Company One Theatre, in partnership with the Boston Public Library, announces the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of HAUNTED
written and directed by Tara Moses (Seminole/Mvskoke)
dramaturgy by Quita Sullivan
All tickets are Pay-What-You-Want!
January 24 – February 15, 2025 at Rabb Hall, Boston Public Library Central Branch
Press Opening: Saturday, January 25 at 7:30pm (RSVP here)
Learn more at companyone.org/haunted
Company One Theatre (C1) announces the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere of Haunted, written and directed by Tara Moses, with dramaturgy by Quita Sullivan, and produced in partnership with the Boston Public Library. Press opening will be Saturday, January 25 at 7:30pm with a preview performance on Friday, January 24. Performances continue through February 15 at Rabb Hall, Central Library in Copley Square (700 Boylston St, Boston). Tickets are available now at companyone.org. As part of C1’s ongoing commitment to Public Art for Public Good, all tickets are Pay-What-You-Want.
Haunted, which was commissioned by C1 as part of their PlayLab Circuit Flux Lab, tells the story of Ash and Aaron, Indigenous siblings whose ghosts are trapped in the house where they died twenty years ago. While they get some amusement out of haunting an endless cycle of new homeowners and their families, the siblings just want to make it to the spirit world — and they’ll do anything to get there. Soundtracked by classic 2000s pop jams from the likes of Britney Spears and Mariah Carey, this off-kilter comedy flips the traditional horror script by blurring the lines of who (or what) is haunting who. By producing Haunted, C1 amplifies the decolonization and land justice work carried out by Indigenous communities for centuries.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to produce this play that I’ve been thinking about for years with Company One,” says Moses, whose play Sugar is also receiving its world premiere this season by Fresh Ink Theatre. “C1 has not just been supportive of authentic Native work, but also excited about relationship building and using theatre as a tool of radical change. It’s not often that stories like Haunted are produced, and I can’t wait for Indigenous audience members to see themselves and their experiences reflected onstage with the love and care that they deserve.”
C1 Associate Artistic Director Summer L. Williams adds, “We're so excited to produce the world premiere of Haunted and amplify poignant Indigenous voices during such a volatile and dangerous political moment. We are in a time of reckoning not only with our history, but also the roles we play in decolonizing the spaces we occupy. Haunted is an urgent reminder that ignoring the harm and issues caused by colonization will only deepen the roots that harm our most vulnerable community members.”
Haunted is C1’s fifth production at Rabb Hall, following peerless by Jiehae Park in 2017, Wolf Play by Hansol Jung in 2020, Black Super Hero Magic Mama by Inda Craig-Galván in 2022, and The Interrobangers by M Sloth Levine in 2024. This production is the second of a three-show partnership with the Boston Public Library (the first show being The Interrobangers) with $250,000 of support to produce public programs and activate the library’s spaces and communities with performances and events. During this partnership, all programs at the BPL will be free with Pay-What-You-Want tickets, disrupting an old and financially inaccessible model historically featuring rising ticket prices in traditional theaters. And as with previous productions, C1 is uplifting the work of local community organizations through post-show conversations, civic engagement opportunities, and the Branch Out with C1 event series.
“Library spaces are cultural spaces, best brought to life with innovative partnerships,” said David Leonard, President of the Boston Public Library. “We are delighted to partner with Company One for the fifth time bringing a fully Pay-What-You-Want production to the Boston Public Library, and are excited to see this as a catalyst for connective engagement across the neighborhoods and communities of Boston.”
As a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, Haunted will also be produced by Native Voices at the Autry (Los Angeles, CA) and Cleveland Public Theatre (Cleveland, OH) as part of their 2025/26 seasons. Haunted is notably the first Indigenous play to be supported by the Rolling World Premiere program.
“Our responsive and disruptive 26th season celebrates the power of communal action,” says C1 Artistic Director Shawn LaCount. “There’s no better place to kick things off than at the Boston Public Library, a publicly accessible space where harmful stereotypes are dispelled through active dialogue about cultural heritage and history. Haunted is a timely and sharply-written galvanization against gentrified and siloed neighborhoods. And as the show opens less than a week after Inauguration Day, this spiritual fortification comes not a moment too soon.”
About the Production
Ash and Aaron have been dead for twenty years, and the Indigenous siblings pass their time dancing to Britney Spears, haunting the families that try to move into their house, and wondering if they’ll ever be free from the shackles of racist stereotypes. As the cycle begins once more, the siblings ask: will they ever make it to the Spirit World? An Indigenous horror comedy with the coolest Y2K hits, Tara Moses’ Haunted forces us to confront the very land we walk on and our relationship (or lack thereof) with Native communities today.
Company One Theatre is producing Haunted to AMPLIFY:
- the first-ever full-length staged work by an Indigenous artist at the Boston Public Library, where people can learn more about Indigenous history, stories, artists, and community members in an accessible civic space.
- the Land Back movement and our collective duty to be responsible stewards of Earth’s natural resources, in solidarity with the Indigenous communities who have persevered against colonization, gentrification, and displacement across generations.
- our understanding of the land we live, work, and travel on as a living, changing entity with ancestral connection.
- Native-led community partners and organizations who champion conservation efforts, advocate for legislation that benefits Indigenous people, and support the Indigenous community in Boston and beyond.
- the dynamic voice of Tara Moses, a multi-hyphenate Seminole/Mvskoke playwright whose work is the first-ever produced Indigenous play supported by the National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere program.
Learn more at companyone.org/haunted
