Ten years ago, Michel Hausmann set out to prove that world-class theater could be made in Miami, by Miami. As Miami New Drama opens its 10th anniversary season, he reflects on what that decade built, and now what comes next…
As we celebrate the 10th anniversary season of Miami New Drama, I find myself looking back with enormous gratitude and ahead with even greater excitement.
Miami New Drama began as an experiment in the American theater. Could a company committed to world premieres and the stories of its own community thrive in an industry that so often looks to New York for its sense of what matters? Could a theater in Miami become a destination for artists and audiences nationwide?
Ten years later, we have our answer.
In our first decade, Miami New Drama has produced more than 25 world premieres. Some reached Broadway, others Off-Broadway and stages across the country and around the world. We have grown into the largest bilingual professional theater in the United States. More importantly, we have helped prove that Miami is not simply a place where theater is presented. It is a place where theater is created, where the American story is being written, and where the future of the American theater can be imagined.
One of the most diverse, multilingual, and multicultural cities in the country, Miami lives at the intersection of forces reshaping America: migration and memory, race and faith, language and identity, democracy and belonging. Miami is already living much of the future the country is moving toward. That gives us a responsibility to create work rooted in our community that can shape the national conversation.
Our tenth anniversary season is the boldest expression of that mission yet.
Gandhi and the Jew opens the season — our fifth collaboration with Harley Elias and the third installment of our Jewish Play Initiative. Drawn from years of research and unpublished letters, it uncovers the little-known friendship between Gandhi and the Jewish confidant who helped shape his worldview.
The Golem of Havana follows, perhaps the most personal project I have created. Inspired by my family’s story, it brings together the Yiddish world and the rhythms of Cuba and the Caribbean in a celebration of immigration, identity, and faith.
The Great Behind, our fifth collaboration with Carmen Peláez, is a moving comedy inspired by Cyrano de Bergerac. It explores beauty, self-image, and the impossible expectations placed on women. It is heartfelt, hilarious, and unmistakably Miami.
City Hall, the sixth world premiere by Aurin Squire, will be performed inside an actual city hall. This immersive experience asks citizens to confront climate change and decide who will shape their city. It is an experiment in democracy and a love letter to civility.
We conclude with Cianuro Espumante (Sparkling Cyanide). In a remarkable first, the Agatha Christie Estate has authorized one of her works to be reimagined in another language and cultural setting. The adaptation transports Christie’s mystery into Latin America, where beauty, money, power, passion, greed, and ambition collide.
These productions ask the questions at the heart of our work: Who are we? Where do we belong? What do we owe one another?
They remind us that our most intimate relationships are inseparable from the forces transforming our communities and our world.
Thank you for believing in this extraordinary experiment. Whether you have been with us since the beginning or are discovering us for the first time, I hope you will join us.
Our first ten years were about proving what was possible. The next ten will be about helping shape the future of the American theater.
Sincerely,
Michel Hausmann
