Pulitzer Prize Winner James Ijames Launches PlayPenn Presents 2026 Series at Tony Award-Winning Wilma Theater

PlayPenn announces Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames (Fat Ham) as the first featured guest in its 2026 PlayPenn Presents conversation series.

PlayPenn Presents brings leading artists into conversation with audiences to explore the making of new plays and theatre works and the evolving journeys of contemporary theatre makers. Previous guests in the series have included Samuel D. Hunter, J.T. Rogers, and Ayad Akhtar.

One of the most widely produced playwrights working in American theatre today, Ijames will join PlayPenn Presents for conversations about his creative process, the development of new work, and the long arc of an artistic life in the theatre.

In a remarkable season for Philadelphia theatre, three major companies are staging plays by Ijames in the same year. Productions at Arden Theatre Company (Good Bones), Wilma Theater (The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington), and Philadelphia Theatre Company (Wilderness Generation) offer audiences a rare opportunity to experience his work across multiple stages.

March 30 at 7:30 PM at Wilma Theater in Philadelphia

April 6 at 7:30 PM at The Drama Book Shop in New York

Tickets are now on sale at www.playpenn.org/events

PLAYPENN PRESENTS JAMES IJAMES LIVE IN PHILADELPHIA

Monday, March 30 at 7:30 PM at Tony Award-Winning Wilma Theater

Presented in association with Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Wilma Theater.

Three Philadelphia productions. One unforgettable evening with the playwright behind them.

James Ijames returns to PlayPenn, where several of his early works were first developed, for a lively evening of conversation, curiosity, and discovery.

Hear the stories, questions, collaborations, and creative sparks behind his work, and get a rare glimpse into how new plays come to life from first idea to the stage.

Ijames will be joined by Nancy Boykin and Kimberly S. Fairbanks (original cast member of Fat Ham), PlayPenn board members and cast members of the Wilma Theater's upcoming production of The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington. The conversation will be moderated by PlayPenn Artistic Director Che'Rae Adams

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PLAYPENN PRESENTS JAMES IJAMES LIVE IN NEW YORK

Monday, April 6 at 7:30 PM at The Drama Book Shop

Presented in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company and Blackboard Plays

In anticipation of the world premiere of Ijames's new play Wilderness Generation at Philadelphia Theatre Company, PlayPenn brings Philadelphia to New York for an intimate conversation at The Drama Book Shop about art, collaboration, and creating new work in turbulent times.

For anyone who loves theatre, makes theatre, studies theatre, or simply wants to understand how a playwright's work comes into being, this conversation offers rare access to the creative process of one of America's leading playwrights.

Ijames will be joined by Nancy Boykin and Kimberly S. Fairbanks in a conversation moderated by PlayPenn Artistic Director Che'Rae Adams.

ABOUT JAMES IJAMES

James Ijames is a Pulitzer Prize-winning and Tony Award-nominated playwright, a director and educator. He is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Fat Ham, which first gained national attention through its filmed production at Philadelphia's Wilma Theater during the pandemic before going on to premiere in New York and later transfer to Broadway.

His work also includes Saturday Church, Good Bones, Kill Move Paradise, The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington, White, and the upcoming world premiere of Wilderness Generation at Philadelphia Theatre Company. James is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Head of the Playwriting Concentration at Columbia University.