May 25, 2025 | Theatre,

Introducing ArtsEmerson’s 25/26 Season!

On May 22, ArtsEmerson announced our 15th season to an audience of excited patrons live onstage at the Emerson Paramount Center! The 25/26 Season welcomes groundbreaking artists from across the globe and right here at home, with works that span circus, symphony, satire, and shadow puppetry.

Let’s take a look at what’s coming to our stages in the coming months…

The season opens with Kristina Wong’s Food Bank Influencer (September 19–21, 2025), a solo karaoke musical that turns the pandemic-era mutual aid movement into something laugh-out-loud funny and poignantly relevant. Kristina Wong is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow and the first Asian American woman to be named Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. Her blend of humor, activism, and theatrical innovation sets the tone for a year filled with powerful voices and unforgettable experiences.

In October, The Flea brings us Hang Time (October 9–12, 2025), written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard. This taut, poetic three-hander unfolds as three Black men perch in an unnamed, suspended space, contemplating life, legacy, and what it means to be seen. With lyrical dialogue and haunting stillness, Hang Time explores Black masculinity, vulnerability, and the delicate balance between presence and absence. It’s a daring, meditative theatrical experience from one of the most vital new voices in American theater.

Later that same month, Chicago’s cinematic stage magicians Manual Cinema return to Boston with The 4th Witch (October 30–November 9, 2025). This visually stunning adaptation reimagines Macbeth through the eyes of a young girl who believes she is descended from the infamous witches. If you’ve caught them on our stages before, you’ll recognize their signature blend of shadow puppetry, live performance, and original music. Manual Cinema explores legacy, fate, and female power in Shakespeare’s most supernatural tragedy, creating a new perspective on the classic tale.

In November, SpaceBridge (November 21–23, 2025), a new work by director and designer Irina Kruzhilina, brings together the voices of eleven Russian refugee children in a poignant anti-war performance devised in collaboration with the cast. Drawing on personal stories, movement, and multimedia design, the work builds a literal and metaphorical bridge between divided worlds, offering hope and resistance in the face of violence. The children deliver a beautiful, moving performance: a showcase of friendship and community that transcends the stage.

January welcomes Noli Timere (January 29–February 1, 2026), a modern circus experience with a full-scale sculptural installation. Named for the Latin phrase “be not afraid,” this work fills the Cutler Majestic stage with towering net sculptures and airborne performers whose daring feats mirror the vulnerability of emotional free fall. It’s a show of interdependence; as the dancers move, the sculpture changes its shape. The show becomes a metaphor for how we connect, catch, and carry each other through life’s unpredictable tumbles.

February brings a one-of-a-kind performance by Ahamefule J. Oluo: Things Around Us (February 20–22, 2026). Using just a trumpet and five effects pedals, Oluo constructs a full symphonic score live on stage. Beyond that, it’s a deeply personal sonic memoir interwoven with stories of family, art, and identity. He’s funny and unbelievably talented, inviting the audience to sit with him in his vulnerability as both a person and a performer.

In early March, Wakka Wakka arrives with Dead as a Dodo (March 2–8, 2026), a heartwarming and hilarious puppet musical set in the afterlife. The story follows Dodo, an extinct bird, and Max, a curious skeleton boy, as they journey through the underworld in search of meaning, memory, and friendship. Visually, it’s reminiscent of an animated film—but onstage! With stunning handmade puppets, original music, and playful pathos, the award-winning company once again proves that even in death, laughter and love endure.

Later that month, playwright Mfoniso Udofia brings In Old Age (March 19–22, 2026) to the Paramount stage, presented in collaboration with Front Porch Arts Collective. Set in a dilapidated Nigerian home haunted by trauma, the story centers on Abasiama, an elderly widow, and Azell, the gentle repairman who enters her world. What begins as a tense encounter slowly unfolds into a redemptive connection. Part of Udofia’s acclaimed Ufot Family Cycle, a multi-series performance staging at various locations around Boston, this work delicately weaves themes of generational pain, spiritual healing, and unexpected companionship.

The season concludes with the world premiere of The Secret Sharer (April 24–May 3, 2026), an ambitious new adaptation by DNAWORKS of Joseph Conrad’s 1909 novella. In this multimedia, movement-driven performance, a young sea captain shelters a fugitive aboard his ship, raising urgent questions surrounding loyalty, identity, and fear in a world driven by suspicion. DNAWORKS brings rich texture and bold imagination to this timeless tale of hidden truths and unlikely brotherhood.

Each show in the 2025/26 Season is a portal into someone else’s world, into our own past, or into a shared future. We are so excited to welcome these incredible creatives to the ArtsEmerson stage. And of course, none of this would be possible without each of you! Thanks to those who attended last week’s preview event, and for all who couldn’t make it, we’ll see you at our shows this season. Tickets will go on sale later this summer. Sign up here to be notified when seats are released.

Cheer’s to the 25/26 season! What show are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below!