In With The New
(And The Familiar, Too!)
by A.J. Magoon, Marketing Director
Next Act Theatre’s 2025-2026 season is fresh, exciting and new! That starts with the plays Artistic Director Cody Estle has selected: SANCTUARY CITY by Martyna Majok, BOSWELL by Marie Kohler and SWING STATE by Rebecca Gilman are all Wisconsin Premieres, and DINNER WITH THE DUCHESS by Nick Green is a U.S. Premiere! We’re excited to bring you the Next Act debuts of a slew of artists as well: in SANCTUARY CITY, director Jake Penner and actors King Hang, Joe Lino and Ashley Oviedo; in BOSWELL, actors Madeline Calais-King and Sarah Zapiain; in SWING STATE, actors Jack Lancaster and Kelli Strickland and in DINNER WITH THE DUCHESS, director Samantha Martinson. Plus, these stories will be brought to life by designers who have never worked in our theatre before, including Sound Designers Willow James and Andre Pluess, Scenic and Properties Designer Jody Sekas and Costume Designer Misti Bradford. Across the entire season, Next Act is excited to continue bringing you new stories, new perspectives and new voices to tug your heartstrings, expand your horizons and make you think.
All that newness is perfectly complemented by the familiar aspects of our coming season: artists you’ll recognize, whose work you can trust to lift up and tell new stories with talent and skill. BOSWELL, for instance, comes to us from beloved local playwright and director Marie Kohler and will be directed by Laura Gordon. It features familiar faces like David Cecsarini, Heidi Armbruster, Brian Mani and Josh Krause. Laura will also appear in DINNER WITH THE DUCHESS, her first appearance on our stage in 17 years! SWING STATE will reunite Elyse Edelman and Tami Workentin, who are currently working on CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION with director and Artistic Director Cody Estle. Plus, keep an eye and ear out for the work of designers who have collectively brought dozens of beloved Next Act shows to life, like Costume Designers Jason Orlenko and Izumi Inaba; Scenic Designers Jeffrey D. Kmeic, Jason Fassl and Lisa Schlenker, Sound Designer Josh Schmidt, Lighting Designers Noele Stollmack and Maaz Ahmed, Properties Designers Jim Guy and Abbey Pitchford, Intimacy Director Gaby Labotka, Stage Manager Nat Goeller and more!
You won’t want to miss a second of Next Act’s fresh, new 2025-26 season! Get your season tickets now – we’ll see you at the theatre!
Click here to buy Fixed Subscriptions online, or here to buy Flex Passes for our 2025-26 season.