Broadway's 2022-2023 Season: A Complete List of Plays

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens received a new adaptation from Jefferson Mays, Susan Lyons, and Michael Arden. In this version Jefferson Mays played over 50 roles in what Variety called “a tour de force.” The production had a hearalded world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in 2018 before it came to Broadway in 2022 just in time for the holidays.

A Doll’s House: This new adaptation by Amy Herzog (4000 Miles, Mary Jane) of the classic play by Henrik Ibsen ran on Broadway at the Hudson Theatre, directed by Jamie Lloyd (Betrayal, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Seagull). Starring Jessica Chastain as dissatisfied housewife Nora and Arian Moayed as her husband Torvald, this production sees a new take on the much-revived classic. The Guardian said, “Chastain is captivating as Nora…[and director] Lloyd delivers an ensemble worthy of taking on Ibsen’s masterwork.”

Ain’t No Mo’: This play by Jordan E. Cooper and directed by Stevie Walker-Webb played at the Belasco Theatre and asks the incendiary question, “What if the U.S. government offered Black Americans one-way plane tickets to Africa?” The answer comes in the form of a fast-paced new comedy that The New York Times called “thrilling, bewildering, campy, shrewd, mortifying, scary, devastating and deep.”

Between Riverside and Crazy: Stephen Adly Guirgis won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2015 when Between Riverside and Crazy premiered off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company. It made its Broadway debut at the Helen Hayes Theater in 2022 with original director Austin Pendleton. The play follows widower and retired policeman Walter “Pops” Washington and his son Junior who has recently been paroled. They struggle to hold on to one of the last great rent stabilized apartments on Riverside Drive amidst old wounds, houseguests, and ultimatums. The New York Times gave the original production a Critic’s Pick and called it “dizzying and exciting…fresh and startling.”

Cost of Living: This play by Martyna Majok won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2018 and received its Broadway Premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Directed by Jo Bonney, Cost of Living explores the forces that bring people together, the complexity of being cared for, and the ways we all need each other in this world. The New York Times called the off-Broadway production “gripping” and “intensely haunting.”

Death of a Salesman: This American classic by Arthur Miller came to Broadway after a hit run on London’s West End. Wendell Pierce and Sharon D. Clarke reprise their roles as Willy and Linda Loman and were joined by Khris Davis, McKinley Belcher III, and André De Shields. Directed by Miranda Cromwell (who co-directed the London production with Marianne Elliott), The New York Times called this production “electrifying” and “a beautiful revival.” This powerful interpretation of Miller’s drama illuminates the dark underbelly of the American Dream and its elusive promise of equality and opportunity for all.

Fat Ham, written by James Ijames and directed by Saheem Ali, ran at the American Airlines Theatre (now the Todd Haimes Theatre) after a hit run off-Broadway at the Public Theater. Winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Fat Ham follows Juicy, a queer Southern college student whose father shows up at a family barbecue and demands that his murder be avenged. The New York Times called this comedic reinterpretation of Hamlet “an outstanding transformation of Shakespeare’s tragedy into a play about Black masculinity and queerness…more tragic but also more joyous, more comedic, more political, more contemporary.”

Good Night, Oscar, written by Doug Wright and directed Lisa Peterson, played at the Belasco Theatre after a hit run at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Sean Hayes (Will & Grace) starred as Oscar Levant on the night he appears as a guest on Jack Paar’s late-night talk show. The Chicago Sun-Times said, “The play, about the one and only Oscar Levant—a great pianist, a great wit, a tortured man with obsessive-compulsive disorder and drug addictions—captures just the right balance of humor and pathos.”

Leopoldstadt: After winning the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2020, Leopoldstadt written by Tom Stoppard and directed by Patrick Marber ran at Broadway’s Longacre Theatre. Set in Vienna, the play follows one extended family from 1899 into the 20th century and has a cast of 38 actors. Time Out London says “The play asks what it means to be Jewish, ethnically, spiritually, in the eyes of one’s own community and in the eyes of others… ‘Leopoldstadt’ is a powerful and sincere tribute to a vanished people. Hopefully they can live on for a little longer thanks to the last great play of the last great writer of the twentieth century.”

Life of Pi: This play won five Olivier Awards in its hit run on the West End before coming to Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name, Life of Pi follows sixteen-year-old Pi after a shipwreck leaves him stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The Guardian called it, “unmissable…a triumph of transformative stagecraft.”

Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man & the Pool: Coming to Broadway after hit runs in Berkeley, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Mike Birbiglia’s one-man show is a coming-of-middle-age story that Theatermania calls “a triumphant return” that “has the audience in stitches, laughing hysterically at the frailty of humanity.” The Old Man & the Pool played at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater and asks big questions, like, why are we here? What’s next? And what happens when the items at the doctor’s office that you thought were decorative become functional?

Ohio State Murders by Adrienne Kennedy marks this 91-year-old playwright's Broadway debut. The play was the first to run at the newly renamed James Earl Jones Theatre with Kenny Leon directing and Audra McDonald starring as writer Suzanne Alexander who returns to her alma mater as a guest speaker who explores the violence in her works. The New York Times has called Adrienne Kennedy “surely one of the finest living American playwrights.”

Peter Pan Goes Wrong: This play from Mischief Theatre Company, known for The Play That Goes Wrong, ran at Broadway’s Barrymore Theatre after a hit run on the West End. Peter Pan Goes Wrong follows the fictitious Cornley University as they present the play Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie only to see it derailed by amateur acting, onstage rivalries, and technical failures. Time Out London called it “extremely funny [and] joyfully silly.”

Pictures From Home: This play written by Sharr White and directed by Barlett Sher played at Studio 54 starring Nathan Lane, Danny Burstein, and Zoë Wanamaker. Based on the photo memoir “Pictures From Home” by Larry Sultan, this play follows Larry as he photographs, interviews, and remembers his parents; it’s an examination on manhood, fatherhood, and the truths only we can see.

Prima Facie: Written by Suzie Miller and directed by Justin Martin, Prima Facie ran at the Golden Theatre on Broadway after a hit run in London’s West End. Jodie Comer (Killing Eve, Free Guy, The Last Duel) gave a tour de force performance as Tessa, a young and competitive lawyer at the top of her game. The Guardian said this “one-woman play about a lawyer who specializes in defending men accused of sexual assault, until she is assaulted herself…demands frenetic, non-stop physical and emotional engagement from its lead. Comer delivers…[she] manages to infuse breath-taking emotional drama in every last word.”

Summer, 1976: This play written by David Auburn and directed by Daniel Sullivan had its world premiere at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Starring Laura Linney and Jessica Hecht as Diana, a fiercely iconoclastic artist and single mom, and Alice, a free-spirited yet naïve young housewife, the play follows their relationship over one summer as they navigate motherhood, ambition, and intimacy against the backdrop of the Bicentennial.

Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg and directed by Scott Ellis won the 2022 Tony Award for Best Play Revival after playing at the Hayes Theatre, and then it returned to Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, where it ran until February 2023. It follows the fallout of a baseball team after its star player suddenly comes out as gay to his teammates and the press. The play explores sexuality, race, and all the ways men can self-destruct. It starred Grey's Anatomy heartthrob Jesse Williams and Modern Family's Jesse Tyler Ferguson in the roles that earned them a Tony nomination and Tony Award respectively. Time Out New York called it, “provocative, intelligent, and engaging…Greenberg takes a much-examined pastime and makes it a whole new ball game.

The Collaboration: This play by Anthony McCarten and directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah came to Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J Friedman Theatre after a hit run in London. In the summer of 1984, longtime international superstar Andy Warhol and the art scene’s newest wunderkind, Jean-Michel Basquiat, agree to work together on what may be the most talked about exhibition in the history of modern art. Starring Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope as Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, The New York Times said the “play offers bravura performances.”

The Piano Lesson: After more than 30 years since its Broadway debut, August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama The Piano Lesson returned to New York City. This family drama centers around a prized heirloom piano that one sister believes holds the spirits of their ancestors. Her brother is less convinced, hoping to sell the instrument and buy the land their enslaved ancestors once worked. In a Broadway first, Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson was the first woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway, also marking her directorial debut. The cast included Samuel L. Jackson as Doaker Charles, John David Washington as Boy Willie, and Danielle Brooks as Berniece. An adaptation of the play starring the same actors is coming to Netflix soon.

The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window: Written by Lorraine Hansberry and directed by Anne Kauffman, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window moved to Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre after a hit run at BAM off-Broadway. The play follows a group of friends in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and the strained marriage of Sidney and Iris Brustein, played by Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan respectively. Entertainment Weekly said “this imaginatively-staged, passionately-acted production does justice to [Hansberry’s] political vision.”

The Thanksgiving Play: This play written by Larissa FastHorse and directed by Rachel Chavkin ran at the Hayes Theater and follows a group of well-meaning white theater artists as they try to put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving play for an elementary school. The Hollywood Reporter said, “it’s very, very funny…the play delivers plenty of uproarious moments.”

Topdog/Underdog: Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize winning play premiered in 2001 off-Broadway at the Public Theater before moving to Broadway and being nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. It came back to Broadway at the Golden Theatre and won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in a production directed by Kenny Leon and starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Corey Hawkins as brothers who are haunted by the past and obsessed with a street con game, three-card monte. Variety called the original Broadway production, “an utterly mesmerizing evening of theater.”

The Kite Runner: Adapted from the book that spent two years on The New York Times best seller list, The Kite Runner tells the story of one man’s lifelong journey towards redemption. It all starts on a sunny afternoon in Kabul when best friends Hassan and Amir enjoy a kite flying tournament. What starts out as a beautiful day will end in a tragedy that changes the course of both boys’ lives forever. This play involves adult themes including sexual violence, viewer discretion is advised. Following a run on the West End, this Broadway show ran from July - October 2022. 

Walking With Ghosts: This play by Gabriel Byrne ran at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre after hit runs in the West End, Scotland, and Ireland. Adapted from the memoir of the same name with direction by Lonny Price, Walking With Ghosts follows Gabriel from his time as a young boy in Ireland through his successful stage and screen career. Time Out London said the show is “a lilting, lyrical trip down memory lane” that “more than earns its place on the big stage.”