We have made the difficult, but necessary decision to cancel our planned 2026 summer season and suspend regular operations effective June 1, 2026. Since re-opening from the pandemic closure in 2021, we have faced steadily rising costs in an increasingly challenging philanthropic environment. The professional non-profit regional theater model is built on a healthy balance of both ticketing and contributed income. For WHAT, like many organizations across the country, this model has proven unsustainable.
We recognize how disappointing this decision will be for many of you. We are proud to be a summer tradition, a cultural leader, and to serve as a community gathering place throughout the year. We are grateful for everyone who has joined us for a performance, made a contribution, or spent some time with us over the past 42 years. We hope that this will be a brief intermission while we work to set the stage for WHAT and The Julie Harris Stage’s next act.
All scheduled events in April and May will continue as planned, along with Payomet Performing Arts Center’s circus camp and circus performances this summer.
🌊 THE NARROW LAND hits the Cape on May 22 at Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater (@what_org ) DO NOT MISS IT!!!
Reserve free tickets at the link in bio!
📍4/30 Mandel Auditorium, Brandeis University
📍5/22 WHAT, Wellfleet, MA
📍More dates coming soon…
Following her acclaimed 2024 company debut in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, soprano Asmik Grigorian returns to the Met as Tatiana, the lovestruck young heroine in this ardent operatic adaptation of Pushkin, which will be transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera stage to WHAT on May 2. Baritone Iurii Samoilov is the urbane Onegin, who realizes his affection for her all too late. The Met’s evocative production, directed by Tony Award–winner Deborah Warner, “offers a beautifully detailed reading of … Tchaikovsky’s lyrical romance” (The Telegraph). This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series.
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Eugene Onegin
The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD
Saturday May 2, 2026 at 1:00
Tickets available at what.org
April 23rd is believed to be the date of William Shakespeare’s birth in 1564, and death in 1616. To commemorate, we’re throwing it back to productions of, and inspired by, Shakespeare’s work on the Julie Harris Stage.
A Midsummer Nights Dream (2016) co-produced with Peregrine Theater Ensemble
Romeo and Juliet (2017) co-produced with Psittacus Productions
Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (2022) by Taylor Mac
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (2023) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer, and Jess Winfield
Production photos by Michael & Suz Karchmer
Recovery isn’t just about what we leave behind, it’s about what we create moving forward.
Join us on Sunday May 3 at 3:00 for SECOND ACT, STORIES OF RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE, an afternoon of story sharing by participants in our Second Act program. Second Act harnesses the transformative power of theater to support individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. Over the past six months, participants worked with recovery coaches and theater artists to craft original monologues drawn from their lived experience to demonstrate the power of creativity in recovery
It’s 4/20 and we’re throwing it back to our 2024 production of REEFER MADNESS, THE MUSICAL!
“An over the top satirical punch that delights from beginning to end” - Provincetown Magazine
“…you’ll leave the theater riding an absolute high”. - Cape Cod Chronicle
The Risan Project presents the Cape Cod Earth Week Film Tour featuring a screening of Cresta Alta followed by a Wellfleet community sustainability panel on Sunday, April 19th at the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater in Wellfleet, MA @ 7:00pm.
Panelists:
Chris Palmer, Climate Action Coordinator, Town of Truro
Francie Randolph, Founding Director, Sustainable CAPE
Carli Bertrand, Executive Director, Wellfleet Oyster Alliance
Dennis O'Connell, President of the Board, Wellfleet Conservation Trust
Mark Borelli, Seafloor Mapping Program, Center for Coastal Studies
@what_org@townoftruroma@wellfleetoysteralliance@coastalstudiesptown@sustainablecape@crestaaltafilm@risanproject@risanstudies@risanbrands
Congratulations to the cast and crew of @wes.waves production of THE LORAX on two outstanding performances! Thank you to everyone who came out to support these talented students.
April Vacation Week is almost here! It’s time for WHAT for Kids Spring Camp, April 20-24.
Campers collaborate with their peers under the guidance of WHAT artists to create their own original plays. Everything from the script to the costume and props, then perform their new works for family and friends on our stage.
Learn more at what.org
Happy April Fooling to the fools, clowns, midwifes, maids, and everyone else!
Lacy Allen and Layla Khoshnoudi in Taylor Mac’s GARY: A SEQUEL TO TITUS ANDRONICUS (2022) photo: Michael and Suz Karchmer
Caution, new plays ahead!
April 11 at 7:00: a staged reading of THE SHALLOWS by Jim Frangione, directed by Jeff Zinn
April 17&18 at 7:00: workshop performances of AUTOCRAT INC. written and performed by Cody Sullivan
Learn more and reserve your seats at what.org.
