Second Stage Theater has announced it will host The Next Stage Festival, a series of four programs focusing on the work of early-career playwrights. The festival is set for January 16-March 11, 2024, at the Tony Kiser Theater.

Programming will kick off January 16 with The Nancy Denovan Musical Reading, a one-night-only reading of Inside Voices, a new musical by Ross Golan. Michael Mayer will direct. The alt-rock musical is based on true events and tells the story of a 16-year-old prodigy in 1828 Germany. 

The world premiere of Kate Douglas' The Apiary, directed by Kate Whoriskey, will follow, running January 31-February 25 with an official opening February 13. The Apiary, set 22 years in the future, follows two lab assistants who hatch a plan that could change the world. 

The Judith Champion Reading Series will subsequently feature three new plays developed over a week of rehearsal. D.A. Mindell's On the Evolutionary Function of Shame, Sarah Mantell's The Good Guys, and Kaela Mei-Shing Garvin's Tiger Beat will each receive a one-night-only presentation. 

Second Stage will continue the Lark Playwrights Workshop, in which five playwrights will be mentored by established theatre artists, including David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph, and May Adrales. The mentoring sessions will take place between January 17 and March 26.

Casting for all events and directors for the Judith Champion Reading Series will be announced at a later date. 

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