Announcing: Legs four days!
For our fourth and final W.A.D. of the season, we present a four day festival of live theater and new plays!
Join us for one or all of these unique evenings of fresh, raw epiphany and human folly!
Join us for one or all of these unique evenings of fresh, raw epiphany and human folly!
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Legs 4 Days
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY – Writers Actors Directors (W.A.D.) is proud to present Legs 4 Days, a dynamic four-day festival of new theatrical works.
Running from Monday, May 25 to Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the Court Square Theater, the festival brings together over 70 NYC theater artists to rehearse, develop, and showcase fresh programming each night.
Inspired by experimental theater movements like Jerzy Grotowski’s “Poor Theatre” and Augusto Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed,” W.A.D. unites local writers, actors, and directors to foster community and collaboration. Driven by a spirit of play and ease, as well as an affinity for spectacle, the festival invites the audience deeper into our process of developing ‘lightly-staged' reading explorations.
Running from Monday, May 25 to Thursday, May 28, 2026, at the Court Square Theater, the festival brings together over 70 NYC theater artists to rehearse, develop, and showcase fresh programming each night.
Inspired by experimental theater movements like Jerzy Grotowski’s “Poor Theatre” and Augusto Boal’s “Theatre of the Oppressed,” W.A.D. unites local writers, actors, and directors to foster community and collaboration. Driven by a spirit of play and ease, as well as an affinity for spectacle, the festival invites the audience deeper into our process of developing ‘lightly-staged' reading explorations.
Festival Schedule & Programming
Leg 1: The Shorts*
Date/Time: Monday, May 25 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: Five new short plays by local NYC playwrights, lightly staged by five local directors.
Leg 2: Incel Vanya*
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: A full-length play written by three-time W.A.D. "Best Writer" winner Duncan Pflaster. Co-directed by W.A.D. Producer Eric Hedlund and Ciara Berardi.
Cast: Matt Biagini*, Melissa Canaday*, Tyler Gardella*, Abigail Espinal, Malena Sadaka, Natasha Zumar, Josephine Pizzino
Synopsis: A modern adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Titular character John Blackwood (Matt Biagini*) is an aspiring rapper and a member of the toxic "incel" movement who airs his grievances on Twitch. Meanwhile, his 17-year-old niece Alice (Abigail Espinal) is coming into her own as a trans woman and harboring a crush on Mikey (Tyler Gardella), the local doctor. When John's famous romance novelist sister-in-law Joy (Melissa Canaday*) visits with her wife Selena (Malena Sadaka), unrequited infatuations boil over.
Trigger warnings: Sensitive Content, Gun Violence, Suicide, Sexual Harassment, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
Leg 3: MORE Shorts*
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: Five additional new, lightly staged short plays.
Leg 4: Un Air de Magie – A night of French théâtre with English subtitles
Date/Time: Thursday, May 28 at 8 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: $25
Details: Déjà vu; following the previous ménage à trois, one additional à propos rêverie and theatrical soirée, served à la carte by French speaking veterans of previous W.A.D. festivals, present original, short plays and monologues highlighting the diversity of today's Francophonie.
Featuring: Myriam Phiro, Ibrahima Sidibe, Marie-Catherine Massie, Oscar Shuman, Émile Aslan Lachemy, Leemore Malka, Sofiya Rossi
There is a closing fête and cocktails will be served!
Venue Information
Court Square Theater
44-02 23rd St
Long Island City, NY 11101
*AEA Approved Showase
Date/Time: Monday, May 25 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: Five new short plays by local NYC playwrights, lightly staged by five local directors.
- Daphne | Written by Holly Hepp-Galván | Directed by Malini Singh McDonald
- Swing | Written by Duncan Pflaster | Directed by Erin Solér
- Nana | Written by Logan Kovach | Directed by Ciara Berardi
- Knight and Fox | Written by Rachel Hunt | Directed by Lena Schmidt
- Me | Written by Jill Twiss | Directed by Samantha Lee Manas
Leg 2: Incel Vanya*
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: A full-length play written by three-time W.A.D. "Best Writer" winner Duncan Pflaster. Co-directed by W.A.D. Producer Eric Hedlund and Ciara Berardi.
Cast: Matt Biagini*, Melissa Canaday*, Tyler Gardella*, Abigail Espinal, Malena Sadaka, Natasha Zumar, Josephine Pizzino
Synopsis: A modern adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Titular character John Blackwood (Matt Biagini*) is an aspiring rapper and a member of the toxic "incel" movement who airs his grievances on Twitch. Meanwhile, his 17-year-old niece Alice (Abigail Espinal) is coming into her own as a trans woman and harboring a crush on Mikey (Tyler Gardella), the local doctor. When John's famous romance novelist sister-in-law Joy (Melissa Canaday*) visits with her wife Selena (Malena Sadaka), unrequited infatuations boil over.
Trigger warnings: Sensitive Content, Gun Violence, Suicide, Sexual Harassment, Racism, Sexism, and Transphobia
Leg 3: MORE Shorts*
Date/Time: Wednesday, May 27 at 7:30 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: Free (Suggested donation)
Details: Five additional new, lightly staged short plays.
- Helluva Way to Go | Written by Dylan Walsh | Directed by Artemis Truax
- Happy Birthday, David Attenborough! | Written by Andrew E. Jones | Directed by David H Rosen
- suicide cafe | Written by Artemis Truax | Directed by Michael Shoultz
- G Train Exodus | Written by Jessica Fleitman | Directed by Paige Hackworth
- Cheese (Written for television) | Written by John Francis & Claudeland | Directed by Eric Hedlund
Leg 4: Un Air de Magie – A night of French théâtre with English subtitles
Date/Time: Thursday, May 28 at 8 PM (door 7pm)
Admission: $25
Details: Déjà vu; following the previous ménage à trois, one additional à propos rêverie and theatrical soirée, served à la carte by French speaking veterans of previous W.A.D. festivals, present original, short plays and monologues highlighting the diversity of today's Francophonie.
Featuring: Myriam Phiro, Ibrahima Sidibe, Marie-Catherine Massie, Oscar Shuman, Émile Aslan Lachemy, Leemore Malka, Sofiya Rossi
- La part du Génie | written and directed by Flo Ankah
- Sur la Route avec le Fantôme de Jack Kerouac (staged reading) | written by Paul Rogalus, directed by Émile Aslan Lachemy
- Danse avec Moi | written by Lionel Berthoux, directed by Flo Ankah
- Le Vent de Merveille | written, choreographed and performed by Ibrahima Sidibe
- Monologues by Eugène Ionesco, Anne Hébert, Sarah Bertillon, Alisha and Shakespeare
There is a closing fête and cocktails will be served!
Venue Information
Court Square Theater
44-02 23rd St
Long Island City, NY 11101
*AEA Approved Showase
