development of new work through two core programs: PlayWorks, focused on new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, dedicated to new musicals. Since 1995, the Company has produced 49 new works, 22 of which have transferred to New York and major regional theaters nationwide.