5 Shows to See in New York This Month

1. Burnout Paradise
This spectacle of multitasking from the Australian collective Pony Cam starts previews at the Astor Place Theatre on February 18. Four performers attempt to complete different chores (filling out a grant application, cooking a three-course meal, etc.) while running on treadmills. They must complete all the tasks and beat their milage from the previous performance—or else. It’s the most exciting display of physical endurance this side of the Olympics, and it transforms the typically sedate off-Broadway audience into a screaming fan section. Pony Cam peers into the void left by an exhausted hustle culture and asks its audience, “Are you not entertained?” I suspect it’s going to be a big hit in this manic town, so get your tickets now.

2. The Monsters
I might have just outed myself in the last paragraph, but in case it wasn’t clear, I’m a huge sports fan. I’m particularly fascinated by combat sports, which is why I was eager to see Ngozi Anyanwu’s The Monsters, about estranged siblings who reunite over mixed martial arts when brother agrees to coach sister. Few groups are more dramatic in modern life than MMA fighters, and their one-on-one struggles reflect something about the human condition. Yes, that’s a blunt metaphor, but Anyanwu uses it as a springboard for a riveting drama featuring two highly complex characters fighting hard to salvage their relationship. According to TheaterMania’s Pete Hempstead, “there wasn’t a dry eye in the house at the performance I attended.” If you’re in the market for a tear-jerker, this is your ticket.

3. The Porch on Windy Hill
Family reunions seem to be an emerging theme of 2026. The musical play The Porch on Windy Hill is about a granddaughter who encounters her grandfather at a bluegrass “picking party” in rural North Carolina, which she is traveling through as part of a research expedition led by her musicologist boyfriend. She hasn’t seen her grandpa in 18 years, and there are good reasons why. But could an impromptu jam session on grandad’s front porch rekindle their relationship? The show is performing a return engagement at Urban Stages, and it just extended through March 8. It’s one of the more intimate theaters in the city, with just 65 seats, making you feel like you’re part of this little family hootenanny.

4. The Unknown
You should never pass up an opportunity to see a new show by David Cale. The brilliant monologuist absolutely charmed me last year with his solo play Blue Cowboy, and he’s back this year with another, The Unknown, at Studio Seaview. Sean Hayes stars as Elliot, a gay writer who discovers he has a stalker. Rather than report the other man’s disturbing behavior to the police, he attempts to turn it into a script, with predictably disastrous results. It’s a one-man thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Embodying 11 different characters, Hayes casts a spell over the audience like particularly gifted campfire storyteller. It all feels like a huge repudiation of Jack 2000.

5. Data
Finally, I want to make sure you’re aware of Matthew Libby’s Data, which I consider the most important play running in New York right now. It’s about a gifted young computer scientist who develops a predictive algorithm for rare events in baseball. His employer, a Silicon Valley tech firm, would like to repurpose the algorithm for a powerful client, in a way that would harm millions of lives. It’s a story that is absolutely playing out in tech labs all across the country as the richest and most powerful individuals consider how they can leverage massive pools of data to make themselves even richer—perhaps by transforming us into the machines they love so much. Darkly, it makes an excellent companion piece with Burnout Paradise as we stand on the precipice of the age of techno-feudalism.