Fourth Annual New Works Festival
Show Dates: April 30th-May 3rd
Immerse yourself in a multi-day celebration of original plays, staged readings, and exciting theatrical experiments—all crafted by rising playwrights and boundary-pushing storytellers.
Thursday, April 30
Helping Hand
7:00PM
by John Busser
Directed by Sean Libiran
De La Casa
7:30PM
by James Selledy
Directed by Mia Spencer
In a classified government facility, officials examine a mysterious extraterrestrial being discovered decades earlier, raising questions that science cannot answer. As the truth about the Visitor slowly unfolds, the play probes humanity’s fears, ambitions, and moral limits. Helping Hand is a suspenseful and thought-provoking exploration of what it means to encounter the unknown.
Set during the COVID-19 pandemic in a newly purchased home, De La Casa follows a man and his wife as they clash over family obligations, cultural identity, and unfinished dreams. When a working-class laborer and his family enter their lives, tensions around class, race, and ambition rise to the surface. The result is a sharp, human exploration of belonging, responsibility, and what it truly means to build a home.
Friday, May 1
Out of the Woods
7:00PM
by Robert Weibezhal
Directed by Tim Baran
Date Play
7:45PM
by Ashley Siflinger
Lost in the forest, a young man encounters a mysterious stranger who seems to know more about his life than he should. As past, present, and possible futures intertwine, the play explores love, fate, and the choices that shape a life. Out of the Woods is a lyrical and haunting journey about whether we can ever truly escape what lies ahead.
A modern romance unfolds over a single dinner as two strangers navigate the awkward, funny, and revealing rhythms of a first date in New York City. As conversation loops, fractures, and repeats, the play explores how connection, perception, and possibility shift in real time. What emerges is a poignant meditation on love, timing, and the infinite versions of “what if.”
Saturday, May 2
Shadows Dark and Deep
2:00PM
by Sara Ilyse Jacobson
Directed by Vivian White
Spin Cycle
4:00PM
by Bill Keenan
Directed by Sean Libiran
Moon Rock
6:00PM
by Steven Oberman
A troubled teenager sentenced to community service forms an uneasy bond with a sharp-tongued elderly woman in a nursing home. As their relationship evolves, both are forced to confront painful histories shaped by race, memory, and generational divides. Shadows Dark and Deep is a powerful story of reckoning, empathy, and unexpected connection.
On a stormy night in a laundromat, two strangers engage in a tense and revealing conversation that slowly uncovers the burdens they carry. As their guarded exchanges give way to vulnerability, past regrets and hidden truths surface. Spin Cycle is an intimate, atmospheric play about guilt, identity, and the possibility of starting over.
A group of former colleagues reunite at a remote estate to revisit an unsolved mystery: the disappearance of a priceless moon rock linked to multiple deaths. As they reenact past events for a documentary, buried secrets resurface and suspicion grows. Blending humor with intrigue, Moon Rock is a fast-paced ensemble mystery about ambition, legacy, and the cost of truth.
Sunday May 3
Double Shot
2:00PM
by Maxine Levaren
Directed by Vivian White
Nothing But the Truth
2:30PM
by Connie Terwilliger
Directed by Mia Spencer
In a coffee shop, a woman’s disastrous blind date takes an unexpected turn when chance, and honesty, open the door to a more genuine connection. What begins as a cautionary tale about online dating becomes a charming story about second chances and the unpredictability of human connection. Double Shot reminds us that sometimes the right person is the one we almost overlooked.
Four seniors gather for their regular coffee-and-cards routine, only to have their relationships tested when a new game encourages radical honesty. As secrets emerge and pasts collide, humor gives way to deeper revelations about love, loss, and identity. Nothing But the Truth is a heartfelt and witty look at friendship and the courage it takes to be seen.