by 
The Charleston premiere of Ayad Akhtar’s “McNeal” comes to Pure Theatre January 15 through February 7, 2026.
About the Play
Pulitzer Prize winner Ayad Akhtar delivers a thrillingly vicious portrait of genius, ambition, and betrayal, as a literary icon faces down old grudges, new technology, and the price of his own myth.
Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Jacob McNeal is a great writer, one of our greatest, and a perpetual candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. But he also has an estranged son, a new novel, old axes to grind, and an unhealthy fascination with Artificial Intelligence. From Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar, McNeal is a startling and wickedly smart examination of the inescapable humanity—and increasing inhumanity—of the stories we tell.
Starring
Sylvia Jefferies
Ryka Khannao
Camille Lowman*
Andrew Puckett
Sam Smith
Journey Townsend
Joy Vandervort-Cobb°*
David Whalen°
Click HERE for ticket information.
Stay connected and subscribe to Charleston Daily.
