Four new plays reimagining classical works selected for development through NY Classicalâs flagship playwriting initiative
New York, NY â New York Classical Theatre has announced the four selections for Cycle 2 of New Visions, its play development program supporting new works inspired by classical texts. Selected from nearly 400 submissions from across the United States, these plays will move forward in a multi-phase development process culminating in public readings and continued artistic development.
New Visions is a cornerstone initiative for New York Classical Theatre, designed to expand the canon by supporting playwrights who reimagine classical stories through contemporary lensesâbringing new voices, perspectives, and urgency to timeless material.
âNew Visions is about asking what it means to inherit these stories now,â said Matthieu Chapman, Literary Director of New York Classical Theatre. âWeâre not just preserving classical workâweâre in conversation with it. These playwrights are taking familiar foundations and transforming them into something immediate, human, and alive for todayâs audiences.â
2026 New Visions Selections
BESHERT by Daniel Kushner
Set on the Lower East Side in 1927, Beshert follows two menâbusiness partners and loversâwho must conceal their relationship to protect their livelihood. As their success grows, so does the risk of exposure, forcing them to navigate love, ambition, and survival in a tightly surveilled community.
Daniel Kushner is a New York Cityâbased writer and actor whose work spans stage and screen, including Law & Order: SVU and the national tour of Fiddler on the Roof. He has also performed Off-Broadway and at regional theatres including Ogunquit Playhouse, Asolo Rep, A.C.T. of Connecticut, and Warehouse Theatre. His writing has appeared in publications such as New Voices Magazine and Pillar of Fire: A Queer Haggadah, and he holds a B.A. in History from Brown University. www.daniel-kushner.com @daniellkushner
CERCLE HERMAPHRODITOS
by Shualee Cook
Set in 1895 New York, this play centers on a secret social club for gender-nonconforming individuals and a trans man seeking a way to live authentically within restrictive societal norms. When the space is threatened, the community must confront what safety, identity, and belonging truly mean.
Shualee Cook writes plays and musicals as a way of asking questions and figuring out possible answers within a community. She is the recipient of a 2024 LA New Play Project grant, a 2023 Nancy Dean Lesbian Playwriting Award, the 2021 Chesly/Bumbalo Award, The 2020 RAC Artist Fellowship, and the 2019 Parity Commission. She has been a resident playwright in the Confluence Regional Writers Project, Stage Left Theatre, and Tesseract Theatre, as well as a finalist for the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her work has been developed by About Face Theatre, Breaking the Binary Festival, The New Coordinates, The Road Theatre, The Idle Muse Athena Festival, Campfire Theatre Festival, National Queer Theatre, After Hours Theater Company, and the St.Louis Shakespeare Festival, among others. Plays receiving public readings or productions include Cercle Hermaphroditos, Tempest in a Teapot, And Certain Women, Earworm, and An Invitation Out. www.shualeecook.com
HEDDA by Franky D. Gonzalez
Inspired by Ibsenâs Hedda Gabler, this contemporary reimagining unfolds in a Dallas suburb, where ambition, race, and personal history collide. As relationships unravel, the play examines the pressures of success and the fragile architecture of the American Dream.
Franky D. Gonzalez is a Dallas-based playwright of Colombian descent who serves the DFW region as a Dramatists Guild Regional Representative. His work has been developed and presented by organizations including The Lark, Sundance Institute, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, NNPN, Sol Project, Ars Nova, Dallas Theater Center, Goodman Theatre, Repertorio Español, and many others. He is the recipient of numerous honors, including the Charles Rowan Beye New Play Commission, the Judith Royer Award for Excellence in Playwriting, an MTC/Sloan Commission, the Risk Theatre Modern Tragedy Prize, and the Crossroads Project Diverse Voices Playwriting Initiative Award. His work received Chicagoâs Non-Equity Jeff Award for Short-Run Production in 2024, Previously he was Bishop Arts Theatre Centerâs Playwright-in-Residence and is currently a board member of the New Harmony Project.
ROMEO AND HER SISTER
by Jillian Blevins
In 1845, famed actress Charlotte Cushman brings her sister to London to perform Romeo and Juliet, even as she struggles to keep her private life hidden. As personal and professional tensions rise, the play explores fame, identity, and the cost of living truthfully in the public eye.
Jillian Blevins (she/her) is a New England-based playwright whose work engages with literature, myth, and history, exploring how the stories we think we know resonate in our present.
Select plays include Mere Waters (Winner âBest Scriptâ SheNYC Festival 2024, Golden Prize Winner Clauder Competition 2024, Finalist Seattle Public Theatre Distillery New Works Festival 2024, Honorable Mention American Playwriting Foundation Relentless Award 2024, Semi-finalist OâNeill Playwrights Conference 2024), Romeo & Her Sister (Semi-finalist SheNYC Festival 2022), The Polycule: A Comedy of Manners (Finalist Boston New Works Festival 2024, Semifinalist The Road Summer Playwrights Festival 2024, Frank Moffett Mosier Longlist Prize for Works in Heightened Language from Synecdoche Works 2023), Space Laser, in Space! (Semi-finalist Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway New Play Festival 2023, Jewish Plays Project Festival of New Jewish Plays 2024), The Bed Trick (Valdez Theatre Conference 2023), Izzy at Zoom Therapy (Third Coast Magazine 2025), and Pilloried (Winner, Samuel French Off-Off-Broadway New Play Festival 2024, Concord Theatricals 2025).
Jillianâs plays have been featured on audio drama podcasts Gather By The Ghostlight and The Ugly Radio. She is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. Learn more at www.jillianblevinsplaywright.com @singingcynic
Also selected for further development with NY Classical:
La Fuerza de Antigona by Tlaloc Rivas and Jane, Queen's Foole by Barbara Blatner.
Upcoming Event
As part of the New Visions development process, New York Classical Theatre will present a public reading of Hedda by Franky D. Gonzalez on May 19 from 7â9 PM at Church of the Epiphany on the Upper East Side. The reading follows a two-day workshop and is free and open to the public.
About New Visions
New Visions is a three-year play development initiative from New York Classical Theatre supporting new works inspired by classical texts. Through a blind selection process and multi-phase development, the program prioritizes playwrights from underrepresented communities and builds a pathway from submission to public presentation and future production.
About New York Classical Theatre
Our Mission
New York Classical Theatre creates and reinvigorates audiences for the theatre by presenting free productions of popular and forgotten classical plays in public spaces throughout New York City. We are also committed to developing and producing new plays by living playwrights that enrich and expand our understanding of what defines a classic.
Our Vision
NY Classical firmly believes that everyoneâregardless of economic, social, or educational backgroundâshould have the opportunity to enjoy live professional theatre together as a community. Our free, engaging performances interpreted for approachable spaces inspire experienced theatergoers to reconnect with the classics and build new and future audiences.