May is traditionally when theater companies roll out the final off-Broadway productions of their seasons before summer arrives. Here are 12 new off-Broadway shows worth knowing about, spanning experimental musical theater, intimate drama, Shakespeare reimaginings, a long-lost work by a seminal American playwright, and a campy parody of a recent pop-culture phenomenon.
Animal Wisdom: Experimental theater favorite Heather Christian returns with an intensely personal music-theater piece inspired by her upbringing in Natchez, Mississippi, blending Catholic ritual, Southern Gothic storytelling, séance and folk-rock concert. Through June 14 at Pershing Square Signature Center, signaturetheatre.org.
Girl, Interrupted: Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok turns Susanna Kaysen’s influential memoir, which recounts her experience in a psychiatric institution in the late 1960s and was previously adapted into a 1999 film with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, into a new play with music. Begins performances on May 13 at the Public Theater, publictheater.org.
||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||: Playwright, composer, and actor Eisa Davis’ new coming-of-age play follows four teenage girls at an elite summer music program in Berkeley while incorporating live musical improvisation. Begins performances on May 12 at Vineyard Theatre, vineyardtheatre.org.
Hamlet: Brooklyn Academy of Music launches a new partnership with London’s National Theatre by importing a fast-paced contemporary production of “Hamlet” directed by Robert Hastie (“Operation Mincemeat”) with Olivier Award winner Hiran Abeysekera (“Life of Pi”) in the title role. Through May 17 at Harvey Theater, bam.org.
Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody: The cult-favorite hockey romance, which centers on golden-boy Shane Hollander and his complicated connection with rival Ilya Rozanov, receives the musical parody treatment with Jay Armstrong Johnson (“On the Town”) as Rozanov and Jimin Moon (“Sunset Boulevard”) as Hollander. Begins performances on May 12 at The Culture Club, heatedrivalryparody.com.
Indian Princesses: Eliana Theologides Rodriguez’s comedy explores questions of identity and cultural appropriation in a real-life father-daughter program that encouraged young girls of color to participate in faux-Native American rituals, costumes, and camp activities under the banner of wholesome Americana. Through June 7 at the Linda Gross Theater, atlantictheater.org.
Jerome: John J. Caswell, Jr.’s three-character drama centers on an aging gay couple living in self-imposed isolation in an Arizona ghost town during the height of the AIDS crisis. Through June 21 at Playwrights Horizons, playwrightshorizons.org.
The Maids: Australian director Kip Williams follows last season’s technologically dazzling “The Picture of Dorian Gray” with a contemporary reimagining of Jean Genet’s “The Maids,” resetting the 1947 psychodrama in the age of influencers, livestreams, and social-media self-curation. Through June 14 at St. Ann’s Warehouse, stannswarehouse.org.
Othello: The enterprising classical troupe Bedlam returns to its stripped-down roots with a four-actor production of “Othello” that frames the play less as a study of jealousy than as an examination of racism and social power. Through May 31 at West End Theatre, bedlam.org.
The Receptionist: Two-time Tony Award winner Katie Finneran leads Second Stage’s revival of Adam Bock’s dark office satire about a receptionist whose daily office routine is interrupted by the arrival of a mysterious stranger from her company’s corporate headquarters. Through May 24 at Pershing Square Signature Center, 2st.com.
The Emporium: Classic Stage presents an adaptation and completion of the unfinished final work of Thornton Wilder (“Our Town”), which follows a young man on a journey through a mysterious urban landscape in search of meaning. Through June 7 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater, classicstage.org.
Well, I’ll Let You Go: Bubba Weiler’s melancholic small-town drama, which received acclaim when it premiered in Brooklyn last summer, centers on a woman attempting to piece together meaning from the wreckage of her personal life. Through June 20 at Studio Seaview, studioseaview.com.
