Who is institutional theatre for? Every house answers the question differently, and MOXIE Theatre stands as a shining example of a theatre that knows itself and its audience. MOXIE is proudly and clearly working to create more diverse and honest images of women+.
Its next season, titled UNGOVERNABLE, asks what it means for women+ to resist. There is a dark comedy about democracy in crisis, a desert-commune thriller about belief and belonging, and an explosive reclamation of Asian women’s narrative agency. Executive Director Desiree Clarke Miller says the season is about “disruption, curiosity, and collective courage.” It’s about the kind of stories that challenge audiences to “question the narratives we’ve inherited, examine the systems that shape our lives, and imagine new possibilities for ourselves and our communities. At a moment when so many people feel powerless, these stories remind us that resistance can take many forms—and that asking difficult questions is often where change begins.”
This is Government by Nina Kissinger
September 27 – October 25, 2026
This play follows three congressional interns — an optimist with an anxiety disorder, an idealist and slam poet (on the side), and an exhausted realist — locked down inside the Cannon House Office Building after a bomb threat. The congressman is safely elsewhere.
Kissinger captures the dilemma that young people face when their idealism meets political systems. The play had an off-Broadway production where critics compared it to Parks and Rec and Network and called it sharp, funny, and devastating. It’s an ideal season opener to make you laugh at the topics that also make you scream.
Lumin by Emma Gibson
February 14 – March 14, 2027
The pigs are stressed. Set in a modern-day commune in Texas, Lumin explores the longing for belonging while asking where the line is between delusion and belief. It is a tense, rich script that takes “what’s best for the community” to the logical extreme.
The play has been compared to the atmospheric work of A24, with a narrative horror that resonates with contemporary anxiety. Gibson is a British playwright, and Lumin is one of her noteworthy works, winning the 2025 Louise Wigglesworth Excellence in Playwrighting Award, being shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Playwrighting, and being a finalist for the O’Neill New Play Conference.
Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play by Kimber Lee
May 2 – June 6, 2027
Closing Season 22 with this show is an act of faith – belief that San Diego audiences are ready. Lee won the Inaugural Best International Play Award at the Bruntwood Prize for Playwrighting in 2019, Europe’s largest playwriting competition, for this script. The play’s world premiere took place at the Manchester International Festival before transferring to London’s Young Vic, where the international critical reception was significant for its fixed gaze on cultural appropriation and intergenerational trauma.
The play follows Kim (all of the Kims) as she loops through a century’s worth of Western theatrical representations of Asian women, including Madame Butterfly, South Pacific, M*A*S*H, and Miss Saigon. It is punky, fresh, and defiant against the stereotypical, fetishized, and submissive. Lee originally worked in theatre as an actress, but the roles available to her as an Asian American woman were limited. Her origin story is the sincere seed of a compelling script.
Between these acclaimed works, MOXIE will present the second edition of the LAMOISE NEW WORKS FESTIVAL — a weeklong intensive development process culminating in a weekend of staged readings of full-length and short plays by women+ playwrights. The first edition (which I covered) gave witness to new work and deserves this encore. MOXIE always has a submit your script opportunity on their webpage, which is one of the many reasons I adore them.
While there continues to be a national conversation about the impact and future of “institutional theatre”, MOXIE proves that each theatre must answer the question for itself. The riches are in the niches, yet women+ work is hardly a niche. It’s the majority in San Diego (50.9%, thank you very much to our higher life expectancy), and we’re lucky to have MOXIE telling our stories.
Season 22 subscriptions are currently available at MoxieTheatre.com. Single show tickets for these productions and additional information will be announced at a later date.
About Moxie Theatre
MOXIE Theatre is a professional non-profit theatre located in San Diego, California, founded in 2004. Our mission is to create more diverse and honest images of women+ for our culture using the intimate art of theatre. Through our productions of plays written by women+, educational programs, annual MOXIE Awards ceremony, and career-launching professional opportunities, MOXIE is creating a pipeline for women+’s work and inspiring audiences to create change in their own communities. For more information, visit moxietheatre.com
