What's Happening!
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SUMMERWORKS 2026 IS ALMOST HERE!
Our annual line-up of three brand-new plays is approaching, featuring: TITANS by Jesse Jae Hoon, directed by Tara Elliott; DERANGEMENTS by Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, directed by Annie Tippe; and THE FAMILY DOG by Bailey Williams, directed by Tara Ahmadinejad.
Running May 14 – Jun 30 at the Wild Project. TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
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SUMMERWORKS 2025'S SOLD-OUT CRITIC'S PICK COLD WAR CHOIR PRACTICE RETURNS
Tickets for Ro Reddick’s COLD WAR CHOIR PRACTICE are on sale now! The Summerworks 2025 Critic’s Pick, directed by Knud Adams, will return for an extended run co-produced by MCC Theater, Clubbed Thumb and Page 73. CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS & INFO
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MEET OUR NEW GROUP COHORTS!
A very warm welcome to the incoming writers and directors taking part in Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ Group and New Play Fellowship!
Directors Terrence I Mosley, Liz Peterson and Hanna Yurfest will work on newly commissioned plays by Max Mooney, jose sebastian alberdi and Emma Horwitz respectively – stay tuned for a Winterworks announcement.
And we’re looking forward to getting to know Alyssa Haddad-Chin, Doug Robinson, Dylan Guerra, Jan Rosenberg, Jen Diamond, Nadja Leonard-Hooper, Sarah Grace Goldman and Yulia Tsukerman in this year’s writers’ group!
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THANK YOU FOR MAKING OUR GALA A GREAT SUCCESS
Thanks to everyone who joined us to honor Crystal, Susannah, and Miriam, and to everyone who contributed to make it a truly special night.
We were moved by the warmth and generosity in the room on Monday October 6th — lots of hugs, laughter and a even few happy tears. These three are the real deal and we are lucky to know them; we’re excited to keep celebrating them and working with them for many years to come.
Actors are at the heart of what we do, and it’s not too late to support them with a gift to our 2025 gala! DONATE HERE
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THANK YOU FOR COMING TO SUMMERWORKS 2025
Whether it was your first Summerworks or your 28th, we are so pleased you could join us. CLICK HERE for some photos and essays from this season.
We’ll be spending the summer incubating and planning for the fall, but we have lot of news to share, so watch this space!
In the meantime, we’re pleased to announce that our outgoing board chair will match donations up to a total of $25,000 to support future remounts of Summerworks shows (like this season’s Deep Blue Sound). He wants us to keep it up – and so do we! CLICK HERE TO JOIN THAT EFFORT
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ANNOUNCING SUMMERWORKS 2025
Due to overwhelming demand, we’re adding performances this year – but Summerworks shows always sell out, so lock in your seats with a pass!
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THANK YOU FOR A GREAT RUN!
Spending the last two months with Deep Blue Sound has been a joy and a balm. We are deeply proud of the work, and humbled by the talent and dedication of this company of artists.
The show played for six sold-out weeks and we added as many shows as we could – but sadly, we closed this weekend. Thank you to the over 4,000 people who came to visit our island. And thank you to all the artists, staff, funders and friends who made it possible. This was a special one.
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NOW PLAYING: DEEP BLUE SOUND
Our “devastatingly beautiful” production from Summerworks 2023 returns for a limited engagement, in residence at the Public Theater. Now playing! CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS
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WINTERWORKS 2025 HAS COME TO A CLOSE
Thank you to the hundreds of people who joined as at Playwrights Downtown for the 10th annual Winterworks. We were so proud of the work these amazing artists made — and we managed to cram everyone in to share it. Congratulations especially to Directing Fellows Iris McCloughan, NJ Agwuna and Laura Dupper – read more HERE
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OUR NEW ANTHOLOGY - ON SALE NOW
We’ve been eager to put out a second anthology since Funny, Strange, Provocative was published in 2007, and the last year finally provided us with the time to take on this long-awaited project. We are thrilled to announce that Unusual Stories, Unusually Told, published by Bloomsbury/Methuen, is now available!
In it you’ll find seven Clubbed Thumb plays that span 18 years of our history, as well as essays and interviews about the work, and the often atypical processes that led to their productions.
Read more about the book and get your discounted copy (and our first anthology) HERE
Rachel Gita Karp
Rachel Gita Karp creates and directs performances about U.S. politics and public policy. Her current research focuses on reproductive health and rights, gender representation in politics, voting, and privacy. Rachel has developed and directed new performances about these topics and more through The Drama League, the Center for Artistic Activism, Mabou Mines, Ars Nova, Irondale, Brooklyn Arts Council, Actors Theatre of Louisville, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, The Wild Project, The Brick, The Flea, IRT, Dixon Place, Philly Fringe, PlayPenn, Incubator Arts Project, Women Center Stage, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Barn Arts, Orchard Project, the Powerhouse and Samuel French Festivals, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Process Series, Columbia University’s graduate and undergraduate schools, and Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. Associate and assistant directing credits include productions on Broadway, Off-, and regional, including the Tony-winning The Waverly Gallery.
Rachel is currently the Beatrice Terry Resident Director at The Drama League. She is also the Special Projects Manager at the Center for Artistic Activism and a grantee of its Unstoppable Voters Project. BA, Columbia; MFA, Carnegie Mellon. At Carnegie Mellon she was a John Wells Directing Fellow, which supported her academics, and a Milton and Cynthia Friedman Fellow, which supported her work in policy research in Washington, D.C. www.rachelgitakarp.com
Temporary Occupant
created and directed by Rachel Gita Karp
a personal inauguration, following the presidential one
Temporary Occupant was presented through Clubbed Thumb’s Winterworks, immediately following the presidential inauguration this past January. It took place in person for one person at a time. It started with the creators sharing their feelings and fears for the new administration, invited participants to do the same, and then offered release, intention-setting, and hope through writing, speaking, and song. The clip shows the beginning section.
How to Put On a Sock
created and directed by Rachel Gita Karp
an interactive sex ed tour of the United States
In How to Put On a Sock, the audience is “cast” as ninth graders in a sex ed assembly, and the performance jumps to different states and shares actual, in-use curricula. Viewers are invited to participate in the lessons and through additional anonymous, text-in polling, with answers aggregated and displayed in real time. The clip, with shots of the audience and the stage, shows the end of the Tennessee lesson and the start of the Idaho lesson.
Packing and Cracking
a participatory mapmaking event about gerrymandering
co-created and directed by Rachel Gita Karp
see more at: www.packingandcracking.com
It’s in the Bag
a time-bending look at the time-forgotten lineage of women+ who’ve run for U.S. president
created and directed by Rachel Gita Karp
It’s in the Bag intercuts a 1940 radio series that featured famous comedienne Gracie Allen’s prank presidential campaign with archival material from many real campaigns women+ have run. The clip shows the radio show intercut with material from Geraldine Ferraro’s 1984 Vice Presidential run.