10 Great Shows to See for $40 or Less This Summer

Catch a new musical with a Tony nominee, a two-hander with two TV stars, a Planet of the Apes parody and more

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Adventurous audiences know that some of New York City’s biggest theatrical thrills—and lowest ticket prices—are found on the smallest stages. But with a slew of shows running Off-Off Broadway every day plus a dozen summer theatre festivals, it’s tough to figure out what’s worth your time and money. That’s why we’ve rounded up 10 promising indie theatre productions opening in June and July, all offering tickets starting at $40 or less. Even better, TDF Members can see some of these shows for as little as $15! Not a TDF Member? Consider joining our Go Off-Off and Beyond program, which gives you access to discount tickets to Off-Off Broadway shows for a one-time fee of five bucks.

If you’re a TDF Member, log in to your account daily to see what we’re selling as ticket inventory changes frequently.

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Youth in Flames – begins June 10

59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East

Begins June 10. Closes June 28. Tickets are $32.

Performer-playwright Mimi Martin shares her real-life political awakening in her autobiographical solo show Youth in Flames, about an expat party girl who gets caught up in Hong Kong’s pro-Democracy protests in 2019. A Edinburgh Festival Fringe favorite, this harrowing, hour-long tale dramatizes the chaotic night she joined a friend on the front lines and how both their lives were changed forever.

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Colt Coeur: Camping – begins June 13

HERE, 145 Sixth Avenue at Dominick Street in Soho

Previews begin June 13. Opens June 18. Closes July 11. Tickets are $31.50.

Brooklyn-based Colt Coeur is known for presenting daring new plays, like Eureka Day years before it came to Broadway. Its latest world premiere is Victoria Lynne Barclay’s Camping, a love story about two BFFs who meet at camp and stay intimately connected over the years despite going their separate ways. TV favorites Alice Kremelberg (The Boroughs, The Sinner) and Colby Minifie (The Boys) star in this dram-com, directed by Colt Coeur founder Adrienne Campbell-Holt.

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Clubbed Thumb Summerworks: The Family Dog – begins June 18

Wild Project, 195 East 3rd Street between Avenues A and B in the East Village

Begins June 18. Closes June 30. Tickets are $35.

Clubbed Thumb‘s annual Summerworks fest has birthed a slew of acclaimed plays, including Men on Boats, Cold War Choir Practice and the Tony-nominated and Pulitzer-shortlisted What the Constitution Means to Me. Its 29th edition wraps up with The Family Dog, Bailey Williams’ bittersweet comedy about a woman named Whiney who comes home to bid farewell to the canine she feels replaced her. Tara Ahmadinejad directs a cast that includes Broadway vets Jennifer Van Dyck and Sarah Steele as well as Pulitzer finalist playwright Talene Monahon.

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Soho Rep: The Potluck – begins June 30

Playwrights Horizons, 416 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin June 30. Opens July 13. Closes July 26. Tickets are $35.

César Alvarez, the creator of The Potluck, wasn’t even alive when the 1979 Greensboro massacre upended the community they were born into a year later. Now they’ve written a musical about the violent clash between Communist Workers Party and neo-Nazis along with members of the KKK, which claimed the lives of five activists. Featuring a diverse intergenerational cast of performers and musicians, including Falsettos Tony nominee Barbara Walsh, world-renowned percussionist Sammy Figueroa, Stereophonic‘s Andrew R. Butler and Broadway vets Gían Pérez and Rubén Flores, this politically charged world premiere explores history, collective trauma and revolution. Directed by Sarah Benson and co-presented by Soho Rep and INTAR. If you want to see this on the cheap, try the 99-Cent Sunday performance on July 26—tickets are sold in person, first come, first served.

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The Tank: What a World! What a World! – begins July 9

The Tank, 312 West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in Midtown West

Previews begin July 9. Opens July 11. Closes August 2. Tickets are $28-$38.

In Eric Marlin’s queer fantasia What a World! What a World!, two drag performers spoof a campy 1943 melodrama while a gay couple watches the parody online. As each iteration of this romance informs the others, the evolution of queer aesthetics and identity comes into focus. Ilana Khanin directs this world premiere starring Queen-Tiye Akamefula and Annie Hoeg.

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Forget I Said Anything – begins July 12

Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street between Ninth and Dyer Avenues in Midtown West

Begins July 12. Closes August 2. Tickets start at $40.

Samantha Roberts began writing Forget I Said Anything as an undergrad at Temple University. Seven years later, her heartfelt musical about a group of young folks navigating challenging relationships will have its world premiere Off Broadway. Roberts also directs the show, which questions today’s swipe-obsessed sense of disconnection.

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Adult Film: Woyzeck – begins July 15

Modern Sweater, 4-78 Onderdonk Avenue between Harman Street and Greene Avenue in Ridgewood, Queens

Begins July 15. Closes August 8. Tickets are $33.85.

Known for its hyper-intimate productions, Adult Film presents its humanistic take on Georg Büchner’s landmark 19th-century play Woyzeck about an unstable soldier driven to violence by an uncaring and inequitable society. Performed at Modern Sweater, a brand-new venue in Ridgewood, Queens, the show is directed by Seth Bockley and features many longtime company members.

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Planet of the Grapes – begins July 16

Under St. Marks, 94 St. Marks Place between First Avenue and Avenue A in the East Village

Runs July 16-19. Tickets are $32.50.

Peter Michael Marino, the acclaimed playwright-performer behind the riotous solo shows Show Up! and Desperately Seeking the Exit, presents Planet of the Grapes, a toy theatre send-up of the 1968 movie The Planet of the Apes but with talking fruit instead of monkeys. Marino manipulates a cast of grapes and corks as they fight for supremacy on miniature sets made from household items and craft supplies. Expect plenty of pop-culture references in this punny parody directed by Michole Biancosino.

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How to Put Down the Weight of Your Past – begins July 23

American Mime Theatre, 137 West 25th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues in Chelsea

Previews begin July 23. Opens July 25. Closes August 9. Tickets start at $25.

Playwright-performer Tommy Vines is behind this interactive work, framed as a self-help seminar that promises to free participants from the burdens of everyday existence. But as the two facilitators start to lose the thread, everything, including everyone’s sense of self, unravels. Come prepared to participate, there’s even snacks!

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The Vessel – begins July 30

59E59 Theaters, 59 East 59th Street between Madison and Park Avenues in Midtown East

Begins July 30. Closes August 23. Tickets are $27-$42.

In Brendan George’s new play, a trio of poorly paid parks employees get embroiled in the infamous events at The Vessel, a climbable sculpture in Hudson Yards that became the site of multiple suicides. As the structure and its sad stories loom over their lives, the three find ways to emerge from its shadow.

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