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Alia Shawkat and Paul Cooper in the 2026 production of \u201cYou Got Older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Photo by Marc J. Franklin<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Nestled in a quiet corner of the West Village, the birthplace of off-Broadway is getting a new beginning.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n The Cherry Lane Theatre was founded in 1923 and is the oldest off-Broadway theater in New York. Since its inception, the theater has been a pivotal part of the theater scene and is known for housing nontraditional works. Samuel Beckett, Terrence McNally, Edward Albee and Lorraine Hansberry have all had their works staged at the Cherry Lane, and Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger have performed on its stage.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, the Cherry Lane Theatre looks a little different from how it once did. It was acquired by the film studio A24 in 2023 and underwent a $2.3 million renovation. The theater reopened under A24\u2019s ownership in September 2025, beginning its inaugural season with a run of Natalie Palamides\u2019s one-person show, \u201cWeer.\u201d Currently playing at the Cherry Lane is Clare Barron\u2019s play \u201cYou Got Older,\u201d which is, just like the venue it is being performed in, getting a second chance.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cYou Got Older\u201d first premiered in 2014 at HERE Arts Center, just months after Barron had finished the first draft. The play follows the protagonist Mae, who returns home after losing her job and getting broken up with, to take care of her father as he undergoes treatment for throat cancer. While writing and staging the play at age 27, Barron\u2019s father had just been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and she had just gotten out of a long-term relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was doing the play the first time, I was still living the reality of the play while we were putting it on in front of an audience,\u201d Barron said. \u201cSo it feels very different to do it 12 years later.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The premiere production and this new iteration were both directed by Anne Kauffman, whose work was most recently seen on Broadway in \u201cMarjorie Prime\u201d with Cynthia Nixon and June Squibb. Kauffman\u2019s life also mirrored the play during the 2014 run, having just lost her mother to cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe were unstable in very, very profound ways when we first did this, and now, as we\u2019re older, we\u2019re more sure of ourselves in life and in our art,\u201d Kauffman said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a totally different, delightful and revelatory experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Barron and Kauffman aren\u2019t the only ones who have changed, as this production introduces audiences to an entirely new cast. Alia Shawkat of \u201cArrested Development\u201d and \u201cSearch Party\u201d is making her stage debut with her performance as Mae, with Tony-nominee Peter Friedman playing her father.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that\u2019s so interesting is that we\u2019re discovering new things about the play, not just because we\u2019re older, but by the way that the actors are approaching it,\u201d Kauffman said. \u201cI don\u2019t feel the need to try to get this cast to do what the original cast did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Nina](\"https:\/\/www.amny.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Nina-White-Nadine-Malouf-Peter-Friedman-Alia-Shawkat-and-Misha-Brooks-in-the-2026-production-of-YOU-GOT-OLDER-Photo-by-Marc-J.-Franklin.jpg?quality=51&w=1200\" "\\"'You")
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