Ella is a fiercely ambitious young actress whose deepest need is to make her celebrated playwright father, David, proud. Late one night, after her Off-Broadway debut, the two sit together drinking, smoking and waiting for the reviews. What begins as an intimate conversation about art, talent and the theatre gradually turns volatile, exposing the dependence, cruelty and hunger for approval at the centre of their relationship.
The Play
I’m gonna pray for you so hard
LOVE.
AMBITION.
APPROVAL.
At its centre, I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard is about the voice we inherit from the people closest to us.
It asks what happens when love becomes conditional, ambition becomes identity and approval becomes something a person can no longer live without.
This new production brings Halley Feiffer’s psychologically charged two-hander back to a New York stage in October 2026.
“Blistering, blackly funny and creepy.”
— New York Daily News
“Exhilaratingly toxic… spectacular tension and real danger.”
— Entertainment Weekly
“Viciously funny… brutally effective.”
— Time Out New York
“Provocative, sensitive, shocking and often very unsettling.”
— New York Observer
Reviews refer to the original 2015 Atlantic Theater Company production.
I'M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service. www.concordtheatricals.com
I'M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD was developed during a residency at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference (Preston Whiteway, Executive Director; Wendy Goldberg, Artistic Director) in 2014. World Presented Premiere by Atlantic Theater Company, New York City, 2015
Halley Feiffer
8th Day Whisper production presents Halley Feiffer’s I'M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD at The Brick Theatre as part of Factory Series @ Chain Theatre.
*Equity approved showcase, equity member appearing with permission of Actors Equity Association without benefit of an equity contract in this Off Off Broadway production.
