New play 'Breaking the Story' to premiere off Broadway in May

Second Stage Theater will premiere the latest show written by critically acclaimed playwright Alexis Scheer and directed by Tony Award nominee Jo Bonney.

Breaking news! Second Stage Theater has announced the world premiere of Breaking the Story off Broadway, the latest production to join the nonprofit theatre company's season. Performances begin May 16 ahead of a June 4 opening at the Tony Kiser Theater.

Written by Alexis Scheer, Breaking the Story follows Marina, a war correspondent about to receive a lifetime achievement award her work shedding light on the darkest parts of humanity. She thinks it's finally time to leave her job for good to settle down with her former colleague-turned-lover — but she must reckon with the hold that war and her profession still have on her.

Scheer returns to Second Stage following its 2019 world-premiere co-production of her play Our Dear Dead Drug Lord, which earned widespread critical acclaim and two Obie Awards. In 2023, she made her Broadway debut adapting the book for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bad Cinderella.

She now teams up with director Jo Bonney, a 2023 Tony Award nominee for Cost of Living. Bonney is also returning to Second Stage, having directed four previous plays there: By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; subUrbia; A Soldier’s Play; and Living Out. She is the recipient of an Obie Award for Sustained Excellence of Direction.

Casting and additional creative team for Breaking the Story have yet to be announced.

Check back for information on Breaking the Story tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

Photo credit: Alexis Scheer and Jo Bonney. (Photos courtesy of production)