By Roy Steinberg, Producing Artistic Director
The theater both leads and reacts to the world’s events. When I select a season for Cape May Stage, I often find myself drawn to plays that feel as though they have been ripped from the headlines—works that reflect the questions, concerns, and possibilities of the moment we are living in.
This year, that connection feels especially meaningful as our nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a milestone that invites both celebration and reflection. At the same time, we are witnessing a renewed national conversation about what is constitutional in a divided nation. Long-held beliefs are being tested, and the meaning of our founding documents is being debated not just in courtrooms, but at kitchen tables.
It is in that spirit that we will open our 2026 season this spring with Heidi Schreck’s Pulitzer Prize finalist play, What the Constitution Means to Me. In this deeply personal and often hilariously funny play, Schreck revisits her teenage years, when she traveled the country earning college tuition by speaking about the Constitution in debate competitions. Using her younger self as a guide, she examines how four generations of women in her family were shaped, protected, and sometimes failed by this defining document.
As we mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence—the moment our nation first put into words its highest ideals—this play offers an opportunity to reflect on how those ideals were later framed in the Constitution, and how they continue to shape our lives today. It reminds us that these documents are not simply relics of the past, but living frameworks that continue to define who we are.
The theatre has long been a place where artists imagine the future. In 1920, Czech playwright Karel Čapek first introduced the word “robot” in his play R.U.R.—Rossum’s Universal Robots. From the beginning, there was both fascination and fear: Will robots take away our jobs? Will they become our caretakers—or even our soldiers? If they possess intelligence, are they the same as biological people? Could a robot have a soul? Today, with artificial intelligence rapidly becoming part of our culture, those once-theoretical questions feel immediate and real.
Academy Award–nominated playwright José Rivera explores these very ideas in Your Name Means Dream, which Cape May Stage will present this fall. In this poetic and imaginative play, Rivera envisions a world where robots are created to serve human needs—but where one begins to question its own existence. Like the best science fiction, it is ultimately not about machines, but about us.
And underneath all of it is perhaps the most fundamental question of all: how we deal with each other. Older adults often face loneliness after losing a partner. Doctors caution that this loneliness can shorten lives, and yet comedians remind us of the humor in human relationships. Our summer season showcases the award-winning romantic comedy Kalamazoo, which celebrates the courage it takes to open one’s heart again, and in November we will return our popular musical holiday show, Murder for Two: The Holiday Edition, a joyous and hilarious whodunit. As Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in No Exit, “Hell is other people.” But theatre reminds us that other people are also our greatest source of joy.
In between these mainstage productions, we are delighted to present a series of musical and uplifting one-night-only events. Audiences will experience the electrifying Solomon Jaye in Tap Into Soul, as well as a special comedy evening exploring the joys and challenges of relationships, featuring three outstanding comedians. Back by popular demand for the holidays is NIC+DESI, whose extraordinary blend of song, dance, and storytelling has become a Cape May tradition. Our reading series will also continue, offered free of charge, providing audiences the opportunity to experience new plays in their earliest stages and be part of the creative process.
We always aim to entertain our audiences. But this year, that entertainment is matched with important themes—questions about our country, our future, and ourselves—that will stay with you long after the curtain call.
I hope you will join us.
Tickets and information about our upcoming season are available at www.capemaystage.org.
Roy Steinberg is the Producing Artistic Director at Cape May Stage.
