Upcoming Indie Theater – May 1
We share upcoming indie theater shows/productions happening in New York City. These are submitted by members of the IndieSpace community.
Do you have an upcoming show to share? Use the Show/Production Sharing Form to share the details of your show/production with IndieSpace so that we can share with the community.
The preview image is from The Chain, which is available for rentals.
The Vengeance Room
Venue: Under St. Marks
Date: May 1
5 strangers stricken with amnesia find themselves trapped in a claustrophobic room with 4 weapons sitting on a table: a baseball bat, a sword, a knife and a pistol. Each person discovers this horrific sight, and now must interact with each other and their own fears, as the realization of the Vengeance Room comes into sight: 5 people, 4 weapons…only one way out.
Twelfth Night
Venue: El Barrio's ArtSpace PS109
Dates: Now through May 3
Completing Tier5’s ShakesQueer Comedy trilogy (after A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2024, Much Ado About Nothing in 2025), we’re taking Shakespeare's romantic comedy about gender bending mistaken identities and turning it up to 11. Come fall in love at El Barrio: join us for a night of laughter, romance, and rock ‘n’ roll.
Miracle on South Division Street
Venue: The Sheen Center, Penguin Rep Theatre
Date: Now through May 10
You're invited to meet the Nowaks of Buffalo, NY. They're special -- celebrities in their run-down neighborhood for the miracle that occurred in Grandpa's barbershop in 1942. But their faith — and whole identity — is shaken to the very core when a deathbed confession causes the family legend to unravel. Full of twists, heart and humor, this comedy is as warming as a bowl of Matzoh Ball soup and reminds us that no matter our backgrounds, we're all part of the same story.
Beauty Freak
Venue: the cell theatre
Date: Now through May 17
Beauty Freak centers on Leni Riefenstahl during the creation and promotion of her magnum opus “Olympia,” a film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics commissioned by the Third Reich. Act I is set during the preparations for the Olympics, and Act II during her U.S. publicity tour in 1938, during which the events of Kristallnacht unfolded. As the regime that supports her artistic vision escalates their campaign of terror and commits increasingly flagrant atrocities, Riefenstahl and her colleagues are forced to reckon with their own complicity and responsibilities as artists.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Venue: Studio 17
Dates: Now through May 17
A transformative reimagining of Dale Wasserman’s classic play. By stripping away traditional 1960s gender dynamics—including a female Randle P. McMurphy—this production exposes the universal struggle: the crushing weight of institutional authority against the fluidity of the human spirit. In this ward, the "Combine" seeks to mechanize identity itself, and the patients find power through diverse perspectives and a shared fight for freedom.
HardLove
Venue: SoHo PlayHouse
Date: Now through June 6
Following its sold-out 2025 run at NYC’s legendary SoHo Playhouse, the critically acclaimed dark comedy "HardLove" extends for the third time from May 1-June 6. In “HardLove,” a volatile late-night encounter fueled by booze and magnetic attraction forces two strangers to confront their fears, desires, and the fragile lines between connection and destruction. Featuring Miray Beşli and Chandler Stephenson. Directed by Jee Duman.
Eat The Patriarchy
Venue: Bechdel Project
Dates: May 2
Eat The Patriarchy is a purposeful gathering rooted in Bechdel Project’s core belief: we can change our culture by changing the stories we tell. For one night, we invite you to step into an immersive evening of art, ritual, and collective imagination designed to engage you as both witness and participant.
Laughing & Talking & Laughing With Singing
Venue: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Date: May 2
Laughing and Talking and Laughing with Singing is a variety talk show with music, comedy, interviews and unexpected delights. Now in its 56 trillionth season, LaTaLwS is hosted by Hattie Hayes, an extratemporal, benevolent being. She was created shortly before the universe began, and then, she started hosting this show.
I Am Nobody
Venue: The Magnet Theater
Dates: May 4 and 11
From Tony Award-winner Greg Kotis (Urinetown, The End of All Flesh) comes a tuneful 21st century parable about humankind’s subordination to myriad technological devices that somehow feels even timelier now than it did when the Covid-19 pandemic forced its extremely premature closure in March of 2020. "This modern world is tearing us apart, still we could not survive in any other place or time."
HEART/LUNG
Venue: The Vino Theater
Dates: May 7-9
When a closeted pulmonologist sacrifices her greatest love for career survival in a homophobic medical establishment, the weight of that decision haunts her across decades. But when a dying poet, a resilient ex, and a defiant student all cross her path, Patricia D. Smith must finally decide: will she let her truth die with her or leave behind something worth breathing for?
The Totality of All Things
Venue: Theater 154 (154 Christopher Street)
Dates: May 7-17
In “The Totality of All Things,” an Indiana high school journalism teacher Judith (Colleen Clinton) is unwavering in her belief in truth and moral clarity - until a defaced Pride Month display thrusts her, the faculty, and her star pupil Micah (Cody Jenison) into the center of a heated controversy. As Judith pursues justice, her determination begins to blur the line between conviction and obsession.
BRICKGIRL
Venue: Brooklyn Art Haus
Dates: May 7-17
There's a rumor going around that if you hate someone enough, BRICKGIRL will kill them. She's skinless, soaked in blood, and howling in pain. She shows up, beats someone to death with a brick, then disappears. No one knows the rules. We all want her to kill the right people. Everyone wants her to kill someone. When there's nowhere else to turn, when no one can help you and nothing gets better, there's BRICKGIRL.
Matriline
Venue: Theaterlab
Dates: May 8 and 10
Matriline is a somatic ritual with a time-traveling mother and her laundry. In this moment when the world we have known is shifting before our eyes and even the air we breathe is at risk, American mothers are at the front lines. It’s a journey asking those who came before us: How did they survive the times of upheaval in which they lived? — and ask our children and grandchildren: how can we best guide them into a future we cannot see?
The Love Show
Venue: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Date: May 9
The Love Show NYC, a globe trotting theater dance company of 20+ years invites you to experience an evening of emotion in their whimsical home. Let us take you on a journey that begins the minute you purchase your ticket. This special event takes place at The Hidden Jewel Box, a secret speakeasy nestled in Manhattan’s Theater District.
Knock Twice Comedy Show
Venue: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Date: May 15
Knock Twice Comedy Show is a secret stand-up experience tucked away inside Port Authority’s Hidden Jewel Box Theater. Married couple Vicky Kuperman and Max Cohen host this speakeasy-style night of laughs delivers sharp jokes and surprise guests, featuring NYC's funniest comics. It’s the kind of show you only find if you know where to knock—literally.
Finn's
Venue: Purgatory
Date: May 16
In his theatrical debut, playwright and director Geve Penn brings his two-act food service drama Finn’s.
Finn’s is a two-act kitchen sink drama, taking place in an Irish bar somewhere in a St. Louis-adjacent Midwestern town. Shift lead and photographer KC takes new hire Lou in under his wing on her first day at the titular bar, butting heads with his general manager Derek with each twist and turn. Just about everything that could possibly go wrong in the span of a single food service shift goes wrong in this kitchen sink drama. The staff at Finn’s must navigate through work/life balance, expressions of masculinity, and existing in predominantly white spaces as people of color, all before closing up for the night. This play is by artists in the food service industry, for artists in the food service industry.
The Wayfaring Strangers
Venue: The PIT Loft
Dates: May 17 and June 21
Join The Wayfaring Strangers for an improvised bluegrass musical featuring brand spankin’ new lyrics to old-timey standards, played on traditional instruments like banjo, stand up bass, guitar, fiddle, washboard, egg shakers and jug. With opening acts Goat Party (April), SLOP (May) and Unheard Of (June).
The Life and Times of Daisy Forbes
Venue: La Mama
Dates: May 21-24
The Life and Times of Daisy Forbes is a long-form lip-sync illustrating a show girl, our last show girl who is at a distinct crossroads in her life. A crossroads where she is forced to make the decision of whether or not to continue pushing the rock up the hill as a performer and human being in this world. Via TV interviews, trashy pop, obscure musical theater scores and film scenes, Daisy channels these voices as a means of excavating the choices she has made, the feeling of abandonment and the uncertain future ahead.
WAKE UP
Venue: Gibney: Anges Varis Performing Arts Center
Date: May 31
WAKE UP is an evening length contemporary/experimental dance work. Transcending you to an alternate world of revolt, the piece is a rebellion against the mundane through giving in to human desire. Movement allows the body to access its memory of everyday gestures with a heightened sensibility, inviting primal physical instincts to resurface. Inspired by combining every-day activities such as playing basketball, watching TV, and walking on high heels with raw human emotions such as hunger, release, and collapse, WAKE UP is a spiritual journey where everyday memories and the awakening human cravings intersect.
“Planet of the Grapes” - An Epic, Tabletop, Sci-Fi Adventure
Venue: The Rat
Dates: June 6 & 7
Award-winning lockdown hit “Planet of the Grapes” transports audiences to a futuristic world where talking grapes reign supreme and humans are rendered speechless. Directed by Michole Biancosino, this fast-paced comedic homage blends the charm of Victorian toy theater with the sci-fi spectacle of the 1968 classic “Planet of the Apes,” creating an interactive, immersive, all-ages adventure packed into a juicy 60 minutes. Produced by Project Y Theatre, SparkDog Productions Inc., and PM2 Entertainment.
Sugar Sugar! Performance Series
Venue: Domino Park
Dates: Wednesdays and Thursdays in June
Returning to Domino Park for its second edition, Sugar Sugar! will transform Domino Square’s waterfront amphitheater into a festive open-air stage for free, experimental performances. The series runs June 3 to 25, 2026, presenting performances on Wednesday and Thursday evenings each week. Over the four-week run, some of the city’s most exciting artists working across dance, puppetry, clowning, theater, performance art, and music will premiere ambitious, site-responsive works—many artists presenting large-scale performance outdoors for the first time. This year’s program features new work by New York artists Amando Houser and Pussypaws Puppetry; Julia Antinozzi and Isa Spector; HOLE PICS; and Malcolm-x Betts and Kat Sotelo. Three of the four performance weeks were conceived as pairings, with each curator shaping different weeks, inviting unexpected connections or illuminating shared artistic sensibilities, alongside one week devoted to the queer art collective HOLE PICS.