Upcoming Indie Theater – May 21
Each week, we share upcoming indie theater shows and productions 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.
For more coverage of indie theater in New York, please visit New York Theatre Review.
The preview image is from The Chain, which is available for rentals.
Get Fucked
Venue: The Tank
Dates: May 21, 23, 24
This spring, Get F***ed, the bold new sex comedy written and directed by Reese Villella, premieres at The Tank in New York City for a limited run. Get F***ed is NYC’s funniest raunchiest play about sexually active 20-somethings.
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.
An Ordinary Afternoon in 1974
Venue: Court Square Theater
Date: Now through May 31
Exploring the intersection of queer rights and women’s rights in the mid-1970s. What starts as an ordinary afternoon quickly gets out of hand when two longtime friends and neighbors revisit the past. Old stories, buried feelings, and a once-unspoken intimacy come rushing to the surface. Funny, fierce, full of joy, and reckoning. This beautiful story invites us to look at these ordinary afternoons that shape our lives.
MELTINGPLOT
Venue: Theaterlab
Dates: May 17-31
30 performances over 2 weeks provide YOU the opportunity to experience what’s next in participatory live performance. Join us for this inaugural festival May 18 -31, 2026 as 5 creators present brand new work.
Like a Good Neighbor by Jake Alexander, THIS IS NOT A CULT by Christopher Lewis Dawkins, In the shadows of her past selves by Deniz Khateri, FEEL BAD by Katy Murphy, and TENN LOVERS by Kristopher Victoria.
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.
How Will I Remember This
Venue: IAMT Theater
Dates: May 22, 23, and 24
A new dance narrative, How Will I Remember This, directed and choreographed by Reed Luplau, is scheduled for presentation at the IAMT Theater on May 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, with a subsequent season planned for later in the year. This production represents a collaboration with the esteemed singer/songwriter, Javier Dunn. The work draws inspiration from the Netflix documentary, Eldorado, about the historic and infamous 1920s queer cabaret nightclub. Iconic to Weimar-era culture, Eldorado was a renowned LGBTQ+ venue forcibly closed by the Nazis in 1933. The dance narrative follows one man as he attempts to reconstruct the events that led to the sudden transformation of his world.
Nickname
Venue: Arts On Site NYC
Date: May 23
Socks No shoes. Chew No Gum. Think No Thought. Nickname is a show you haven't seen, an experience you haven't had, and a night you won't forget. Tickets now on sale for this one-act dance production presented by P.ART WORLD, a production company under the direction of PETE PIERANTOZZI, and FirstFruits, the ongoing creative project of TRICIA DIETRICK.
The Love Show
Venue: The Hidden Jewel Box Theater
Date: May 23
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.
VALEN-TIME OUT OF MIND
Venue: The Bechdel Project
Date: May 23 and 24
VALEN-TIME OUT OF MIND! is a theatrical event where Queer Singles can look for love guided through immersive theatre, while meeting cuties from across the region! Come and find love with yourself and your community!
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.
Cl*t Cult
Venue: The Pit
Date: June 3
Cl*t Cult recently premiered at the NY Fringe at Wild Project April 2-10. Cl*t Cult, directed by Ryan Cunningham (Sugar Daddy by Sam Morrison) written, performed by and with music and lyrics by Star Stone (Edinburgh Fringe, RISK! Live, UCB) and Charlie O'Connor (Adults, FX). This is a true story comedy based on Star's journey to have an orgasm but "oops" she seeketh herself a little too far and accidentally ends up in the sexual wellness cult called OneTaste. OneTaste was an organization that promoted a 15 minute clitoris stroking practice claiming to result in an orgasm and its founders were recently convicted and sentenced to 9 years in prison. Cl*t Cult reveals how patriarchy and control can hide behind spiritualized intimacy and feminist branding.
The Naked Woman
Venue: Theatre 154
Dates: June 3-14
The Naked Woman is a gripping, darkly comic drama about love, morality, and blind devotion. It unfolds over a winter holiday in an Upstate New York country house, where a family of Soviet immigrants gathers to celebrate Misha (Ilia Volok), a man who has built a life on achievement, intelligence, and survival, until a single moment shatters the illusion… As the incident seeps into the house, the lively family gathering turns into a Chekhovian moral reckoning.
Sugar Sugar! Performance Series
Venue: Domino Park
Dates: June 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, and 25
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.
Find A Good Husband
Venue: The Bernie Wohl Center Theater
Dates: June 4-6
Created by Yvonne Huatin Chow | 周化炜, Find A Good Husband is a tribute to Yvonne’s paternal grandfather, Mike Kuo-Min Chow (Yeh Yeh), inspired by a message he wrote in his final birthday card to her. Blending live narration, Hip-Hop/Street Dance, and Asian folklore, this dance theater work explores love, lineage, and cultural duty through a queer lens.
“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.
The Wayfaring Strangers
Venue: The PIT Loft
Dates: 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).