the season of solace

saturn return

By Gracie Gardner
Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work recipient

A World Premiere

Directed by Undermain Artistic Associate Christina Cranshaw

Preview Performance Thursday & Friday, April 30 - May 1, 2026
Opening Night Saturday, May 2, 2026
Performance Dates April 30 - May 24, 2026

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm

All Dates and Times Subject to Change

Saturn Return is the astrological transit that occurs when the planet Saturn returns to the same zodiac sign, degree, and house in a person’s birth chart as it was at the time of their birth.

Taking its title from this astrological event, Gracie Gardner’s new play Saturn Return finds four former high school “theatre kids” reuniting at the funeral for another friend from their group. As they reconnect, now at age 27—on the cusp of their Saturn Return, they reveal their own struggles with adulthood as well as their misconceptions and assumptions they had about each other in their youth. They don’t really know each other now, did they even know each other then?

Gracie Gardner is the recipent of a grant from the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work.

Saturn Return runs approximately 90 minutes with no intermission

Content Warning: Saturn Return contains conversation about death by suicide as well as non-nudity sexual content.

Gracie Gardner is an American playwright. Her play Pussy Sludge was selected for Theatertreffen Stückemarkt in Berlin, and previously received the Relentless Award; it was developed by Less Than Rent at HERE Arts Center, and The Old Vic in London. Her play Athena (New York Times Critics’ Pick) was presented by The Hearth at JACK and performed at Undermain in 2024. Gracie is the recipient of the Katherine Owens/Undermain Fund for New Work, a Theater of the Future Fellowship, the McKnight National Residency and Commission, an Ensemble Studio Theater Sloan Foundation Commission, the James E. Michael Award, the James Stevenson Prize, and she is a Samuel French OOB Festival winner. She’s a proud member of New Dramatists, Ars Nova Play Group, Youngblood, and she has received commissions from Clubbed Thumb, Manhattan Theatre Club, and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She’s also worked as a video game writer for Annapurna Interactive.