The Antiquities is a dramatic play by American playwright Jordan Harrison that follows the curators of the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, who archive and recreate human history in the near-future. The play premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in 2025, and later that year, at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Plot Set in the near future, the play follows the Museum of Late Human Antiquities, a museum dedicated to preserving human history. Through various vignettes of different eras of human history and the purported future, everyday objects become artifacts in the museum as the true nature of the museum reveals itself--it is operated by non-organic AI creators.Playbill. "The Antiquities (Off-Broadway, Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater, 2025)." Playbill, https://www.playbill.com/production/the-antiquities-off-broadway-playwrights-horizons-mainstage-theater-2025. Accessed 30 May 2026.Theatre Development Fund. "The Antiquities." TDF, https://www.tdf.org/shows/22175/the-antiquities/. Accessed 30 May 2026.
Production history Harrison was inspired to write the play based on his interactions with technology and AI, much like his play, Marjorie Prime. He also noted he wanted to write a play in "a kind of pyramidal shape to go forward in time and then back again." He began writing the play before the thought of AI being sentient became reality, which he claims only made it more effective when it premiered, saying "I think people think of this as a more personal subject, one that touches their lives in a way that they didn’t then."
Off-Broadway (2025) The play first premiered Off-Broadway in January 2025 at Playwrights Horizons, directed by David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, running January 11 to March 2, 2025. The production was co-produced by the Vineyard Theatre and the Goodman Theatre, and starred an ensemble of Cindy Cheung, Marchánt Davis, Layan Elwazani, Andrew Garman, Aria Shahghasem, Kristen Sieh, Ryan Spahn, Julius Rinzel and Amelia Workman as various characters throughout the exhibits.
The Off-Broadway production received largely positive reviews, with The New York Times praising it as "tastefully restrained," while criticizing the framing device as "compelling if somewhat overbearing structural." Observer echoed those sentiments, praising the show's "grimly compelling concept" while opining that "the execution lacks a certain audacity."
The production was nominated for several awards in 2025, including the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play, three Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards and the Drama League Award for Outstanding Production of a Play.
Chicago (2025) Later that year, the production transferred to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, again directed by Cromer and Sullivan and joined by new cast members Helen Joo Lee (in Cheung's role) and Thomas Murphy Molony (in Rinzel's role). The production ran from May 3, 2025 to June 1, 2025. The production received positive reviews, with New City Stage calling it "intense and sobering" with praise for the "thoughtful, elegiac mood." The Chicago Tribune similarly praised the production, claiming it had "more to say in 95 minutes than most TV shows manage in eight seasons" and that the show was "superlatively acted."
Cast and characters CharacterOff-Broadway 2025Chicago 2025Man 1Aria ShahghasemiWoman 1Kristen SiehMan 2Marchánt DavisWoman 2Amelia WorkmanMan 3Andrew GarmanWoman 3Cindy CheungHelen Joo LeeMan 4Ryan SpahnWoman 4 Layan ElwazaniBoyJulius RinzelThomas Murphy Molony
Accolades 2025 Off-Broadway production Year Award Category Nominee ResultRef. 2025Drama Desk AwardOutstanding Direction of a PlayDavid Cromer and Caitlin SullivanOutstanding Costume Design of a PlayBrenda AbbandandoloOutstanding Lighting Design of a PlayTyler MicoleauOuter Critics Circle AwardOutstanding New Off-Broadway PlayDrama League AwardOutstanding Production of a PlayLucille Lortel AwardOutstanding PlayOutstanding Lighting DesignTyler Micoleau
2025 Chicago production Year Award Category Nominee ResultRef. 2025Jeff AwardOutstanding Ensemble - PlayCompanyJoseph Jefferson Awards Committee. "2025 Equity Nominees." The Joseph Jefferson Awards, https://www.jeffawards.org/equity-nominees. Accessed 30 May 2026.The Libby Adler Mages Award for New WorkJordan Harrison
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