PASSION PLAYS
MARCH-APRIL, 2026
A FESTIVAL OF WORLD PREMIERES
Dupont Underground | Baltimore Theater Project
(TICKET LINKS BELOW)
This festival brings three new music-theater works to life, each exploring different aspects of human passion, suffering, redemption, each with a unique musical landscape, and all featuring world class artists using music, drama, and meaning to spark transformation.
ONLY THE AIR
Music by J.S. Bach after the St. Matthew Passion
New Text by Joshua Borths and Shana Oshiro
Directed by Timothy Nelson
Musical Direction by Joy Schreier
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ONLY THE AIR
Old music is given new meaning in an original theater piece that includes that searing and unforgettable arias from J.S. Bach’s masterpiece, and a new spoken re-languaging of the Gospel text that reshapes the work into an exploration of profound human loss and grief, and the promise of hope. This miniature approach to one of the repertoire’s largest works seeks to discover its essential emotional power in a ritual staging aimed at the soul of its audience. Featuring Colleen Daly, Elizabeth Mondragon, Joseph Haughton, Carl Dupont, & William Matson.
ONLY THE AIR - DUPONT UNDERGROUND
March 6 at 7:30pm
March 7 at 7:30pm
March 8 at 2:30pm
PASSIO
Lucie de Saint Vincent and Maribeth Diggle
In collaboration with Alejandra Borzyk, Laïla Amezian, Rajna Swaminathan, Tina Chancey, Gaia Saitta, & Joyce Scott
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PASSIO
In religious traditions, passion narratives are about suffering, sacrifice, and transformation, and usually centered around one hero or savior. But Passio is a contemporary concert where the passion story takes a different turn: that of polyphony. We meet survivors, pioneers, and creators who reveal an often unheard story of resilience and transformation, where various classical singing techniques, fortepiano, jazz, blues, South Asian percussion, and baroque strings merge with each other in time and space. With the direction of soprano Maribeth Diggle and compositions by pianist Lucie de Saint Vincent, created in collaboration with the ensemble, Passio becomes a collective act of voices based on interviews with the musicians of the ensemble themselves. One that makes the passion stories we share with each other visibly more complete. And one that Bach would have surely loved.
PASSIO - DUPONT UNDERGROUND
March 13 at 7:30pm
March 14 at 7:30pm
March 15 at 2:30pm
FOR WOMEN SERVING TIME
Music by Adrienne Torf
Text by Fatemeh Keshavarz
Directed by Timothy Nelson
Musical Direction by Adrienne Torf
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT FOR WOMEN SERVING TIME
Persian-American poet and scholar Fatemeh Keshavarz and pianist and composer Adrienne Torf come together to make a new piece of opera-theater that fuses Faure’s Requiem, jazz elements, and Brechtian theatrical traditions in a powerful contemplation of the human experiences contained in “ female incarceration in America”. This extended poem-opera sheds light on the lives and resilience of women in the U.S. prison system, their hopes, dreams, fears, and day to day experiences, offering a voice to a population often overlooked. Six acclaimed local performers join the composer herself, leading an instrumental ensemble from the piano, to animate the important original work.
FOR WOMEN SERVING TIME
March 20 at 7:30pm
March 21 at 7:30pm
March 22 at 2:30pm
RESERVE TICKETS FWST BALTIMORE
April 10 at 7:30pm
April 11 at 7:30pm
April 12 at 2:30pm
HOW DOES THE FESTIVAL WORK
A festival of new works is not what IN Series normally produces, so you may have questions about how it works. It couldn't be simpler! Each of the first three weekends in March, IN Series will present DC audiences with a different show. Each show is ticketed separately, so you can choose the festival offerings that appeal to you, or you can get tickets to all three different events. They will all take place in the Dupont Underground.
For our Baltimore audiences, you are welcome to join us in DC for the festival's first two weekends in order to catch ONLY THE AIR or PASSIO. On April 10th, 11th, and 12th, we will present FOR WOMEN SERVING TIME in Baltimore, as the Baltimore Theater Project.
If you are an IN Series subscriber, you have tickets for all of these events!
Timothy Nelson INtroduces the Passion Plays - A Festival
