Long Wharf Theatre Announces 2025/2026 Season: “We’re Still Here"

By Monet Hurst-Mendoza

A co-production with WP Theater, The Sol Project, and Latinx Playwrights Circle

Directed and choreographed by Tatiana Pandiani
Sept 20 - Oct 19, 2025 | New York City 

Long Wharf Theatre’s season opens in New York City with Torera—a bold new play developed in part at Long Wharf Theatre and now taking center stage at WP Theater. Written by Monet Hurst-Mendoza (Law & Order: SVU, Lilia) and directed and choreographed by Tatiana Pandiani (AZUL), Torera follows Elena María Ramírez, a young woman determined to break into Mexico’s male-dominated world of bullfighting. As she trains in secret, her story becomes a powerful meditation on ambition, resistance, and belonging.

This co-production, presented in partnership with WP Theatre, The Sol Project, and Latinx Playwrights Circle, exemplifies Long Wharf Theatre’s nationally recognized, locally rooted model—one that fosters artistic growth in New Haven while extending its impact beyond state lines. 

With Torera, Long Wharf Theatre continues to advance its vision of “many stages” – affirming that world-class theatre, while grounded in New Haven, resonates with audiences far and wide. The theatre’s long-standing legacy of developing new plays and transferring them to stages in New York gains momentum through this collaboration, one that actively shapes a more expansive and inclusive future for the American theatre. 

This investment reflects itself in the creative leadership of Jacob G. Padrón, who, in addition to his role as Artistic Director of Long Wharf Theatre, serves as Founder and Co-Artistic Director of The Sol Project. Bringing a longstanding commitment to championing Latiné voices, Padrón continues to drive the relationships, social impact, and values at the core of Long Wharf Theatre’s vision.

By Sanaz Toossi

A co-production with TheaterWorks Hartford, presented in partnership with Southern Connecticut State University
Directed by Arya Shahi
Jan 16 - Feb 1, 2026 | SCSU’s Kendall Drama Lab

Long Wharf Theatre continues its commitment to bold, resonant storytelling with English, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Sanaz Toossi. Set in a small classroom in Iran, the play follows four adult students preparing for the TOEFL exam, navigating the tensions between language and identity as they pursue futures beyond their borders.

Presented in partnership with TheaterWorks Hartford and Southern Connecticut State University, this production marks a deepening of Long Wharf Theatre’s civic partnerships. “This play speaks to so many in our community—immigrants, students, educators, anyone who has had to find a new way of speaking to be heard,” said Bruce Kalk, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Southern Connecticut State University. “We’re proud to bring it to our campus as a meaningful contribution to cross-cultural understanding and appreciation. It’s an honor to partner with Long Wharf Theatre and TheaterWorks Hartford on this important initiative.” The collaboration reflects a shared belief in theatre’s power to ignite dialogue and bridge communities.

It also builds on the success of El Coquí Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom, which was nominated for three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play, and staged in the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts during Long Wharf Theatre’s 60th season. With English, Long Wharf Theatre further roots itself in the city’s cultural and academic life.

For TheaterWorks Hartford, the project is also a chance to celebrate its 40th season with renewed purpose. “We believe this collaboration will not only deliver an unforgettable production but also strengthen the bonds between our theaters,” said Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero. “English is a beautiful story, and we know that by combining our talents, we’ll create something truly special.”

Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón adds, “English captures the contradictions of language—how it can be a bridge and a barrier. It’s a deeply human story told with warmth, humor, and razor-sharp insight.”

By August Wilson
Feb 27 - Mar 15, 2026 | Canal Dock Boathouse

Building on the resounding success of A View from the Bridge, which transformed the Canal Dock Boathouse into one of New Haven’s most talked-about cultural destinations last season, Long Wharf Theatre returns to the waterfront with August Wilson’s classic play, Gem of the Ocean.

 “Following the award-winning run of A View from the Bridge at the Boathouse last season, August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean brings us back to this powerful space with a work that is equally expansive and intimate,” said Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón.

Set in 1904, the play follows Aunt Ester, a 285-year-old spiritual healer believed to carry the memory of the African diaspora, as she leads a young man named Citizen Barlow on a journey toward healing and redemption. Through the poetics of Wilson’s language, the story calls forth the weight of resistance and the possibility of transcendence.

This production marks a natural evolution from Long Wharf Theatre’s most recent world premiere, Unbecoming Tragedy: A Ritual Journey Toward Destiny – a piece directly inspired by Wilson’s works and nominated for two Connecticut Critics Circle awards. Written and performed by New Haven’s own Terrence Riggins, Unbecoming Tragedy explores lineage, grief, and Black identity with a lyricism that echoes Wilson’s own. Together, these works form a spiritual dialogue—across time, across generations, and across the city of New Haven.

Bringing August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean to the Canal Dock Boathouse is not just a return to a venue—it’s a return to a way of making theatre that is deeply rooted in place and purpose. Wilson himself has roots in developing work across New Haven, making this production an homage to a legacy that began in this very community. As audiences once again gather at the water’s edge, Long Wharf Theatre invites the city into a space of communion, where memory lives not only in the exploration of storytelling but in the resonance of coming together.

As part of the season’s engagement with Wilson’s legacy, Long Wharf Theatre will also present the August Wilson Festival—a yearlong series of events celebrating Wilson’s impact on American theatre, Black cultural history, and the city of New Haven.

Long Wharf Theatre’s innovative production model, launched in 2022, continues to reshape what a regional theatre can be. Untethered from a single venue, Long Wharf Theatre now creates performances in libraries, universities, cultural centers, historic landmarks, and even private homes. This approach isn’t just about mobility—it’s about rethinking what space means, who it’s for, and how theatre can act as a vehicle for change.

We’re still here, insisting on art that confronts the world as much as it reimagines it.
We’re still here, making theatre not just for the people, but with them.
We’re still here, showing up for change.

Since embracing this transformative model, Long Wharf Theatre has emerged as a national touchstone in the conversation about the future of the American theatre. In 2023, the company received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation in recognition of its visionary work—affirming the potential of a theatre that is collaborative, adaptive, and rooted in resilience.

“We believe theatre should be as essential to public life as parks, libraries, or schools,” said Artistic Director Jacob G. Padrón. “This model lets us reimagine what cultural infrastructure can be—shared, mobile, artist-led, and deeply embedded in the life of our city.”

The 2025/2026 season marks the next chapter in this vision: co-productions that reach beyond state lines, programming that uplifts historically marginalized voices, and performances that blur the boundary between art and civic action.

We’re still here—and ready for what’s next.
Because theatre belongs to everyone.
And it belongs everywhere.