Geffen Playhouse unveils 2026-27 season featuring premieres and award-winning works

LOS ANGELES — The Geffen Playhouse has announced a five-show lineup for its 2026-27 season, featuring a mix of world, West Coast and Los Angeles premieres under the artistic direction of Tarell Alvin McCraney.

The season will run from Nov. 11, 2026, through July 4, 2027, and will be staged across the playhouse’s Gil Cates Theater and Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater.

McCraney said the upcoming season reflects a commitment to artistic ambition during uncertain times.

“In times of deep chaos, it may feel logical to pull back,” McCraney said in a statement. “But we must reach out, we must expand, and call in. We must continue to provide a beautiful, unique place to dream in the dark.”

The season opens with the Los Angeles premiere of Purpose, the 2025 Tony Award winner for best play and Pulitzer Prize-winning work by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Directed by Phylicia Rashad, the production will feature its original Broadway cast and run from Nov. 11 through Dec. 13, 2026.

Set within a prominent Black political family, Purpose examines legacy, identity and the pressures of public life as long-buried tensions rise to the surface.

Following that production, the theater will present the West Coast premiere of Liberation by Bess Wohl from Jan. 27 through Feb. 28, 2027. The play, directed by Whitney White, centers on a group of women in 1970 Ohio whose consciousness-raising meetings evolve into a complex exploration of friendship, power and the meaning of freedom.

In the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater, The Monsters by Ngozi Anyanwu will make its Los Angeles premiere from March 3 through April 4, 2027. Directed by Awoye Timpo, the play follows a former MMA fighter and his younger sister as they navigate unresolved trauma and ambition within their relationship.

The production continues the theater’s focus on developing new work in the smaller venue, which McCraney has positioned as a space for experimentation, workshops and emerging voices since becoming artistic director in 2023.

The season returns to the Gil Cates Theater for the world premiere of Closing Costs, running March 31 through May 2, 2027. Written by Grace McLeod and directed by Hannah Wolf, the farce satirizes Los Angeles’ competitive housing market through the story of a real estate agent attempting to sell a deeply flawed property while secretly living in it.

The season will conclude with Wine in the Wilderness by Alice Childress, running June 2 through July 4, 2027. Directed by LaChanze, the play is set during the 1964 Harlem riot and examines issues of class, colorism and representation through the lens of an artist seeking to define Black womanhood.

Geffen Playhouse Executive Director and CEO Gil Cates Jr. said the lineup builds on the organization’s recent momentum while looking ahead to a broader audience.

“We’re thrilled for our loyal audience to experience what’s ahead, and equally excited to welcome new community members from across Los Angeles and Southern California,” Cates said. “What we’re building today will resonate in the years leading up and beyond.”

Cates also noted the theater’s proximity to UCLA, which is expected to house the Olympic Village during the 2028 Los Angeles Games, as a unique opportunity to expand its global reach.