Plastic Tiaras: New NYC Comedy-Drama Heads to FRIGID Theater in August 2026, Now Casting

A new two-hander drama with comic edges is taking shape for an August 2026 run at one of New York City's most beloved downtown theater spaces, and casting is open right now. Plastic Tiaras, written and directed by Christopher Senn II and produced under the Topocat Productions banner in partnership with FRIGID New York, is currently seeking talent ahead of rehearsals that begin August 3, 2026. The production opens August 24 at Frigid Theater, the intimate venue tucked beneath St. Marks Place in the East Village, with a run that continues through August 25. For actors, directors of casting, and theater-adjacent crew professionals in the New York area, this is an active opportunity with a firm and fast-approaching timeline.

The play centers on two struggling actresses who have found themselves working princess birthday parties to make ends meet, a premise that will resonate with anyone who has navigated the New York performing arts hustle. When an uncomfortable truth about access surfaces between them, their shared dream begins to crack. The story uses the sparkle-and-tulle world of children's party entertainment as a lens for something sharper: what illusions we construct to keep going, and what it costs when those illusions stop holding. It is the kind of intimate, character-driven material that plays particularly well in the 60-or-fewer-seat confines of the Under St. Marks space, where an audience sits close enough to feel every silence. Christopher Senn II serves as both playwright and director, a dual role that typically signals a deeply personal project where the writer's intention and the staging vision are unified from the start. Jordan Senn is attached as casting director, and is the primary point of contact for actors pursuing roles in the production.

Topocat Productions is co-producing alongside FRIGID New York, the presenting organization that operates the Under St. Marks venue as part of its mission to support emerging and independent theater artists in New York City. FRIGID New York is best known as the producing force behind the annual FRIGID Festival, a long-running New York fringe theater festival that has served as a launchpad for hundreds of new works and emerging companies over the years. Their involvement here signals a production rooted in the downtown indie theater ecosystem, one that prizes bold, writer-driven new work over commercial spectacle. Budget scale will be consistent with that world: a lean, creatively focused production where resourcefulness and commitment to the material matter more than department size.

Rehearsals run August 3 through 23, with opening night set for August 24 and the production closing August 25. That compressed three-week rehearsal window leading directly into performance is standard for the FRIGID model and should be factored into any actor's availability planning. The venue, Under St. Marks, sits at 94 St. Marks Place in Manhattan's East Village and is one of the more storied black box spaces in the city's off-off-Broadway ecosystem. Its intimate configuration demands performers who can command a small room with precision and authenticity, and the material here, two women in close emotional proximity navigating a fracturing friendship, is exactly the kind of work that thrives in that environment. New York-based actors with strong two-person scene experience and a feel for naturalistic comedy-drama should pay close attention to this one.

For stage managers, production assistants, and other theater production professionals in the New York area, the current casting phase means the broader production team is also likely being assembled in parallel. A project of this scale and format typically requires a stage manager, a production manager or general manager, and potentially a small design team covering lights, sound, and costumes. Given the princess-party premise, costume and props will carry specific visual storytelling weight, making those collaborators particularly valuable to the creative vision. The combination of a writer-director at the helm and an intimate venue suggests a collaborative, rehearsal-room-focused process where department contributors are expected to bring genuine creative investment alongside their technical skills.

Full casting details, production contacts, and scheduling information for Plastic Tiaras are available now on ProductionList.com. With rehearsals beginning in August and casting actively underway, this is not a listing to bookmark for later. Actors and theater professionals in New York should check the complete production listing, reach out to casting director Jordan Senn through the contact information provided, and get their materials in now. The ProductionList entry will continue to be updated as the production moves through pre-production and additional team members are confirmed.

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