In the past few years, Jewish communities are experiencing a surge in antisemitism across the U.S. and around the world—on campuses, in cultural spaces, and in everyday public life. In moments like this, silence creates distance. Story creates connection. And theater remains one of the rare places where people can sit together, listen deeply, and leave changed.

That’s why Miami New Drama, based at the historic Colony Theatre in the heart of Miami Beach, launched the Jewish Play Initiative in partnership with Wasserman Projects: a bold commitment to commission, develop, and produce new plays centered on Jewish narratives, and to bring those stories to young people and audiences far beyond South Florida.

Why Miami. Why now.

South Florida is home to one of the largest Jewish populations outside Israel, making Miami a powerful hub for Jewish cultural storytelling. From this vibrant community, the Jewish Play Initiative is building a pipeline of new works that can spark dialogue locally and travel nationally and globally.

Our vision is both urgent and ambitious:

Premiere one major new Jewish-themed play each season
Engage young audiences through school residencies and free student performances
Expand the impact beyond the stage through touring and future adaptations for TV, podcasts, and film

Proof of what’s possible

In its inaugural season, we launched with two bold world premieres that generated critical acclaim and sparked national conversation—Bad Dog and Birthright—with productions already in discussions for a New York transfer.

What your gift makes happen in 2025–2026

This season continues the momentum with major work that wrestles with history, identity, memory, and the complexities of our time:

Here There Are Blueberries (Nov 2025), a chilling true story centered on a discovered Nazi photo album and the unsettling normalcy captured inside it—developed at Miami New Drama and later recognized with a Pulitzer Prize nomination.
The Zionists: A Family Storm (Apr 2026), a world premiere about a prominent Jewish family fractured by the aftermath and politics of October 7—forced to confront what holds them together in a divided world.

And we are already developing a future pipeline including new works that confront antisemitism on college campuses, explore Jewish history, and tell lesser-known stories of survival and resistance.

Your support fuels the stage—and the next generation

The Jewish Play Initiative isn’t only about what happens at night under stage lights. It’s about what happens next: the conversations in the lobby, the questions on the drive home, and the moment a student sees their first play and realizes stories can be a shield, a mirror, and a bridge.

Miami New Drama is seeking support to sustain this work, supporting one full production per year while maintaining a multi-project development pipeline.

Jewish Play Initiative

By Miami New Drama

Jewish Play Initiative

Help Jewish stories be seen and heard