Theatre lovers, mark your calendars—and maybe clear your shelves for some script re-reads.
San Francisco Playhouse just dropped the lineup for its 23rd season, running from September 2025 through September 2026. Artistic Director Bill English and Producing Director Susi Damilano revealed the mix of six shows at a spirited event last night, where fans got a sneak peek into the company’s vision for the year ahead.
This season is all about smashing myths, flipping narratives, and, well, maybe a little fairy tale chaos along the way.
“Live theatre has a wondrous capacity to create new mythologies and dismantle old ones,” English said during the announcement. “These stories invite us to question society’s preconceptions.”
From feminist vampires to backstage meltdowns, to a musical that will have you singing “You Can’t Stop the Beat” on the sidewalk, the Playhouse is putting its eclectic taste on full display—and leaning into both the urgent and the fun.
2025-26 San Francisco Playhouse Season
| Show | Dates | What to Expect |
|---|---|---|
| Noises Off | Sept 25 – Nov 8, 2025 | The OG meta-farce. Doors slam. Pants fall down. Pure chaos. |
| Into the Woods | Nov 20, 2025 – Jan 17, 2026 | Sondheim’s fairy tale mash-up gets the Playhouse treatment. |
| M. Butterfly | Feb 5 – Mar 14, 2026 | Identity, desire, espionage. Hwang’s classic still hits hard. |
| Flex | Mar 26 – May 2, 2026 | Hoops, dreams, and drama. A slam-dunk about Black girlhood. |
| Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really | May 14 – Jun 27, 2026 | Stoker gets staked with a feminist edge. Blood, wit, and revenge. |
| Hairspray | Jul 10 – Sept 12, 2026 | Bouffants, bops, and civil rights. An all-out feel-good finale. |
Backstage Mayhem, Onstage Magic
The season kicked off with Noises Off, Michael Frayn’s backstage farce known for its three-act structure of spiraling madness. If you caught Clue or The Play That Goes Wrong at the Playhouse in recent years, this one’s in your wheelhouse.
Photo Credit: Jessica Palopoli
“It’s a perfect storm of theatrical anarchy,” said one audience member leaving the announcement. “I’ve seen it three times and I still laugh until I cry.”
Fairy Tales with Bite
Holiday season belonged to Sondheim. The Playhouse staged Into the Woods, the spellbinding musical that explores what happens after happily ever after. Familiar characters like Cinderella and Little Red met existential dread and moral ambiguity. And yes, those songs were stuck in everyone’s head until spring.
Stories That Cut Deeper
Come February, the tone shifted. David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly took center stage, exploring cultural perception and personal identity through a decades-long relationship built on illusion. The story is deeply personal and unsettling—and remains, as The New York Times put it, “urgently relevant.”
Then came game time: Flex (March 26 – May 2, 2026) brought a fresh voice to the stage with a coming-of-age story about a high school girls’ basketball team in small-town Arkansas. The play had buzz-worthy runs in New York and elsewhere, and this was its West Coast premiere.
“The audience literally hooped and hollered,” said English, referencing Flex’s electric energy in previews. “It hits the heart, the head, and the funny bone.”
Revenge, Reimagined
Kate Hamill’s Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really landed in May with a fanged feminist twist. Bloody, bold, and hilarious, it featured corsets, gender-swaps, and a generous stake to the heart of the patriarchy.
And finally: the big hair, big heart, big dance numbers of Hairspray closed out the season in July. If you’ve never seen this infectious musical live, this was the time.
Theater That Thinks—and Dances
San Francisco Playhouse has earned its rep for mixing sharp, socially-conscious theatre with wildly entertaining crowd-pleasers. With this season, it continued to do both.
“This isn’t just a lineup. It’s a conversation,” said Damilano. “About who gets to be the hero. Who gets to tell the story. And how we laugh, cry, and move forward together.”
Subscriptions are on sale now at sfplayhouse.org, and they’ll likely go fast.
So whether you were there for the slapstick, the ballads, the girl power, or the ghosts—this might just have been the most Playhouse season yet.
