Staff Picks No. 156
Graveyard Shift : Emma Meyerson, Sam Lane, Charlie Chauca
Brooklyn Art Haus
Tuesday July 28th 2026
After a couple of rounds at Fringes across the Eastern seaboard, GRAVEYARD SHIFT lands back in Brooklyn! Emma is both a talent and, respectfully, a little evil and this show will be a testament to both. One night only!
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Woyzeck : Seth Bockley, Ryan Czerwonko, Madeline Bernhard, Randall Jaynes, Megan Metrikin, Taylor Petracek, Trevor Clarkson, Stephee Bonifacio, AJ Molder, Hannah Hale, Madeline Bernhard, Josh Barilla, Debbie Saivetz, Stephee Bonifacio, Joshua Matteo
Modern Sweater
July 15th-August 15th 2026
Adult Film tackles another classic, this time the angsty, psychodrama Woyzeck, which seems to be a good fit for the company's multi-medium and medley-like approach to their chosen material. This is sure to be an exciting and appropriately insane show and is the inaugural production of the much-anticipated Ridgewood venue Modern Sweater. Not to be missed if you care about NYC DIY and pushing the limits of what's expected! Pro tip: get tickets now because opening weekend is already sold-out.
Staffer: Alex Aguirre
Despair Sanctuary : Micah Frank, Christian Michael Filardo
Old First Brooklyn
Saturday August 15th 2026
Weary for one reason or a thousand? A drone metal vigil awaits complete with poetry and screaming, which are often the same thing. A live event like no other, coordinated by terrestrial saint Jack Holloway.
Staffer: Billy McEntee
Star & Stan: NOWHERE FAST : Kate Williams, Reed Rushes
Entrance
July 17th-18th 2026
Kate Williams and Reed Rushes are here to save us from the “everyone is beautiful and no one is horny” crisis that plagues America. As Star & Stan, the performer duo and IRL couple strikes their audiences white-hot power plays and undeniable eroticism. There’s nothing like it.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Mx. Nobody IX Round 1 : Nancy NoGood, Selena Surreal, Osbidian Absurd, Qualms Galore, Problem Child, Corsette, DJ Accident Report, Heaven Ender, Crackhead Barney, Rat Cat, Zanax, Ariana Date, Supernova, Anita Bump, EDGAR
Sideshows by the Seashore
Friday July 24th 2026
The Nobodies presents the first round of the ninth iteration of Brooklyn’s longest-running drag competition: Mx. Nobody. A summer night at Coney Island with this lineup of miscreants seems like a good use of your Friday evening to me!
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Oh my god, obviously if you can go to this you should go to this. Nancy NoGood is a fantastic entertainer and who doesn’t love a wild competition at Coney Island?!
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
I WAS NEVER HERE : Leo Lion, Firebird Project
Brooklyn Art Haus
Saturday July 18th 2026
A spy needs your help. Or does he? What secrets must you, the audience, help uncover? From the creator of HELP ME!!!! comes a new interactive game-theater experience. Catch it before it goes to Edinburgh!
Staffer: Reuven Glezer
Taming of the Shrew : Evan Ayer, Mario C. Brown, Langston Darby, Kate Eastman, Jennifer Kim, Milena Makse, Shannon Mastel, Uma Paranjpe, McLean Peterson, Will Sarratt, Romeo Torres, Juan Arturo Villar-Ojito, Alexandra Haddad, Karsten Otto, Marissa Todd, Mehula Singh, Olivia Vaughn Hern, Amara McNeil, Emma Hasselbach, Ben Natan, Caroline Shriver, Ellie Berry
La MaMa
July 9th-August 2nd 2026
Seeing classics (especially those that are comedies) at a legendary avant-garde space like La Mama has always been a really fruitful theater experience for me personally, and this show by Small Boat productions and Kotto productions looks like no exception. The set and costume design (Olivia Vaughn Hern is one of the best to ever do it) also looks really fun and bawdy and immediately gives Taming of the Shrew. Am I alone in thinking it's cool when a Shakespeare show actually looks like the play?
Staffer: Alex Aguirre
Ecstatic Peephole X: Needy Lover: Kallan Dana, Hanna Yurfest, Jonah Harrison, Emma Richmond, Emma Horwitz, Bailey Williams
Pete’s Candy Shop
Monday July 20th 2026
In their 10th edition, Emma Horwitz and Bailey Williams' monthly play reading series, Ecstatic Peephole at Pete’s Candy Shop, features new work by Needy Lover. I totally adored Kallan Dana's Racecar Racecar Racecar, and their collab with Needy Lover on Lobster, and am excited for this reading of Autofiction, a new work by Dana, directed by Hanna Yurfest. Dana's stuff is so smart and tender and funny and curious; she and Needy Lover are making some of my very favorite emerging theatre right now. Monday July 20, 6:30pm, free, first come first serve. Come through!
Staffer: Joshua Dumas
Oh my god, if I finish recording an audiobook in time, I am so here. I love this series. The curation is exciting and surprising. And I am also a fan of Needy Lover. So, if you know any of these people or Ecstatic Peephole, you are probably already going. But if you don’t, venture out! Discover something new! Get a grilled cheese with tomato and jalepeño and a drink and get a glimpse of something before it becomes something else.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister
Sound Exposure : Declan Sheehy-Moss, Aliya Ultan, Shem Goldman, Simon Hanes
LifeWorld
Friday July 24th 2026
MUSIC AT LIFE WORLD :) This looks weird and delightful and I am so into it.
Staffer: Leah Plante-Wiener
Object Permanence : Nico Krell, Ethan Eva Karas, Sydney Chow, Mia Fowler, Carsyn Gekas, Marc Anthony Gutierrez, Healy Knight, Khali Sykes, Felix Teich, Theresa Buchheister
Kestrels
July 17th-19th 2026
Bias alert! I am helping facilitate this show and will be there every night. If you like dance theater… if you like intriguing concepts… if you like engaging performers… if you like little surprises… if you like a window in or a door out… come check out Nico Krell’s latest.
Staffer: Theresa Buchheister