CHAUTAUQUA – Chautauqua Theater Company (CTC), the professional theater company of Chautauqua Institution, is proud to unveil its full 2025 Season, featuring a dynamic lineup of mainstage productions and new play workshops. This year’s season builds on CTC’s legacy of bold storytelling and artistic innovation that reflect the evolving landscape of American theater.

This summer, CTC will present three new works at varying stages of development, offering audiences a unique opportunity to engage with new plays in real time. The 2025 New Play Workshop (NPW) lineup features Pranayama by James Anthony Tyler, All the Little Boxes by Vichet Chum, and CTC’s commission Best for Baby by Sharyn Rothstein. These workshops and readings are made possible in part by a generous grant from the Roe Green Foundation, whose visionary support is also propelling the creation of the new Roe Green Theater Center at Chautauqua Institution, opening in 2026.

“As a company dedicated to the full life cycle of a play, we’re excited to invite audiences back to the theater this summer to engage with this season’s offerings,” said Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll. “This year marks the 20th anniversary of CTC’s New Play Workshops. It’s an honor to grow on this tradition and continue to uplift such extraordinary playwrights. What a joy and a privilege to foster these innovative works alongside our incredible artists and community.”

“Pranayama” By James Anthony Tyler, Directed by Jade King Carroll, June 27-29.

Breathe in. The 6 a.m. class at Harlem Bikram is for the regulars — a group as diverse as the neighborhood itself. As heat builds in the yoga studio, so do the tensions in their personal lives…awkward crushes, new friendships, silent struggles, shared grief, make-ups and break-ups. With humor and heart, James Anthony Tyler’s Pranayama captures the breath of a community trying to heal, connect, and transform by showing up for themselves and for each other. Join the regulars. Breathe out.

“All the Little Boxes” By Vichet Chum, Directed by Mei Ann Teo, Aug. 1-3.

That was a terrible interview…but somehow Chan landed the job. A rookie in the professional home organizing business, Chan finds an unexpected way to care for the strangers around him as they seek to flip the script on their lives. He organizes their closets and unpacks their skeletons, but all the decluttering in the world won’t relieve Chan of his own baggage. Playwright and novelist Vichet Chum unpacks identity, loneliness, and the stories of our belongings in this moving and surprisingly hilarious new play for the Marie Kondo inside us all.

“Best for Baby” (a CTC Commission) By Sharyn Rothstein, Directed by Oliver Butler, Aug. 15-17.

A delivery room nurse helps a new mother find her footing as she learns to care for her newborn baby. A few months later she returns to work at Johnson & Johnson — America’s most trusted brand — and the maker of the talc powder she lovingly uses on her own little girl. But can she trust it? Best for Baby portrays corporate personhood with in-your-face theatrical absurdity and blistering wit, unflinchingly examining the cost of valuing profits over people. Best for Baby is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

This summer CTC is also excited to welcome commissioned playwright Zora Howard who will be in her first residency at Chautauqua, marking the start of a three-year commitment to her new project.

In addition to developing new work through the New Play Workshops platform, Chautauqua Theater Company’s 2025 mainstage season features a dynamic trio of powerful and timely works that reflect the company’s commitment to theatrical excellence and artistic range. These fully realized productions will bring together nationally recognized artists and a company of rising talent to deliver powerful, resonant performances on Bratton Stage.

CTC will kick off its mainstage season with “The Real James Bond…Was Dominican” written and performed by Christopher Rivas with live percussion by Jonathan Gomez. This production is a young man’s guide to love, color, code-switching, whitewashing, fake-it-til-you-make-it, and the roller coaster of finding one’s true self.

Developed with and directed by Daniel Banks, the production comes to CTC in partnership with DNAWORKS.

Emily Mann will direct her own production of “Execution of Justice,” 40 years after its original premiere. Inspired by the assassinations of Harvey Milk and George Moscone, the play remains a searing examination of justice, identity and societal reckoning. Tony Award winner Frank Wood joins the cast as Tom Norman; Matthew Saldívar returns to Chautauqua after his appearance last season in CTC’s world premiere of Kate Hamill’s The Light and The Dark in the role of Frank Falzon; and Zach Appelman, a CTC acting conservatory member in 2005 and 2006, makes his return to Bratton Theater in the leading role of Dan White. Rounding out the rest of the cast will be CTC’s full 2025 acting conservatory.

Joining Mann for “Execution of Justice” are Scenic Designer Brittany Vasta, Costume Designers Jen Caprio and Michelle Ridley, Lighting Designer Jeanette Yew, Sound Designer Mark Bennett, Projections Designer Nicholas Hussong, and Production Stage Manager Cheryl Mintz.

Closing out the 2025 season is CTC’s commission and world premiere of “The Witnesses” (formerly titled Tell Me You’re Dying), a dark comedy about the undeniable longing for human connection and the urgency of time. Directed by CTC Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll, the cast includes Nedra Marie Taylor, Fig Chilcott, and Alicia Pilgrim. Daniel Pearce and Nicholas Byers return to CTC after participating in last season’s NPW of this new work.

Joining Carroll on the creative team will be Scenic Designer You-Shin Chen, Costume Designer Rodrigo Muñoz, Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker, Sound Designer Fan Zhang, and Production Stage Manager Bernita Robinson.

Casting for CTC’s full season by The Telsey Office

With a season that balances daring new workshops and powerful mainstage productions, CTC continues to solidify its place as a vital incubator for the future of American theater. From thought-provoking premieres to transformative reimaginings of contemporary classics, CTC invites audiences to experience bold storytelling, celebrate artistic collaboration, and be part of the creative journey from page to stage.

Tickets for the 2025 season are on sale now at tickets.chq.org. Patrons may purchase a Six Pack, three mainstage productions and three New Play Workshops, by June 5 and save 15% on all tickets.

In keeping with its commitment to access and inclusion, CTC will again offer the Pick Your Price program for select Saturday mainstage performances. This initiative empowers audience members to choose a ticket price that aligns with their budget — whether that means paying less or contributing more in support of the theater. Learn more at chq.org/chautauqua-theater-company/your-visit.