Theater J is presenting The Hatmaker’s Wife, written by Lauren Yee, who is currently the most produced playwright in the country, from June 5 – 25, 2025. The Hatmaker’s Wife will be directed by Dan Rothenberg, co-founder and co-artistic director of Pig Iron Theatre Company in Philadelphia.
The Hatmaker’s Wife revolves around the story of a young woman who moves with her boyfriend into a new home outside of New York City. When the woman has trouble getting comfortable in her new surroundings, the home itself seems determined to help. The walls of the house begin to speak to her, words magically appear on surfaces, and a golem with a taste for Cheetos starts hanging around. A cross between a ghost story and a Yiddish fable, Yee’s moving and whimsical play redefines home, family and love.
The cast for The Hatmaker’s Wife includes DMV local and rising star Ashley Nguyen as Voice, Maboud Ebrahimzadeh as Hetchman, Su Jin Song as Hetchman’s wife, Tyler Herman as Gabe/Golem, Michael Russotto as Meckel, and Alex Tatarsky as Wall.
Yee, a playwright, screenwriter and TV writer based out of New York is known for plays including include Cambodian Rock Band and King of Yees (produced at Arena Stage and Signature Theatre last year) alongside The Tiger Among Us. Yee has written for TV shows including “Pachinko” (Apple TV), “Soundtrack” (Netflix), and a soon to be announced FX limited series. She is the recipient of many awards including the Doris Duke Artist Award, the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Horton Foote Prize, the Kesselring Prize, the ATCA/Steinberg Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, and many others.
Director Dan Rothenberg has directed almost all of Pig Iron’s original performance works, including the OBIE Award-winning Chekov Lizardbrain and Hell Meets Henry Halfway. Pig Iron’s work has toured to 15 countries on four continents, with stops at the Humana Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Under the Radar, TR Warszawa, Konfrontacje Teatralne Festival, and Tokyo Performing Arts Market. Rothenberg has directed three critically acclaimed premieres by Toshiki Okada for The Play Company in New York City, a national tour for The Acting Company, and collaborations with the alt-comedy group Berserker Residents, new music outfit Bowerbird, and Sweden’s Teater Slava.
“This play reminded me of some of the best work by my favorite filmmakers–people like Michel Gondry or Jean-Pierre Jeunet who made Amélie,” says Rothenberg. “Lauren Yee moves between worlds with so much humor, with such a light touch. Her plays always live half in the imagination and half in the real world. I feel like that is exactly what theater is meant to do!”
Tickets
To purchase tickets for The Hatmaker’s Wife, please visit theaterj.org or call the ticket office at 202-777-3210. Single ticket prices for regular tickets start at $49. Discount tickets are available for groups of 8+, EDCJCC members, preview performances, students, educators, military personnel and U.S. Veterans. $5 Community Access Tickets are available to individuals who receive government assistance through state-issued EBT cards (EBT is not accepted as a form of payment, only as proof of status).
About Theater J
Theater J is a nationally-renowned, professional theater that celebrates, explores, and struggles with the complexities and nuances of both the Jewish experience and the universal human condition. Our work illuminates and examines ethical questions of our time, inter-cultural experiences that parallel our own, and the changing landscape of Jewish identities. As the nation’s largest and most prominent Jewish theater, we aim to preserve and expand a rich Jewish theatrical tradition and to create community and commonality through theater-going experiences.
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 