THE STAGE ANNOUNCES 44TH SEASON
FIVE BOLD PRODUCTIONS FOR 2026/27
September 2026 through June 2027
FEATURING SEARING BAY AREA PREMIERE, KILLER COMEDY, TANTALIZING MUSICAL COMEDY, LANDMARK PULITZER PRIZE–WINNING DRAMA AND INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED STAGE ADAPTATION
SEASON 44 LAUNCHES WITH BARCELONA, A SEARING BAY AREA PREMIERE
FROM TONY AWARD– AND PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT BESS WOHL
CLUE, A KILLER COMEDY FOR THE HOLIDAYS, BASED ON THE MURDER-MYSTERY BOARD GAME AND CULT-CLASSIC FILM
THE FULL MONTY, A BIG-HEARTED, TANTALIZING MUSICAL COMEDY BY TONY AWARD–WINNING PLAYWRIGHT TERRENCE McNALLY, WITH MUSIC AND LYRICS BY DAVID YAZBEK
SUZAN-LORI PARKS’ PULITZER PRIZE–WINNING LANDMARK DRAMA TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED STAGE ADAPTATION OF
THE ACADEMY AWARD–WINNING FILM NETWORK WILL CAP THE SEASON
SAN JOSÉ, CA (August 20, 2026) – San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) Artistic Director Randall King announces its 44th season, featuring five powerful stories brought to life through the intimate, immediate theatrical experience for which The Stage has become known. The 2026/27 season spans from a seductive psychological drama to a madcap murder mystery, from a musical comedy to a Pulitzer Prize-winning American classic, and a blistering examination of media, power, and spectacle.
“These five productions are wild, absurd, and thought-provoking, filled with humor, heart, and plenty of high stakes—all experienced the way theatre was meant to be: live, intimate, and of the moment,” says Artistic Director Randall King. “Season 44 brings together five stories where the ground is constantly shifting—where chance, desire, and consequence can change everything in an instant, and nothing stays predictable for long.”
Season 44 launches with Tony Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Bess Wohl’s Barcelona(September 23–October 18, 2026), a seductive drama making its Bay Area premiere. Set over a single night, the play begins with a chance encounter between two strangers and gradually reveals something far more complicated, as desire, identity and assumptions collide with the personal and political. The Stage previously presented the regional premiere of Wohl’s Grand Horizons in April 2023, earning the production an Excellence in Theatre Award for Entire Production – South Peninsula from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.
For the holidays, The Stage cranks up the chaos with Clue,(November 18–December 20, 2026) the murder mystery inspired by the beloved board game and cult classic film. Set inside the increasingly chaotic Boddy Manor, the killer comedy brings together six notorious suspects, a mysterious host and an arsenal of familiar weapons in a rapid-fire whodunit filled with escalating mayhem.
The Stage kicks off the new year with The Full Monty (February 3–28, 2027) the Tony Award–nominated musical by Terrence McNally and David Yazbek. Six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers hatch an unlikely plan to “take it all off” in a one-night-only strip show. With an irreverent sense of humor and a score packed with heart, The Full Monty celebrates resilience, friendship and the courage to put yourself on the line.
The season continues with Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer Prize–winning Topdog/Underdog (March 31–April 25, 2027). Centered on brothers Lincoln and Booth—whose names carry the weight of American history—the play transforms sibling rivalry and the hustler’s game of three-card monte into a razor-sharp battle over brotherhood, power and who gets to control the hand they’ve been dealt. Fiercely funny and emotionally volatile, Parks’ landmark drama remains one of the defining works of contemporary American theatre.
The Stage caps the season withNetwork(June 2–27, 2027), Lee Hall’s internationally acclaimed stage adaptation of Paddy Chayefsky’s Academy Award–winning film, nearly 50 years after the iconic movie was released in 1976. A technical feat of live theatre, the production will fuse camera work, live video and dynamic staging as veteran news anchor Howard Beale’s on-air breakdown becomes a ratings phenomenon. Half a century later, its satire of media sensationalism and the influence of corporate power remains strikingly immediate.
In addition to its five-production mainstage season, The Stage will continue to expand its programming throughout Season 44 with special events, limited engagements, education and community partnerships, and other opportunities that bring artists and audiences together beyond their traditional production calendar. Additional programming will be announced throughout the season.
For more than four decades, San Jose Stage Company has grown alongside the city it calls home. From its theatre at the corner of First and William Streets, The Stage is part of the concentration of theatres, museums, galleries, music venues and cultural organizations that make downtown San José’s SoFA District a gathering place for arts and culture in Silicon Valley.
“There is an extraordinary creative energy in downtown San José right now,” said Executive Director Cathleen King.“The Stage has had the honor of being part of this vibrant community for more than 40 years, watching the neighborhood and the city evolve around us. Theatre gives people a reason to come together, to share a room, encounter a story and experience something that cannot be replicated anywhere else. We’re proud to continue creating that experience here in the heart of San José.”
BARCELONA
By Bess Wohl
Bay Area Premiere
September 23–October 18, 2026 | Press Opening: September 26, 2026
From Tony Award– and Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Bess Wohl comes a seductive, psychologically charged drama set over one unforgettable night in Barcelona. A chance encounter between two strangers takes an increasingly complicated turn as attraction, identity and politics collide. Funny, sexy and full of unexpected twists, Barcelona explores the gap between the person we imagine ourselves to be and the truth we’re willing to reveal.
About the Playwright: Bess Wohl is an award-winning playwright and filmmaker whose work has been produced on and off Broadway, regionally and internationally. Her plays include the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award–winning Liberation, along with Grand Horizons, Small Mouth Sounds, Make Believeand Camp Siegfried.
“The playwright stays one step ahead of theatergoers—not to trick them, but to hold out for deeper truth.” — Los Angeles Times
CLUE
Based on the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn
Written by Sandy Rustin
Additional Material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price
Based on the Paramount Pictures Motion Picture
Based on the Hasbro board game
November 18–December 20, 2026 | Press Opening: November 21, 2026
It’s a dark and stormy night at Boddy Manor. Scarlet, Plum, White, Green, Peacock and Mustard arrive for a very unusual dinner party where the host is, well, dead—and nothing and no one are quite what they seem. Add one suspicious butler, a house full of suspects and an alarming assortment of weapons, and you’ve got Clue, a madcap murder mystery packed with mayhem, mischief and plenty of laughs. As the body count stacks up and suspicions run wild, everyone is racing to uncover the killer before they become the next victim.
About the Playwright: Sandy Rustin is a Broadway playwright and one of the most-produced playwrights in America. Her stage adaptation of Clue has become a favorite of regional theatres nationwide, and her original Broadway comedy The Cottage premiered at the Hayes Theater and was named one of the best Broadway shows of the year. Rustin is also the founder of the nonprofit Jokes on Her, the inaugural recipient of McCarter Theatre’s Comedy Commission, and a 2026 recipient of the Bechdel Project’s Room of One’s Own Residency.
“It’s funny and frothy and light, the kind of breezy night at the theater that most audiences would kill for.”
— Entertainment Weekly
THE FULL MONTY
Book by Terrence McNally
Music and Lyrics by David Yazbek
February 3–28, 2027 | Press Opening: February 6, 2027
Six unemployed Buffalo steelworkers decide the quickest way back on their feet may be to take everything off. Their unlikely striptease scheme soon exposes far more than skin, as friendship, pride and self-worth are all put on the line. Based on the hit comedy film, The Full Monty is a raucous, big-hearted musical filled with humor, heart and an irresistible score.
About the Playwright/Writers:Terrence McNally was one of the most influential American playwrights and librettists of his generation and a five-time Tony Award winner, including four competitive Tony Awards for Master Class, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Ragtime, as well as the 2019 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. David Yazbek is an acclaimed Grammy-winning and Tony Award–winning composer and lyricist whose scores include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dead Outlaw, The Band’s Visit, and Tootsie. Together, their work makes The Full Monty a musical comedy with both irreverence and heart.
“Hilarious and Sexy, The Full Monty is a crowd pleaser.” — Chicago Critic
TOPDOG/UNDERDOG
By Suzan-Lori Parks
Pulitzer Prize Winner
March 31–April 25, 2027 | Press Opening: April 3, 2027
Brothers Lincoln and Booth are dealt a bad hand before the game even begins. Their names—a cruel joke from their father—carry the weight of American history, turning an already volatile brotherhood into a contest over who gets to define himself. Haunted by their past and obsessed with the street con hustle of three-card monte, they turn every encounter into a battle of wits, sharp humor and high stakes. But some games you can't afford to lose.
About the Playwright: Suzan-Lori Parks is an acclaimed playwright, screenwriter, novelist and musician whose groundbreaking work has reshaped contemporary American theatre. In 2002, she became the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, winning for Topdog/Underdog. Twenty years after its original Broadway run, the play returned to Broadway in an acclaimed revival that won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play.
“It vibrates with the clamor of big ideas, audaciously and exuberantly expressed.”
— The New York Times
NETWORK
Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall
Based on the Academy Award-winning film by Paddy Chayefsky
June 2–27, 2027 | Press Opening: June 5, 2027
Veteran news anchor Howard Beale goes off script and becomes a “mad-as-hell” populist prophet of the airwaves. When his on-air breakdown sends ratings soaring, programming chief Diana Christensen turns outrage into market share and sensationalism into programming. But once spectacle takes hold, who is really in control? Adapted by Lee Hall from Paddy Chayefsky’s Academy Award-winning film, Network depicts a media landscape where corporate power shapes the message, opinion outruns fact and spectacle is king.
About the Playwright/Writers: Lee Hall is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter whose work spans theatre, film, television and radio. He is best known for Billy Elliot and its stage musical adaptation, which won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical. Network is adapted by Hall from the celebrated 1976 film by Paddy Chayefsky, one of the most influential American screenwriters of the 20th century. A three-time Academy Award winner, Chayefsky is renowned for his incisive, socially charged writing and his ability to expose the anxieties, ambitions and contradictions of American life. His screenplay for Network earned him the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and remains remarkably prescient in its examination of television, corporate power, media sensationalism and the commodification of outrage.
“This is a piece about now—and about us.” — What’s OnStage
ABOUT SAN JOSE STAGE COMPANY
San Jose Stage Company (The Stage), led by Artistic Director Randall King and Executive Director Cathleen King, is an award-winning theatre and the South Bay’s leading professional theatre, known for producing bold, ambitious work that challenges convention and illuminates the human experience. For more than four decades, The Stage has produced more than 200 productions including world premieres, new works and international commissions in an intimate, Off-Broadway–style setting.
Now in its 44th season, The Stage welcomes more than 20,000 patrons annually and employs more than 150 local artists each year. Its impact has been recognized with numerous honors, including the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle’s Paine Knickerbocker Award for Continuing Contribution to Bay Area Theatre and the City of San José’s Cornerstone of the Arts Award, presented to co-founders Cathleen King and Randall King in recognition of their enduring leadership in shaping and enriching San José’s vibrant cultural and artistic landscape.
With a reputation for artistic excellence, creative vision and fearless storytelling, The Stage continues to deliver powerful, provocative and profound professional theatre to Silicon Valley and beyond.
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TICKET INFORMATION
For more information and to purchase subscriptions and single tickets, visit thestage.org. Subscriptions for The Stage’s 44th Season are now available, ranging from $150 to $360, and single tickets are also on sale now.
PERFORMANCES
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 7:00 pm; Friday at 8:00 pm,
Saturday at 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm; Sunday at 2:00 pm
WHERE
San Jose Stage Company / The Stage
490 S. 1st Street,
Downtown San José