Two-time Tony Award winner Kara Young and Succession’s Nicholas Braun are set to headline the Off Broadway revival of Rajiv Joseph’s Gruesome Playground Injuries. The romantic drama will run at the Lucille Lortel Theatre from November 7 through December 28.
This production marks Braun’s New York stage debut. Best known as “Cousin Greg” on HBO’s Succession, he’s a three-time Emmy nominee with upcoming film credits including Ruben Östlund’s satire The Entertainment System is Down and A24’s Famous.
For Kara Young, the engagement adds another milestone in a career that’s already making history. She recently won her second Tony Award for Purpose, following her 2024 win for Purlie Victorious. Young is the first Black performer to win back-to-back Tonys and to earn four consecutive nominations, with earlier Broadway credits in Clyde’s and Cost of Living.
Directed by Tony Award nominee Neil Pepe (American Buffalo), Joseph’s play spans 30 years as childhood friends Kayleen (Young) and Doug (Braun) reconnect at the strangest and often most painful intervals—from the nurse’s office in elementary school to life-altering calamities in adulthood. Through their scars, both physical and emotional, they explore how love, trauma, and memory intersect.
“I have known and loved Rajiv Joseph’s work for years and am thrilled to be directing this seminal play,” said Pepe. “And to have the opportunity to work with these two extraordinary actors, Kara Young and Nicholas Braun, is a gift.”
The revival is produced by Seaview, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson in special arrangement with the Lucille Lortel Theatre. “Off Broadway is the beating heart of New York and there is no more thrilling place in the world to present a play than the storied and historic Lucille Lortel Theater,” the producers said in a joint statement.
Gruesome Playground Injuries first premiered in 2009 at Houston’s Alley Theatre and made its Off Broadway debut at Second Stage Theatre in 2011 with Pablo Schreiber and Jennifer Carpenter. This fall’s revival marks the play’s return to the New York stage after more than a decade.
Tickets for Gruesome Playground Injuries will be available beginning September 29 at 10am via TodayTix and at the Lucille Lortel Theatre box office.