Theater Company Cancels Production After Epstein Files Mention Playwright
by Chris Peterson
The Contemporary Theater Company in Wakefield, Rhode Island has canceled its upcoming production of Lauren Gunderson’s The Revolutionists, saying it will replace the title in its 2026 mainstage season after Gunderson’s name surfaced in the latest batch of publicly released Jeffrey Epstein-related files.
“We are sad to announce that the Contemporary Theater Company will be replacing The Revolutionists in our 2026 Mainstage Season due to Lauren Gunderson’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein as described in the Department of Justice’s Epstein files,” the theatre wrote, adding that “an announcement about the new show will be made in the near future.”
In the same statement, the company pointed directly to Gunderson’s former husband, scientist Nathan Wolfe, claiming that “Nathan Wolfe, Lauren Gunderson’s husband, had a decades-long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and he appears hundreds of times in the Epstein files.”
The theatre acknowledged uncertainty about Gunderson’s awareness, writing, “While it is not clear to what extent Gunderson shared her husband’s relationship with Epstein,” it alleges that “Lauren Gunderson and Nathan Wolfe invited Jeffrey Epstein to their wedding in 2011, despite his 2008 conviction for child sex trafficking,” and that the invitation is “available on the DOJ’s website.”
The timing is also hard to ignore. This cancellation arrives one day after we published a separate report on the latest Epstein document release and the way it continues to pull recognizable names from the theatre world into public scrutiny — including Julie Taymor and other New York theatre power players whose names appear in the materials now circulating online.
That doesn’t make every mention meaningful, and it doesn’t automatically turn proximity into complicity. But it does underscore the moment we’re in: where “appearing in the files” has become its own headline, and theatres, artists, and audiences are trying to figure out what responsible response looks like in real time.
Gunderson responded in a statement posted to Instagram, and her message was blunt.
“I need to be absolutely and abundantly clear: I never met or knew the monster Jeffrey Epstein, and have had no connection to him for the entirety of my life,” she wrote. She said she was “shocked” to learn her name appears in the public documents and attributed it to “an electronic Paperless Post… wedding reception invitation” that was sent to Epstein.
According to Gunderson, that invitation wasn’t sent because she had any relationship with Epstein, but because she was given “a sizable contact list” by her then fiancé and Epstein’s email was already in it. She said that same list was later blind copied to send two subsequent birth announcements.
“I did not know/meet/have knowledge of/engage in any way with Epstein before or after that initial invitation was sent,” she wrote, adding that Epstein “did not attend any event at which I was present, including my wedding.”
Gunderson also addressed Wolfe more directly, saying she was unaware of her ex-husband’s communication “until this week,” and that their separation “well precedes this.” She described herself as “appalled,” said she condemned Epstein’s actions, and emphasized that she honors survivors of Epstein and “his network of abusers.” Gunderson and Wolfe divorced in 2021.
Meanwhile, The Contemporary Theater Company is making it clear it’s not waiting for the long version of the story.
“While it is certain that more detail and nuance will come out about this connection, the CTC is going to act on the information available today,” the theatre wrote. “So, we will not produce work by Gunderson unless and until exonerating information does come to light.”
The Revolutionists is a widely produced comedy set during the French Revolution, centered on four women — among them playwright Olympe de Gouges and Marie Antoinette — trying to write, survive, and matter in a world that is collapsing around them. It’s also, in a darkly ironic way, a play about how quickly narratives harden once the public decides who gets to be seen as “acceptable,” and who doesn’t.
As additional Epstein-related records continue to circulate and be reviewed, the theatre has said it will not produce Gunderson’s work “unless and until exonerating information does come to light,” and has not yet announced what will replace The Revolutionists in its 2026 lineup.