(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Cape May's award-winning, Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company has announced its first-ever, five-show Mainstage Season for 2026, which includes a variety of performances taking place at the company's new home, the Clemans Theater for the Arts at the Allen AME on Franklin Street.
The season includes: “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years” by Emily Mann; “Funny Girls” by Jennifer Childs; the New Jersey premiere of “Lunar Eclipse” by Donald Margulies; “The War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast” by Joe Landry; and “Fully Committed” by Becky Mode.
This year marks East Lynne’s first full season of productions in the Clemans Theater for the Arts. The beautiful space now allows the company the opportunity to present a wide range of entertainment that includes its five-play Mainstage Season, as well as art and photography exhibits, cabaret shows, jazz performances, and more.
As 2026 also marks the 250th anniversary of our country, as well as the 175th anniversary of Cape May as a city and 50 years as a National Historic Landmark, East Lynne will commemorate this banner year with a lineup of incredible and truly American stories.
“We are very excited to have our complete Mainstage Season in our new home,” said Mark David Boberick, executive director. “We plan to continue to push creative boundaries this season with a range of American shows that will entertain and delight audiences throughout South Jersey.”
This year East Lynne is proud to launch its new “Philadelphia Summer Residency Series,” debuting with well-known Philadelphia actress, playwright and co-founder of 1812 Productions Jennifer Childs, who will spend a month working at East Lynne in her own one-woman show “Funny Girls.”
“Philadelphia is our greatest resource, and many of its actors and directors have summers off, so why not utilize their great talent and showcase all they can do here for our Cape May audiences?” Boberick said.
East Lynne’s 2026 Mainstage Season includes:
* “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters First 100 Years” by Emily Mann, June 18 to July 19: Adapted from the New York Times best-selling memoir by African-American sisters Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth, it is the beautiful story of two elderly sisters, Sarah and Bessie Delany, 102 and 103 years old respectively, recalling their extraordinary lives with warmth, wit and astonishing clarity. The Delany sisters guide us through the events that shaped modern America—from the rigid segregation of the Jim Crow South to two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, and the cultural transformations that followed.
Runs 7:00pm Wednesdays to Saturdays from June 18 through July 19, 2:00pm Sunday matinees, a preview performance on June 17, and a special 2:00pm performance on July 4. Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, $25 students and military. Preview performance tickets are $25. Opening night tickets are $45 and include an after-party (no discounts).
* “Funny Girls” created and performed by Jennifer Childs, July 24 to August 4: Jennifer Childs helps launch East Lynne’s new Philadelphia Summer Residency Series in her one-woman show that celebrates the revolutionary women who transformed American comedy, bringing to life the comedic styles of icons such as Fanny Brice, Mae West, Phyllis Diller, Joan Rivers, Gilda Radner and others who helped redefine what women could do on stage and screen.
Runs 7:00pm Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays, and Tuesdays with 2:00pm Sunday matinees, July 31 through August 30, with a preview performance 7:00pm on July 30. Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, $25 students and military. Opening night tickets are $45 and include an after-party (no discounts).
“Lunar Eclipse” by Donald Margulies, August 27 to September 20: Pulitzer Prize-winner Margulies’s story about a married couple who, while watching the stunning celestial event unfolding above them, reflect on the universal truths at the heart of a long marriage.
Runs 7:00pm Wednesdays to Saturdays from August 27 through September 20, 2:00pm Sunday matinees, a preview performance on August 26. Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, $25 students and military. Preview performance tickets are $25. Opening night tickets are $45 and include an after-party (no discounts).
“The War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast” by Joe Landry, October 8 to November 1: “The War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast” will recreate the famous Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast directed by Orson Welles, the radio drama that blurred the line between fiction and reality and became one of the most extraordinary moments in broadcasting history. Performed live in the style of a 1930s radio studio, actors, musicians, and sound effects artists bring the entire broadcast to life, transporting audiences back to the Golden Age of Radio, when a voice on the airwaves could reach millions at once.
Runs 7:00pm Wednesdays to Saturdays from October 8 through November 1, 2:00pm Sunday matinees, a preview performance on October 7. Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, $25 students and military. Preview performance tickets are $25. Opening night tickets are $45 and include an after-party (no discounts).
“Fully Committed” by Becky Mode, December 3-20: A wildly funny one-person tour de force in which a single actor plays more than 40 different characters—from desperate diners and entitled socialites to nervous assistants, impatient chefs, and celebrities—who expect the impossible: a table at New York’s hottest restaurant during the holidays. The phones won’t stop ringing and no one is taking no for an answer.
Runs 7:00pm Wednesdays to Saturdays from December 3 to 20, 2:00pm Sunday matinees, a preview performance on December 2. Tickets are $40 general admission, $35 seniors, $25 students and military. Preview performance tickets are $25. Opening night tickets are $45 and include an after-party (no discounts).
Individual tickets are now on sale, as are Mainstage Flex Passes to use any way: four tickets for $125 (a $35 savings off full price); six tickets for $185 (a $55 savings); eight tickets for $250 (a $70 savings); and 10 tickets for $310 (a $90 savings).The Clemans Theater for the Arts is located at 717 Franklin St. in Cape May. For tickets to and more info on all shows, go to EastLynneTheater.org.
Founded in 1980, East Lynne Theater Company has been named by The New York Times as one of the Top 75 summer theaters in North America and recognized by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly as “one of the state’s most important cultural treasures.” In 2023, understanding that the American Theater is itself a growing work of art, East Lynne expanded its mission to “present and preserve America’s theatrical heritage” by including plays about America today. East Lynne is currently raising funds in its Capital Campaign to renovate its new home, the Clemans Theater for the Arts at the Allen AME. As the company expands into its new home, so does its calendar, which will offer year-round entertainment that includes plays and performances from worldwide writers, actors, musicians, and more.
