LEAN-TO
a new play by Stephen Sheffer
directed by Jesse Jou
Three hikers meet at a rustic lean-to shelter and spend a night together in the woods. When they come together around the warmth of a campfire, the spark that ignites between them becomes too hot to handle. The trio fragments, but not before they experience the joy of authentic connection. Lean-To explores the human desire to connect and the shadow of loneliness that lurks within all of us.
Performances:
September 2nd thru 5th
This production will have its world premiere at Pendragon before moving Off-Broadway in the fall of 2026 in NYC.
The Team
Written by Stephen Sheffer
Directed by Jesse Jou
Team Announcement Coming Soon.
The Cast
Cast Announcement Coming Soon.
STEPHEN SHEFFER
Playwright
Stephen's (he/him) full-length plays
include the Toronto International Fringe Festival Patron’s Pick award-winning Back To Mine, Story of Four, Private Property (Out of the Box Theatrics, NYC), Lean-To (Pendragon Theatre, NY), and the freshly-penned S.O.S. Other plays include the one-acts The Spark (Mastodon/Barrow Group) and IRMPOV SHOW, as well as a stage adaptation of Trey Parker’s Cannibal! The Musical that played for a sold-out run at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre. An early draft of Back To Mine was started under the tutelage of John Lazarus at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada, where writing comedy shows that were performed in bars became a regular activity, too. Episodic concepts include: The Innkeepers, Geri Atrick Mayor, Cockfight, Salmon Elbow, Writing Wrong, Working Title, The Joint, Birth Control, and Archipelago (Blue Ant Media). In New York City, producing and performing comedy shows (some scripted, some improvised) continues to be an ongoing activity as well as acting off-Broadway and regionally on stages in the USA & Canada.
JESSE JOU
Director
Jesse (he/him) is a director of new and
contemporary plays and musicals. Favorite projects include Bruise &Thorn by C. Julian Jiménez (world premiere, New York Times’ Critic’s Pick); I Wanna F*ck Like Romeo & Juliet by Andrew Rincón (world premiere, New Light Theater Project); Cebollas by Leonard Madrid; and The Betrothed by Dipika Guha (Boston Globe Critic’s Pick). He is an alumnus of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, the Drama League’s Directors Project, the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, and the Civilians' R&D Group. He received his MFA in directing from the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale.