Pride Month: Queer Theatre Festivals & Events 2024
- Several theater festivals are highlighting queer voices and stories this June, coinciding with Pride Month celebrations.
- The National Queer Theater's Criminal Queerness Festival, running June 11-28 at HERE Arts Center in New York City, is the official theater event for New York City Pride.
- The festival includes Tomorrow Never Came by 1987 Petrina Ampeira, the Shiro Really; What You Are to Me by Dena Igusti (June 13-22), directed by Keng S.
Celebrate Pride Month with vibrant queer theater festivals! Discover a multitude of events showcasing LGBTQIA+ voices and stories. From the Criminal Queerness Festival in NYC to the queerly Festival and StageQ’s CapitalQ Theater Festival, these gatherings offer a platform for diverse narratives. National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Festival boldly addresses censorship, while FRIGID New York’s Queerly Festival celebrates resilience. StageQ in Madison presents new works by rising playwrights. News Directory 3 provides extensive details on the queer theatre scene. Explore productions like “What You Are to Me,” “Mother Sylvia,” and “The Emperor’s New(er) Clothes.” Find the perfect queer theater experience near you. Discover what’s next …
Queer Theater Festivals Celebrate pride Month
Updated June 15, 2025
Several theater festivals are highlighting queer voices and stories this June, coinciding with Pride Month celebrations. These events showcase new works by LGBTQIA+ creators, offering a platform for diverse narratives.
Criminal Queerness Festival
The National Queer Theater’s Criminal Queerness Festival, running June 11-28 at HERE Arts Center in New York City, is the official theater event for New York City Pride. The festival, now in its seventh year, presents works by international LGBTQ+ playwrights addressing the criminalization and censorship of queer individuals.
The festival includes Tomorrow Never Came by 1987 Petrina Ampeira, the Shiro Really; What You Are to Me by Dena Igusti (June 13-22), directed by Keng S. Meateanuwat, featuring B. Bastian, Debbie Tiong, Grace Duah, Juliana Soelistyo, Lei Nico, and Michele Selene Ang. Also showing is frikination (June 24-28), a bilingual, Cuban punk rock jukebox musical with book by Krystal Ortiz and music and lyrics by EsKoria, directed by Rula A. Muñoz and music direction by Alan Mendez. The cast includes Adriana Gaviria, claudia Quesada, Frances Inés Rodriguez, Jojo Fleites, Mateo D’Amato, Nico Raimont, Ryan Ruffing, and Marcelo Camacho.
National Queer Theater, an obie-winning collective, aims to celebrate LGBTQ+ artists and provide a space for unheard storytellers through theater experiences and community classes.
Queerly Festival
FRIGID New york will present the 11th annual Queerly Festival at UNDER St. Marks, june 12-July 3. most performances will be available to livestream. This year’s festival, titled “revolting Queers,” features 20 shows celebrating queer resilience and resistance.
The lineup includes Mother Sylvia, written and performed by Summer Minerva; Poster Boys, written by Leo Layla Díaz and directed by Hannah Marie Penderson; Lesbian Bigfoot by anna Margevich; Mary & The Shelleys by Alex Moon; Calvin S. Cato: Disney Single written and performed by Calvin S Cato; A Spanglish Affair Open Mic, produced by Something from Abroad; The Gay Social Network – A One Woman Show, written and performed by law jhajj; SEX GODDESS, written and performed by Riel Reddick-Stevens and produced by House and Body; GxDLY by Daddy Doyenne, presented by the kinky kafe LLC; Drag History Hour by Bertha Vanayshun; disko Boy by Sheila Klein and Masha Mikulinsky, presented by Amuse Bouche Company; Boy Meets girl (or The Trials & tribulations of a Queer Man Living under A Curse) by Chetan rao and Nalini Sharma, presented by Boundless Theater; Reality Check By Sayali Gove; Beneath The Surface by Bailey C Lewis; Gay Cowboys by Ciara Hannon, produced by 11th Hour Productions; Frigid Nightcap; Glitter Uprising: A Deliciously Disobedient Queer Revue by Holli Hemlock; Clay Mommy by Aviva Pearl Creation; Loud & With Feeling by Spencer Joshua vigil.
Founded in 2014, Queerly strives for diversity on- and offstage, providing a space for queer artists to represent themselves and tell thier stories.
FRIGID New York aims to provide artists the opportunity to create original work and amplify diverse voices through programming, mainstage productions, an artist residency, and annual theater festivals.
StageQ’s CapitalQ Theatre Festival
StageQ presents its 2025 CapitalQ Theatre Festival June 13-21 in Madison,Wisc.The festival includes new shows written by up-and-coming queer playwrights at drury Stage’s Bartell Theatre.
The plays include The emperor’s New(er) Clothes by John Mabey, directed by Will French and Emma Fried, and Secondhand Grace by Brian Farrey-Latz, directed by Avery Taylor.