CHAIN THEATRE’S SUMMER ONE-ACT FESTIVAL RETURNS WITH STARS AND STORYTELLING BRILLIANCE

July 10 ​ - August 2, 2025

SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN AT CHAINTHEATRE.ORG

Chain Theatre’s annual Summer One-Act Festival is back and bolder than ever. From July 10 through August 2, 2025, their midtown Manhattan theater (312 W. 36th Street, 3rd & 4th Floor) transforms into a theatrical mixtape, delivering daring, genre-busting new works from rising voices and veteran talent alike. Featuring more than 90 short plays across curated nightly blocks (each 75–90 minutes), the festival offers a bold mix of dark comedy, gripping drama, and unexpected magic, with select performances available for streaming.

Headlining Program Block #1 is Paul Calderón’s gripping double bill THE INTERLUDE and VOICES FROM THE EDGE, showcasing a powerhouse performance from the acclaimed actor, writer, and co-founder of Primitive Grace Theatre Ensemble. Calderón, whose screen credits include Bosch: Legacy, Boardwalk Empire, and Fear the Walking Dead, brings both plays to life alongside members of his multiracial, multigenerational company, renowned for its raw, reality-shifting work. In The Interlude, a disillusioned trainer implores his female fighter, exhibiting signs of pugilistic dementia, to leave the ring, while Voices from the Edge features four women sharing harrowing personal accounts of gun violence. Calderón’s role as playwright and performer, rooted in his identity as a Latino artist, resonates with this year’s programming.

Also featured are:

This year's lineup reflects the Chain Theatre’s commitment to culturally, politically, and socially responsive art, offering a platform where new work is incubated with purpose. Chain has recently premiered works by Eric Bogosian, David Rabe, Lyle Kessler, and Jesse Eisenberg, who made his stage directorial debut here before winning an Academy Award for A Real Pain.

 “We don’t do safe—we do real,” says Chain Theatre Artistic Director Kirk Gostkowski. “This is where audiences and artists meet on equal ground to explore the world as it is, and imagine what it could be.”

Website: www.chaintheatre.org

IG: @chaintheatrenyc FB: ChainTheatre

CHAIN THEATRE always seeks to reflect and react to the world around us. Culturally. Politically. Socially. Audiences can find investment in the work at the Chain because it's about them, no matter what the topic might be. It’s a place where artists and audiences can expand their perspectives.

The critically acclaimed Chain Theatre (NYT Critic’s pick MACBITCHES) is a premier Off-Broadway producing organization in midtown Manhattan. Chain Theatre produced the World Premiere of GARBAGEMAN by Emmy-nominated Keith Huff (A STEADY RAIN, MAD MEN, HOUSE OF CARDS) and has also collaborated with Tony Award winner David Rabe (HURLYBURLY, IN THE BOOM BOOM ROOM) and Eric Bogosian (AN EVENING WITH ERIC BOGOSIAN, NYC Premiere Humpty Dumpty). Most recent hit World Premiere productions include: THIS G*D DAMN HOUSE (ScreenCraft Grand Prize Winner), A WILL TO LIVE, and WHAT PASSES FOR COMEDY. 

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