RJ Theatre Company, in partnership with The Actor Launchpad, Announces Circle Festival 2025: Twelve Bold Productions Challenge Theater’s Status Quo
Festival returns to West 45th Street with expanded lineup celebrating “the stubborn necessity of art in impossible times”.
After its sold-out debut season, which brought over 1,000 attendees to The Flea Theater, RJ Theatre Company, in partnership with The Actor Launchpad, is pleased to announce the complete lineup for Circle Festival 2025, returning August 30 through October 19 with twelve bold new productions at AMT Theater, 354 W 45th St, New York, NY. Circle Festival reaffirms its commitment to raw, immediate storytelling without commercial dilution. Tickets are $20-$53 and are available at https://www.rjtheatrecompany.com/circlefestival-1.
"The world is literally burning, and we’re still making theater," said Artistic Director Emma Tadmor. "Maybe that’s exactly what we need—not more efficient solutions or optimized experiences, but the stubborn, inefficient, gloriously human act of gathering together to tell stories."
Circle Festival operates on a simple principle: a room, an audience, and the courage to make something real. The 2025 lineup showcases both emerging voices and established artists, many presenting new works-in-progress for the first time.
Programming Highlights
NEW VOICES: Women, queer, and neurodiverse artists exploring identity through innovative forms. Includes ENMESHMENT, a movement-driven piece about boundaries of self, and ANOTHER KIND OF HOLDING ON by Genevieve Scott, a time-bending, existential two-hander about memory, regret, and the version of ourselves we leave behind—or fail to.
ESTABLISHED ARTISTS: SUNBREAK, by Jonathan Goetzman, is a family drama about estranged sisters reuniting after a funeral, transferring from Los Angeles and starring Martina Ferragamo. THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS by Edward Allan Baker that showcase intimate, blue-collar stories with sharp emotional clarity—directed and curated by Actors Studio Lifetime Member Suzanne Di Donna, who worked closely with Baker for three decades. “I was blessed to be introduced to Edward Allan Baker 30 years ago when performing in Face Divided and had the pleasure of working with him closely all these years,” Di Donna shares. “I am honored to call him my friend and I miss him immensely. I want to dedicate these works in honor of him and to his children Dylan, Alex, and Marlena, and the Baker sisters Debbie, Carol, Pat, Rosemary, Kathy, Susan, and brother Danny. You live in my heart and soul, Eddie. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Baker’s family will partner with Circle Festival to honor one of our original plays this season with the inaugural Edward Allan Baker Award for New Writing.
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL THREADS: Plays that blur the line between personal history and theatrical fiction. MOM PLAY by Madelyn Slattery is a raw, loosely autobiographical story about a daughter visiting her mother in prison in search of answers—and finding only more questions. Told with sharp humor and emotional restraint, it digs into grief, shame, and the ache of inherited silence.
LATE-NIGHT CABARET: SUGAR AND SALT (inspired by Candy Darling), a trans-led musical fever dream—glitter, grime, and girls who’ve had enough. A reimagined SWEET CHARITY by trans performers and WOMEN WHO CUT, a dark satire of sex, power, and revolutionary sisterhood.
Complete 2025 Lineup:
• THREE ONE-ACT PLAYS by Edward Allan Baker – ROSEMARY WITH GINGER | DOLORES | FACE DIVIDED - Working-class portraits through generations
• SUNBREAK by Jonathan Goetzman – Family drama about grief and reconciliation
• MOM PLAY by Madelyn Slattery – A daughter visits her mother in prison in search of closure
• INTO YOUR HANDS by Nick Navari – Solo piece about grief and memory
• PACKED by Elise Wilkes – Comedy about strangers packing an ex's apartment
• ENMESHMENT by Caity Ladda – Movement-based exploration of identity
• ANOTHER KIND OF HOLDING ON by Genevieve Scott – Time-bending drama about memory
• THE CAVES by Adrienne Gomez – Survival drama on a snowy mountain
• LODESTONE by Constance Girard – Multimedia ritual blending opera and movement
• WOMEN WHO CUT by Ariella Carmell – Dark chamber drama about power
• SUGAR AND SALT – A musical reimagining inspired by Candy Darling, created and performed by trans artists.
• REPLICA by Paul Tully - A hyper-realistic descent into the underbelly of addiction, identity, and survival in a Los Angeles motel room
"In a world that constantly asks us to define ourselves, to pick a lane, to be consistent—we’re offering something different: the chance to be multiple, fluid, and beautifully, chaotically human," said Tadmor.
Festival Details:
Dates: Weekends, August 30 – October 19, 2025
Venue: AMT Theater, 354 W 45th St, New York, NY
Tickets: $20-$53 and are available at https://www.rjtheatrecompany.com/circlefestival-1
About Circle Festival
Launched in 2024, Circle Festival was created to present professionally staged theater without endless development or million-dollar sets. Following last year’s sold-out run and press coverage in BroadwayWorld, TheaterMania, and Pavement Pieces, the 2025 festival moves to AMT Theater while preserving its immersive, front-row intimacy.
About RJ Theatre Company
RJ Theatre Company creates immediate, risk-taking work that prioritizes artistic integrity over commercial appeal. Circle Festival and other programs provide space for theatrical storytelling that is unfiltered, uncommodified, and fiercely original.
The Actor Launchpad
The Actor Launchpad is a New York–based creative studio and production company that empowers actors through emotionally grounded, artistically bold work. They create cinematic demo reels, short films, and immersive workshops that explore the tension between inner truth and outward expression.
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Photos from 2024 by Dana Golan:
