This season, we kicked off the year with a world premiere from a Los Angeles theatre legend, followed by a Pulitzer Prize winner that earned critical acclaim from both critics and audiences alike.
Summer is dedicated to new work and exciting fundraising events, and this September we return with the Los Angeles premiere of a recent Tony nominee, followed by a MainStage production of a play developed just last summer in our Playwrights’ Festival.
My Son The Playwright
January 24 - March 18, 2026
Henry Murray Stage
Written and performed by Justin Tanner
Directed by Lisa James
Produced by Byron Coolie
The World Premiere of Justin Tanner’s My Son The Playwright, directed by Lisa James, was staged on our hyper intimate Henry Murray Stage. This is an immersive journey into the beating heart of a father/son relationship. The autobiographical story of this fractious father and son who dig through endless layers of ego, jealousy (and mutual annoyance) in order to find the
kernel of love at the core of their relationship.
Alone in his meticulous apartment in Salinas, CA, Douglas awaits the arrival of his son, throwing back shots of gin and spewing comically bitter stories of a father’s thwarted hopes, while somehow maintaining the faintest possibility of redemption. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, James delays his departure, refusing to get on the road until he’s located a missing bag of weed. As he unleashes forty years’ worth of acrimony about his dad’s egregious shortcomings, he cautiously begins to set aside his resentments and recognize his part in the slow-motion car crash of his career.
Peppered with live songs of love and anger, Tanner performs both the roles of his father and his younger self with equal amounts of lacerating humor and pathos.
Fairview
March 14, 2026 - May 3, 2026
MainStage
written by Jackie Sibblies Drury
directed by Oz Scott
produced by Chisom Okoye, Susan Lewis and Guillermo Cienfuegos
Winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Fairview made its Los Angeles Premiere on Rogue Machine’s MainStage with a sold-out, critically acclaimed run.
At the Frasier household, preparations for Grandma’s birthday party are underway. Beverly is holding on to her sanity by a thread to make sure this party is perfect, but her sister can’t be bothered to help, her husband doesn’t seem to listen, her brother is MIA, her daughter is a teenager, and maybe nothing is what it seems in the first place.
A Case for the Existence of God
September 5 - October 11, 2026
Henry Murray Stage
written by Samuel D. Hunter
directed by John Perrin Flynn
produced by Lexi Sloan
Rogue Machine has a longstanding relationship with the work of Samuel D. Hunter, having previously produced the West Coast premieres of A Bright New Boise, A Permanent Image, and Pocatello, as well as the Southern California premiere of A Great Wilderness. Following Hunter’s recent Tony nomination for Little Bear Ridge Road, we are thrilled to present the Los Angeles premiere of this intimate, deeply moving play about two fathers who form an unexpected bond through shared vulnerability, parenthood, and economic uncertainty.
A Case for the Existence of God won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play and was nominated for Outstanding Play by the Drama Desk Awards.
Saint Megan
October 10 - November 15, 2026
MainStage
written by Joy Gregory
directed by Lina Patel
produced by Betsy Zajko and Justin Okin
Saint Megan is the first play developed through Rogue Machine’s Playwrights’ Roundtable to receive a full production, marking a major step in our ongoing commitment to new plays and the writers who create them.
Based on the true story of Megan Phelps-Roper, who was born into the Westboro Baptist Church, this world premiere follows Megan’s gradual deradicalization through a series of online conversations that began on Twitter in 2011 and ultimately led to her separation from her family and the only community she had ever known.
Part family drama, part spiritual reckoning, and featuring music, movement, and fierce emotional honesty, Saint Megan explores the long history of American millenarian Christian sects, our longing for salvation, and the moral courage it takes to face uncertainty.