For its 10th Anniversary season in 2027, titled “Crossing the Threshold,” Perisphere Theater is tackling two stories that take place in the charged moments just before the world changes: when old rules begin to crack, new possibilities emerge, and everything feels just a little uncertain.
THE TURN OF THE SCREW
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the novel by Henry James
Directed by Gerrad Alex Taylor
January 22-February 6, 2027
IN THE NEXT ROOM, OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Tessara Morgan Farley
April 9-24, 2027
In January, Perisphere will open with The Turn of the Screw, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from Henry James’s classic novella. Stephen King called James’s thriller one of the greatest supernatural works in a century for containing “secrets best left untold and things left best unsaid.” This three-person adaptation, directed by Perisphere Theater co-artistic director Gerrad Alex Taylor, harnesses theater magic to preserve the original novella’s first-person ambiguity: what is real? Who can be believed? And are we in the presence of evil?
In April, Perisphere will channel the spirit of spring with Sarah Ruhl’s hilarious, provocative In the Next Room, Or the Vibrator Play. Ruhl was nominated for a Tony and a Pulitzer for this exploration of the marriage between a doctor treating female hysteria (with the aid of the new electric vibrator) and his young and curious wife, determined to learn the secrets of what lies behind her sitting room door. Perisphere is thrilled to welcome Truepenny Project’s Tessara Morgan Farley (Perisphere’s I Know How To Curse) to direct the company’s most ambitious production yet.
Both productions in Perisphere’s season look at women on the verge of greater agency, sexual independence, and new ways of understanding the world. It’s a fitting theme for Perisphere as they celebrate their 10th Anniversary season and look toward the next decade of bold, history-minded theater.
All performances will be held at The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda, MD.
Season tickets are on sale now. Flex Passes will be available through December 1, 2026. For more information and tickets, go online.
About Perisphere Theater: Founded in 2015 by Heather Benjamin, Perisphere Theater produces plays that examine personal and collective history and the notion of history itself. Perisphere strives for a theater experience that gives audiences a greater appreciation of history and of those who are often left out of its retelling. In 2023, the Washington Post included Perisphere on its list of small companies worth bookmarking as a “thought-provoking company.”
