KWLT presents the 2026 New Works Festival
The New Works Festival is back! After its successful debut in 2024, KWLT’s New Works Collective are holding a second festival to showcase the writings of local playwrights. This year’s festival features eight plays grouped into three performances, each of which sees the stage two or three times over the NWF two-week run.
The performances are:
A Glass Darkly: A mind-bending exploration of identity, power, and deception! This show features the plays 113 St. John St. by Tochi Okeke, AI Wrote This Play by Arthur Schlupp, First Date by Jeremy Hawkins, and Please, Take a Seat by Mel Mah. Presented on August 14 (evening), August 16 (matinee), and August 21 (evening).
Mystery Matinee!!!: Prepare to be puzzled by three plays which investigate mysteries, from the cosmically unknown to the human heart. Featuring Party Crash by Cas Stonehouse, Tony’s Only by Zivy Hardy, and Where Are We (the one with Sam) by James Piper. Presented on August 15 (matinee), August 22 (matinee), and August 23 (matinee).
Love+Dirt: One single piece that’s an absurdist and heart-breaking interrogation of the hypothetical: “Would you still love me if I was a worm?” Presented on August 15 (evening) and August 22 (evening).
For more information about each of the festival plays, see the descriptions on our website. Showtime is 8pm for evening performances, 2pm for matinees. The matinee shows on August 15 and 16 will be followed by author talk-back sessions.
Tickets and Festival Passes
Festival passes (to see two or three different performances) are on sale from July 17 to July 27. To purchase a festival pass, select the pass you want (two- or three-show, KWLT member or non-member) and then use free add-ons to select the specific performances that you want to attend. Note that if you’re purchasing multiple festival passes in the same order, you’ll be assigning a single set of performances to all of them.
