5×5 Drama Series Returns to Court Square Theater

Theatre East’s acclaimed 5X5 Drama Series returns this week with five bold new short plays, each exploring what it means to connect with each other in today’s world. Performed back-to-back in one unforgettable evening at Court Square Theater in Long Island City, the 2025 edition offers an up-close, unadorned experience of storytelling at its most immediate.

Founded in 2016, the 5X5 Drama Series began as a way to bring theatre beyond the footlights—into breweries, rooftops, taverns, and other unexpected spaces—offering audiences an immersive, accessible encounter with new works. Since moving into the theater in 2021, the series has retained that same spirit of intimacy and ingenuity, keeping production minimal and the focus squarely on the story.

“This series has always been about connection,” said Judson Jones, Theatre East Artistic Director. “It’s about artists and audiences coming together in shared space, reminded that stories are how we understand each other.”

This year’s lineup includes Star Child Blues by Oliver Palmer, directed by Jeff Whitted and featuring Mark Briggs, Jeff Kerr McGivney, Mike McNulty, and Peter Welch; Craft by Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy, directed by Christa Kimlicko Jones and featuring Judson Jones and Kelsey Sheppard; Motherf*cking Empathy by Elena Zucker, directed by Toni Kwadzogah and featuring Meredith England and Thammie Laine Quách; Reservoir by travis l. tate, directed by Andrea Huckaba and featuring Herb Benjamin and Ollie Corchado; and The Power of Something Invisible by Pete McElligott, directed by Judson Jones and featuring Petra Brusiloff, Claire Gresham, and Christa Kimlicko Jones.

The design team includes Lighting Design by Zach Murphy, Sound Design by Robert A. K. Gonyo, and Costume Design by Sherry Martinez.

Performances run October 16–25 at Theatre East’s artistic home, Court Square Theater (44-02 23rd Street, Long Island City). Tickets are available on a suggested donation basis, reflecting Theatre East’s ongoing commitment to making theatre accessible to all.

For tickets and more information, visit www.theatreeast.org.

About Theatre East

Theatre East stirs the human side of current issues by fostering new plays of social relevance through New York and World Premieres. The 501(c)(3) non-profit theatre company’s mission is to advance the dialogue of the shared human experience through works that utilize simple storytelling, providing their community with a platform to deepen their understanding of themselves, each other, and the world they share. Theatre East also creates access for art makers and storytellers through the space they manage and operate in Long Island City—the Court Square Theater.

At this year’s Laurette Taylor Award, recipient Tim Blake Nelson said, “With groundbreaking productions of new plays… we must consider them theatre’s best hope.”

The company was founded in 2008 by husband-and-wife producing partners Judson Jones (Artistic Director) and Christa Kimlicko Jones (Associate Artistic Director), after producing such hits as the premiere of Christopher Durang’s The Vietnamization of New Jersey (NY Times Critic’s Pick) and the premiere of Texas playwright David W. Crawford’s Harvest (BackStage Critic’s Pick, Smith & Kraus Best New Plays of 2008). Theatre East was also named one of “Producers to Watch” on PBS’s Theater Talk in 2008.

Since its founding, Theatre East has mounted such critically acclaimed New York and World Premieres as Tim Blake Nelson’s Eye of God, Lori Fischer’s Petie, Cyndi Williams’ A Name for a Ghost to Mutter, Daniel McIvor’s The Soldier Dreams, and Bennett Windheim’s Normalcy, along with the celebrated revival of Romulus Linney’s Holy Ghosts after a 40-year absence from the New York stage.