Theatre Washington has announced Theatre Week 2026, a three-week celebration of the DC area’s vibrant, diverse, and world-class theater scene, which will run Sept. 24–Oct. 11. The annual event offers residents and visitors $25, $45, and $65 tickets to more than 30 productions across the region. This year’s lineup includes free performances at a metro station and an airport, opportunities to connect with the region’s theatre community and learn about advocacy, and programming to bring theatre directly to audiences across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Tickets go on sale on Sept. 9 at www.theatreweek.org.
“Theatre Week is an invitation to experience the incredible range of theatre happening across our region,” said Amy Austin, president and CEO of Theatre Washington, in a statement. “Whether you’re a lifelong theater lover or someone seeing a show for the very first time, there’s a seat waiting for you. From performances in our theaters, to pop-ups in our airports, Metro stations and beyond, Theatre Week 2026 is about bringing people together, celebrating the artists and organizations who make this community so vibrant, and reminding everyone that theater is thriving in our region.”
Highlights include partnerships with Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, with pop-up performances at Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, Sept. 24, as well as a pop-up performance at the Eastern Market metro stop in partnership with WMATA Art in Transit, with a date to be announced soon.
The annual Washington Nationals Theatre Week Industry Night with discounted tickets for theater workers will be on Friday, Sept. 25. “Make A Scene,” a free outdoor Theatre Week concert on the Floating Stage by Transit Pier at the Wharf will be on Tuesday, Sept. 29, with happy hour activities at 6 p.m. and the concert at 7 p.m. Participating theaters will collect donations for the Taking Care Fund following curtain calls at performances on Oct. 1–4.
Capping the celebration, Theatre Washington invites the community to come together for an Advocacy Day on Monday, Oct. 5 at Studio Theatre: a full day focused on advocacy, policy, and the future of the region’s theatre industry. It will feature advocacy training with Will Gartshore, senior director of policy and government affairs at World Wildlife Fund and a three-time Helen Hayes Award recipient; a panel conversation and Q&A with elected officials representing DC, Virginia, and Maryland; and a keynote address. It will end with a live taping of City Cast DC’s “The State of D.C.-Area Theatre,” bringing together industry leaders and voices to examine the current state of the DC theater industry, the challenges and opportunities facing the field, and what comes next.
2026 participating theaters, shows, and locations include:
- 1st Stage — Betrayal | Tysons, Va.
- Adventure Theatre MTC — Beatrice Likes the Dark | Glen Echo, Md.
- Arena Stage — The Fruits of Our Labor by Step Afrika! | DC
- Best Medicine Rep — Stonewall’s Bust | Gaithersburg, Md.
- Compass Rose Theater — You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown | Annapolis, Md.
- Creative Cauldron — Monsters of the Villa Diodati | Falls Church, Va.
- ExPats Theatre — Coming to America | DC
- Ford’s Theatre — Come From Away | DC
- Folger Theatre — Measure for Measure | DC
- GALA Hispanic Theatre — Garbo: El artista que salvó al mundo (Garbo: The Artist Who Saved The World) | DC
- Imagination Stage — Chicka Chicka Boom Boom: The Musical | Bethesda, Md.
- IN Series Opera — The Mikado | DC
- Keegan Theatre — Hundred Days | DC
- Mosaic Theater Company — Somewhere Over The Border | DC
- NextStop Theatre — The Second Best School Shooting | Herndon, Va.
- Olney Theatre Center — Some Like it Hot | Olney, Md.
- Round House Theatre — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (co-production with Olney Theatre Center) | Bethesda, Md.
- Shakespeare Theatre Company — Frida… A Self Portrait | DC
- Shakespeare Theatre Company — The Score | DC
- Signature Theatre — Merrily We Roll Along | Arlington, Va.
- Spooky Action Theater — Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights | DC
- Studio Theatre — Wish You Were Here | DC
- Theater J — The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk | DC
- Theatre Prometheus — Where Dead Women Go to Dance by Stephen Spotswood | Silver Spring, Md.
- Voices Festival Productions — Woody Sez | DC
- Washington Improv Theater — Stumped | DC
- Washington Stage Guild — The Legend of Sleepy Hollow | DC
- Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company — Venus | DC
- Workhouse Arts Center — Bat Boy: The Musical | Lorton, Va.
Through collaborative partnerships and programs, Theatre Washington supports the Washington, D.C. area’s professional theater community, celebrating artistic achievement, strengthening the theatrical workforce, supporting institutional growth, and cultivating collective action. Its core programs include the Helen Hayes Awards, Theatre Week, Theatre Summit, Theatre Work, and the Taking Care Fund. For the latest updates and a full list of productions, visit theatreweek.org.
Theatre Week 2026 partners include Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, TodayTix, Giant Food, Destination DC, Events DC, The Quincy (an Ascend Collection Hotel), and the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.
