The historic return of the Midtown International Theatre Festival, founded by John Chatterton and executive produced in partnership with Jay Michaels and the landmark American Theatre of Actors, transforms the three-theatre ATA complex into a massive hub of creative innovation from June 15 through July 26, 2026. The festival’s revival coincides with the ATA’s landmark 50th Anniversary, celebrating half a century of independent artistry in the heart of Hell's Kitchen.
The Harm performs three times this festival - July 16 (8:15PM) , July 19 (2:45PM), and the 21st (8:45PM).
For all press inquiries contact:Jay Michaels Global Communications646-338-5472 // info@jaymichaelsarts.com
Fresh off the success of their “masterpiece” My Dying City Vol. II, this new visceral exploration of modern intellectual and social friction will headline the festival’s residency at the American Theatre of Actors (ATA) this summer.
NEW YORK, NY — As the Midtown International Theatre Festival (MITF) officially announces its historic return to the New York stage after a decade-long hiatus, festival producers have named The Kangalee Arts Ensemble's gripping new work The Harm a featured event of the 2026 season.
Blurring aspects of David Mamet’s Oleanna and Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman, and inspired by the Right Wing zeal of American universities to clamp down on, if not eradicate, all anti-Apartheid discussions surrounding the genocide of the Palestinian, it is a ferocious stripped-down attempt to wrestle with the danger of our times and the havoc being wrecked on the minds of anyone conscious.
A damning play about truth, lies, identity, commodification of trauma, western propaganda and the weaponization of language in institutes of higher learning as the cloak of fascism settles upon everything.
The Harm is a high-stakes play set within the familiar yet suddenly dangerous confines of an American University. What begins as a provocative lecture on media, race, and propaganda rapidly unravels into a profound crisis of perception and accusation.
The script serves as a surgical investigation into how language shapes reality—interrogating the divergence between intention and interpretation, and examining how "harm" is constructed, claimed, and adjudicated in the modern age.
Featuring theater stalwarts Rommell Sermons, Joy Foster, Melissa Roth, newcomer Erin Hyatt and the playwright-director himself, Dennis Leroy Kangalee — The Harm promises to be a frighteningly absurdist tragedy, that is both timely and timeless, stripping away theatrical artifice to focus on the raw power of the spoken word.
"As an Ensemble we wanted to get back to the essentials, the roots,” Dennis Leroy Kangalee stated. “No abstract concept, no political theories -- except for what is stated and seen in the play. No theory and no discourses on colonialism. Protest dramas work best for me now when form follows function. This was an opportunity for me to carve words onto a page with a knife and allow the actor to carry out its sentiment and bring their own ideas to it.”
The Harm aims to inspire audiences to confront their own biases as they witness the five characters navigate a landscape where a single sentence can transform a classroom into a courtroom. A world where the mere mention of current political injustice, racism, or horror -- can land you on the bread line...or behind bars.
"Kangalee has crafted a work that vibrates with the nervous energy of our current cultural moment," said the MITF executive team. "Having The Harm as a featured production in our comeback season aligns perfectly with the festival's mission of presenting bold, intellectually rigorous theatre that isn't afraid to ask the hardest questions."
