Off-Broadway’s 59E59 Theaters has added Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library to its upcoming programming.
Presented by Luna Stage and Richard Jordan Productions with Traverse Theatre, the drama will run September 12-October 25 in Theater A.
Written by Jenny Lyn Bader and directed by Ari Laura Kreith, Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library returns to New York following two sold-out Off Broadway engagements, including its 2024 run at 59E59 Theaters, and its transfer to an extended engagement at WP Theater. It will return to 59E59 Theaters from its European premiere at the Traverse Theatre as part of the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe.
“The response to Mrs. Stern Wanders the Prussian State Library has been extraordinary from the very beginning,” said Val Day, Artistic Director of 59E59 Theaters. “Every performance of its original engagement sold out, and we’re thrilled to welcome it back to a larger stage. I’m excited for both new and returning audiences to experience Jenny Lyn Bader’s remarkable writing and the incredible work of this cast and creative team in a production that illuminates history while speaking powerfully to the present moment.”
Set in 1933 Berlin, with martial law in effect and political activism having become a capital crime, the production follows a young Gestapo officer who arrests a philosophy graduate student, whose interrogation will endanger them both. Inspired by the real life arrest of Hannah Arendt, Bader’s play illuminates the struggle for human connection and perseverance in even the darkest of times.
This production will reunite the original cast, including Ella Kaille, Brett Temple, Drew Hirschfield, and Daniel Adam Cantor. The creative team will include scenic designer Lauren Helpern, lighting designer Zachary Connell, costume designer Deborah Caney, and sound designer Greg Scalera.
For more information, visit 59e59.org.