THE HUNTINGTON’S WINTER NEW PLAY INTENSIVE RETURNS, EMPOWERING BOLD VOICES AND NEW STORIES
In December 2025, The Huntington will host public readings and open rehearsals, as well as closed-door play development activities, featuring work by seasoned and emerging theatre makers
(BOSTON) – The Huntington announces the bold launch of The Winter New Play Intensive, an artistic work development series launched last winter where writers, theatre makers, and other performance artists convene and collaborate on new projects. Select readings and open rehearsals will be open to the public and take place in December 2025 at the Maso Studio at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave).
During this focused time, The Huntington will be developing recent commissions, bringing writers to work in mini-residencies, and making new artistic relationships on projects that the theatre is considering for future production. The intensive is designed for cross-pollination between artists: a writer may be hearing their brand-new play for the first time while somewhere else in the building, another artist is preparing a production draft.
“Having all kinds of artists in the building has tremendous power,” says Huntington Artistic Director Loretta Greco. “How can we commune with artists and make the space for their work to grow and gestate and take the next step — whether they are generating new material for the first time or continuing a process that started years ago? We are thrilled to be joined by each of these extraordinary artists, and hope you will come hear their work too.”
The Winter New Play Intensive’s public events will feature works by playwrights Sam Marks (Cells at The Huntington’s 2017 Summer Workshop) and Lloyd Suh (The Heart Sellers at The Huntington). Private development activities will involve playwrights and creatives including Mfoniso Udofia, Josiah Davis, Awoye Timpo, and Michael Ellis Ingram.
Supporting playwrights’ voices in the creative ecosystem and empowering seasoned and acclaimed creatives to take risks are core pillars of The Huntington’s mission to encourage theatre makers who innovate and generate incredible storytelling. This intensive provides space, opportunities, and resources to celebrate and amplify important voices, and it solidifies The Huntington’s role as a vibrant hub for creativity and a leader in shaping the future of theatre in Greater Boston and beyond. The Winter New Play Intensive’s public events are free to attend, and the dates fit squarely into The Huntington’s robust 25-26 season, ensuring that audiences have ample opportunity to attend and celebrate this crucial process of theatre craft without missing out on the rest of the season’s offerings.
New play development programs are generously supported by individuals donors and through the Harry Kondoleon Playwriting Fund and the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays.
ABOUT THE PUBLIC READINGS AND REHEARSALS
Tuesday, December 16, 2025 at 7pm, Maso Studio, Huntington Theatre
Reading of Blue Train
written by Sam Marks (Cells at The Huntington’s 2017 Summer Workshop)
directed by Kimberly Senior (Our Daughters Like Pillars, Sweat, and The Niceties at The Huntington)
In Sam Marks’ newest play Blue Train, a blended family discovers everything interpersonal is subject to monetary value — from bonds between father and son to second marriages to co-parenting. Jake hopes his father Alan’s beloved beach retreat will pass to him and his children, but Alan’s declining health and his second wife Brenda stand in the way. Caught in a familial tug-of-war, each of them must confront an unsettling truth: can even the things we cherish most be negotiated, traded, or taken away?
Register online here.
Wednesday, December 17, 2025 at 7pm, Maso Studio, Huntington Theatre
Reading of Three Bears
written by Lloyd Suh (The Heart Sellers at The Huntington)
directed by Morgan Green (Arbor as part of The Huntington’s 2022 Breaking Ground festival)
Playwright Lloyd Suh’s newest work follows two intergalactic refugees racing toward a distant outpost before their resources run out. Is anyone else out there? What will they have to risk in search of the community they crave? And what stories do we cling to when we’re on the edge of extinction? An intimate, theatrical, science fiction epic, Three Bears explores the power of companionship, the myths we build to survive, and the dangers of generosity in desperate times.
A co-commission between The Huntington and Manhattan Theatre Club.
Register online here.
ABOUT THE CLOSED-DOOR DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
Development of Mfoniso Udofia’s Ufot Family Cycle continues with a reading of Lifted (Ufot Family Cycle play #7) and a workshop of Aida and Clora Snatch Joy (Ufot Family Cycle play #9).
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Sam Marks previously developed his plays Cells and The Department Party at the Huntington. His plays include The Delling Shore (Humana Festival of New American Plays) The Old Masters (Steppenwolf), The Joke (Studio Dante, directed by Sam Gold) and Nelson (Partial Comfort Productions). He wrote for The Arboretum Experience (A.R.T, created by Kirsten Greenidge). He is under commission from Playwrights Horizons, and also has collaborated on theater projects with Simon McBurney, Theater Complicite, and Courtney Love. His plays have been developed at Arena Stage, Atlantic Theater, Clubbed Thumb, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, The Public Theater, Rattlestick, the Vineyard, and others. For television, Sam wrote for Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story, as well as working on a series with Morris Chestnut and Steve Buscemi producing. A former Golden Gloves Boxer, he teaches playwriting at Harvard University, where he is also the director of creative writing.
Lloyd Suh‘s The Heart Sellers was produced at The Huntington in 2023. His play The Chinese Lady was produced by Barrington Stage Company, Ma-Yi Theater Company, and The Public Theater (New York Times Critics Pick), as well as at The Magic Theatre, CHUANG Stage, Central Square Theatre, and others. His plays include The Far Country (Atlantic Theatre Company, NY Times Critics Pick), Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (National Asian American Theatre Company); American Hwangap (The Magic); Jesus In India (The Magic); The Wong Kids in The Secret of the Space Chupacabra GO! (Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis and Ma-Yi); Bina’s Six Apples (CTC and Alliance Theater Company), among others. Lloyd is currently under commission at The Huntington, Barrington Stage Company and The Perelman Performing Arts Center.
TICKETS
Tickets are free with registration.
- online at huntingtontheatre.org
- by phone at 617-266-0800;
- or in person at the Huntington Theatre (264 Huntington Ave) or Calderwood Pavilion (527 Tremont Street)
The Huntington asks that any patron experiencing illness stay home and contact ticketing services for more information about exchanges.
MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA
Any members of the media who are interested in speaking with the artists of the Winter New Play Intensive, please contact Associate Director of Publicity Gabrielle Jaques at gjaques@huntingtontheatre.org or 617-273-1520.
Free event registration for Dec 16 here
Free event registration for Dec 17 here
ABOUT THE HUNTINGTON
Celebrating over 40 years of outstanding theatre, The Huntington is Boston’s leading professional theatre company. On our stages and throughout our city, we share enduring and untold stories that spark the imagination of audiences and artists and amplify the wide range of voices in our community.
Under the leadership of Norma Jean Calderwood Artistic Director Loretta Greco and Executive Director Christopher Mannelli, The Huntington is committed to welcoming broad and diverse audiences, provides life-changing opportunities for students through its robust education and community programs, is a national leader in the development of playwrights and new plays, and serves the local arts community through our operation of the Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA.
The Huntington reopened the historic Huntington Theatre in fall of 2022 after its transformational renovation, and is currently in phase two of the project; the renovation and building project of this storied venue with a bold vision for the future will allow us to innovatively expand our services to audiences, artists, and the community for generations to come. For more information, visit huntingtontheatre.org.
# # #