Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out, Judas and the Black Messiah) will make his U.S. stage debut in Grass, a new play written by acclaimed playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and directed by Obie Award-winning director Sarah Benson.
Commissioned by Park Avenue Armory, the world premiere will run February 19 through March 28, 2027, in New York City. The production brings together an acclaimed creative team for a theatrical journey through the American South that explores family, identity, history, and the search for meaning.
Jacobs-Jenkins, an Armory Artist-in-Residence known for his work on Purpose and Appropriate, has established himself as one of the leading voices in contemporary American theater. A two-time Tony Award winner, Obie Award winner, Pulitzer Prize winner, and MacArthur Fellow, he is recognized for combining humor and drama to examine heritage, generational tensions, and the complexities of American family life. With Grass, he brings his distinctive perspective and sharp wit to a production that blends elements of fantasy, memory, and moral drama.
In Grass, Kaluuya portrays a son who embarks on an extraordinary road trip through the American South with his mother. Along the way, the pair encounter fellow Americans and echoes of the past as they navigate a landscape shaped by both monumental historical forces and everyday experiences. Through this surreal journey, the play examines the boundaries of identity and the connections between personal experience, ancestral history, and national belonging, particularly during periods of social conflict and upheaval.
The production also reunites the creative team behind the 2014 Obie Award-winning production of An Octoroon for the first time in more than a decade. Benson, whose directing credits include Teeth and Fairview, leads the production with her boundary-pushing theatrical approach. Tony Award-winning set designer and MacArthur Fellow Mimi Lien, a former Armory Artist-in-Residence, joins the team to create the production’s visual environment. Known for projects including Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and Sweeney Todd, Lien has earned recognition for transforming theatrical spaces in innovative ways.
With Kaluuya’s stage debut at its center, Grass brings together some of contemporary theater’s most celebrated talents for a new work that considers how family histories, cultural memory, and national identity shape the American experience.
PERFORMANCE DETAILS
Production: Grass
Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Director: Sarah Benson
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya
Venue: Park Avenue Armory, New York City
Dates: February 19–March 28, 2027
Premiere: World premiere
Additional details about the play is available at https://www.armoryonpark.org/.