Urban Stages, the Off-Broadway non-profit dedicated to developing and producing plays by writers of diverse cultural and social backgrounds, will celebrate its 35th anniversary this fall with a free month-long retrospective of its most celebrated works.

Founded by Artistic Director Frances Hill in 1984, Urban Stages’ mission to produce original theatre that is both inclusive and accessible to the communities whose stories it portrays, has garnered recognition and honors from from the Drama Desk, Obie Awards, Audelco, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and more.

The Urban Stages’ Retrospective, a free staged reading series highlighting ten plays that received their New York or world premieres under the theatre’s wing, will open the season October 11–November 10. All performances are free, but reservations are encouraged. Click here for further information.

The readings will reunite many original cast and creative team members from such plays as Chungmi Kim’s Comfort Women; A Deal by Zhu Yi; Honky by Greg Kalleres; Pulitzer Prize finalist Bulrusher by Eisa Davis; Minor Demons by Bruce Graham; The Sweepers by John Picardi Fear Itself by Eugene Lee; Coyote On A Fence by Bruce Graham; and The Oxford Roof Climber’s Rebellion by Stephen Massicotte.

Participating in The Retrospective are Tony Award winners Annaleigh Ashford and Reed Birney, as well as Paul Sparks, Bill Bowers, Terence Archie, Antoinette LaVecchia, Carole Healey, Tina Chen and others.

A November 5 concert celebration of Urban Stages’ musical productions, including Langston in Harlem, 27 Rue de Fleurs, Mabel Madness, and the Joe Iconis musical ReWrite, will feature performances by Trezana Beverley, Josh Tower, C. Kelly Wright, Cheryl Stern, Barbara Rosenblat, and more.

Urban Stages will continue its season with the annual Winter Rhythms cabaret series, and the premiere of a new play to be announced in spring 2019.

Visit urbanstages.org.