Artistic Director Val Day and her intrepid team at 59E59 Theaters usher another collection of intriguing, informing and personal stories from the British isles stateside. Brits Off Broadway is an annual celebration of small-mid scale independent companies, which would otherwise be unable to bring their work to commercial theaters in NYC. This season of Off-Broadway debuts features diverse subject matter, ranging from the creative process and journey, through questions of cultural and sexual identity, on to tales of family and love; somewhere in the middle there, even Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Wickham makes an appearance.

The first show of the season, Cecil Beaton’s Diaries, is an entertaining adaptation of the diaries of the multiple Oscar-winning photographer and designer, who had somehow managed to crossed paths with seemingly the majority of Hollywood stars throughout the 20th century – and rarely met someone he refused to later critic in his diaries. Richard Stirling’s one-man show is an effortless portrait of an artist blessed with equal amounts of self-doubt and intense confidence, joy and heartbreak, and a piercing drive for success. The Habit of Art from award-winning playwright Alan Bennett focuses on the twilight of life of controversial poet W.H. Auden, building up to an imagined meeting between him and long-lost friend Benjamin Britten, who’s deep at work on his new opera Death in Venice and in the midst of somewhat of an inspirational crisis. This profile of a widely celebrated yet fiercely individualistic poet is one of the finest productions to hit town in recent months, and makes for an exquisite theatrical event.

The festival’s forward schedule is jam-packed with dramatic gems – go here to see play dates, descriptions and secure your tickets now (the season lasts until mid-July.)