JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING; A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE;  PRU PAYNE; AIN’T NO MO’; & LAUGHS IN SPANISH SET FOR SPEAKEASY STAGE COMPANY’S 24/25 SEASON

The joyous and timely Tony-nominated play JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING; a re-imagining of the acclaimed Ahrens & Flaherty musical A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE; the witty, life-affirming drama PRU PAYNE; the laugh-packed, Tony–nominated satire AIN’T NO MO’; and the

fiesta-fueled comedy LAUGHS IN SPANISH will make up SpeakEasy Stage Company’s 34th Season, the company’s Founder and Artistic Director Paul Daigneault announced today.

The schedule for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s 2024-2025 Season will be: 

LAUGHS IN SPANISH – by Alexis Scheer| Sept. 13 – Oct. 12, 2024

PRU PAYNE – by Steven Drukman | Oct. 18 – Nov. 16, 2024

AIN’T NO MO’ -- by Jordan E. Cooper | Jan. 10 – Feb. 8, 2025 |with Front Porch Arts Collective

A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE – Book by Terrence McNally | Music by Stephen Flaherty |

      Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens | Feb. 21 – Mar. 22, 2025

JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING – by Jocelyn Bioh | May 2 – 31, 2025

“I can’t wait to share this bold and entertaining line-up of shows with our adventurous Boston audiences,” said Daigneault, in announcing the new SpeakEasy season.  “Each of these shows is uniquely theatrical, sure to spark conversation, and a celebration of the importance of sharing our stories to better appreciate our common humanity.”

“We are also thrilled,” added Daigneault, “to be teaming up once again with Front Porch Arts Collective to present the New England Premiere of AIN’T NO MO’, the acclaimed 2023 Best Play Tony nominee.”

Daigneault also announced that, beginning in September, SpeakEasy will move up its evening start times to 7PM on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 7:30PM on Fridays and Saturdays. 

Subscriptions are now on sale and can be purchased by calling BostonTheatreScene Audience Services at 617-933-8600, going online to www.SpeakEasyStage.com, or walking up to the Calderwood Pavilion Box Office at 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. 

More information about each of SpeakEasy’s 2024-2025 productions can be found on the following pages or at www.SpeakEasyStage.com.

1)  LAUGHS IN SPANISH

By Alexis Scheer

Directed by Mariela López-Ponce

September 13 – October 12, 2024

Press Performance – Sunday, September 15 at 3:00 PM

Roberts Studio Theatre

“A captivating theatrical experience that seamlessly blends humor, heart, and cultural exploration.”

        – Broadway World

From award-winning Boston playwright Alexis Scheer (Our Dear Dead Drug Lord) comes this cafecito-infused comedy about mothers and daughters and art and success.  On the eve of Art Basel, Mari is about to open a career-defining show in her Miami gallery, when suddenly all the paintings go missing.  To make matters worse, her once-famous, mostly-absent mother hits town with a mysterious agenda.  Part telenovela and part whodunit, Laughs in Spanish is a poignant and playful exploration of family and identity, bursting with joy.

2) PRU PAYNE

By Steven Drukman   

Directed by Paul Daigneault

With Marianna Bassham, Gordon Clapp, De’Lon Grant, Greg Maraio, and Paula Plum

East Coast Premiere! October 18 – November 16, 2024

Press Performance – Sunday, October 20 at 3 PM

Roberts Studio Theatre

“Sublime, heartbreaking, funny, and fiercely intelligent” – Broadway World

Prudence “Pru” Payne is a contemporary Dorothy Parker: a sharp-tongued intellectual and critic who recently signed on to share her extraordinary life in an eagerly-awaited autobiography.   But when Pru’s memory starts to fade, her son sets her up in a state-of-the-art care facility, where love takes hold just as the world she once knew begins to slip away.  With wit, verve, and above all, heart, Pulitzer Prize nominee Steven Drukman explores questions of memory, identity, and connection.

3)  AIN’T NO MO’

By Jordan E. Cooper

Directed by Dawn M. Simmons

A Co-Production with Front Porch Arts Collective

New England Premiere! January 10 – February 8, 2025

Press Performance – Sunday, January 12 at 3 PM

Roberts Studio Theatre

“Explosive as a hand grenade of laughing gas, AIN’T NO MO’ is heady and hysterical and fiercely provocative!”—Variety

2023 Tony Nominee – Best Play!  “The powers that be have reassured me there’s room for everyone” declares Miss Peaches, the drag queen flight attendant tasked with welcoming the entire Black population of the United States to Gate 1619 for a free one-way flight back to Africa. So begins an early scene in Jordan E. Cooper’s blisteringly funny satire, a series of sharp comic vignettes about Black American life, history, and identity.  SpeakEasy Stage is proud to team up with the Front Porch Arts Collective to bring new life to this acclaimed show, one of the first productions since its groundbreaking Broadway run. 

4) A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE
Book by Terrence McNally

Music by Stephen Flaherty
Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens

Directed by Paul Daigneault
With Kerry A. Dowling, Will McGarrahan, Billy Meleady, Eddie Shields, and Kathy St. George

February 21 – March 22, 2025

Press Performance – Sunday, February 23 at 3 PM

Roberts Studio Theatre

“Quiet, delicate, and lovely…first-rate musical storytelling!”—The New York Times

1960s Dublin is the setting for this charming musical about the redemptive power of theatre, love, and friendship.  Bus conductor Alfie Byrne has two joys in life:  the poetry of Oscar Wilde and staging amateur productions with his local theatre troupe, the St. Imelda Players.  But when church officials try to shut down his plans for a production of Wilde’s Salome, Alfie must confront the forces of bigotry – and his own shame -- over “the love that dare not speak its name.”   This production will mark the New England Premiere of the recently reimagined version of this beloved classic, which includes the use of on-stage musicians.

5) JAJA’S AFRICAN HAIR BRAIDING

By Jocelyn Bioh

New England Premiere! May 2 – 31, 2025

Press Performance – Sunday, May 4 at 3 PM

Roberts Studio Theatre

“Brilliant! A powerful tale about joy, dreams, community, and sisterhood.”—Entertainment Weekly

2024 Tony Nominee – Best Play!  It’s a hot summer day in 2019, and in Harlem, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding salon is open for business, even though its eponymous owner is hours away from getting married.  Presiding over the shop’s team of talented, high-spirited, West African designers is Jaja’s daughter Marie, a DREAMer who has set her sights on college.  When shocking news disrupts the day’s festivities, the women must grapple with what it means to be outsiders in the place they call home.

Subscription Information

Subscriptions for SpeakEasy Stage Company’s 2024-2025 Season are now on sale. To purchase or for more information, call 617-933-8600 or go online to our website.  Early Bird Pricing is available now through Friday, June 14. 

Patrons with subscription questions may also call Jim Torres at 617-482-3279 or write [email protected] .

Tickets to individual shows in SpeakEasy’s 2024 –2025 Season will go on sale on a rolling basis over the course of the season.