The Richard P. Stahl Festival Of New American Theatre 2026
Trust us, it’s a process.
The Southwest’s Premier New Works Festival.
January 9 to January 25, 2026
FALLS
Play Reading
Playwright: Colm Summers
Falls is a coming-of-age comedy about Parkinson’s disease, queerness and caregiving. When a young father is diagnosed with Parkinsons, he does everything in his power to protect his relationship with his son from his prognosis, but also from his deteriorating relationship with the boy’s increasingly absent mother. As his condition deteriorates and their father-son roles are reversed, his every expectation of fatherhood falls away. Will he lose himself or – worse – his son, in the process?
THE 24-HOUR THEATRE PROJECT
Artist Drawing Friday, January 9 at 7:00pm
Performance Saturday, January 10 at 7:00pm
A Festival favorite is back by popular demand. Four playwrights are randomly paired with a director and group of actors to write, rehearse, and memorize a short play to be performed 24-hours later. Join us for the drawing to see what artists will be paired together as well as the performance for an evening of brand-new short plays!
Composer Lyricist Cabaret
Danny Feldman
Amanda D’Archangelis & Sami Horneff
Sunday, January 18 at 12:30 pm
The Composer Lyricist Cabaret is returning to this year’s Festival, and we will be featuring two different cabarets. This year we will highlight the work of Composer and Lyricist Danny Feldman and Composer and Lyricist team Amanda D’Archangelis & Sami Horneff . Each performance will feature a 45-minute set of music and will be followed by a talkback.
[title to be determined]: AN IMPROVISED MUSICAL
Saturday, January 17 at 5:30 pm
New for 2026, witness the opening and closing performance of a brand-new musical being created right in front of you. A group of artists will gather details from the audience to improvise a short musical – music, lyrics, dialogue – everything being made up in front of a live audience. Get your tickets to a truly one night only experience!
FLY FLY FLY
Musical Reading
Composer, Lyricist, and Bookwriter: Katie Brady
Co-composer: Eric Powers
Saturday, January 17 at 7:30 pm
Fly Fly Fly is a fun, tug-at-your-heart-strings musical dramedy about an empty nester who opens a forgotten pop-up book while downsizing and magically conjures her children back home. As a lifetime of crap and memories pile around like a nest, she must decide what to toss, give away and keep. Elevated by a Broadway infused pop-folk score, this show touches on themes of memory loss, aging, identity crisis, growing relationships and neurodiversity.
CHOREOGRAPHY LAB
Modeled after and inspired by the New York Theatre Barn event of the same name, this offering will showcase how movement and dance can elevate and expand storytelling in new musicals. This event will feature two different choreographers setting movement on four dancers to the same song from a new musical. The two interpretations will be presented in tandem to show the iconic mark a choreographer can leave on a musical. This event will be followed by a talkback.
First Draft Series: Young Playwrights (in collaboration with Spotlight Youth Theatre)
Saturday, January 24 at 10:00 am
Sunday, January 25 at 10:00 am
Through a collaboration with Spotlight Youth Theatre, we are presenting a special iteration of our First Draft Series featuring young playwrights. This free event will feature sit down readings of four different one-act plays which competed and won Spotlight Youth Theatre’s 2025-2026 Playfest, their annual playwriting competition for young adult playwrights.
New Works Design Panel – Fly Fly Fly
Saturday, January 24 at 5:30 pm
This Festival event puts a spotlight on the work of designers and their role in establishing the world and aesthetic of a new work. This will be a informative panel with lighting, costume, and scenic designers. This panel is also in conjunction with the reading of Fly Fly Fly. The artists will talk about their creative process and design ideas for a fully produced version of this musical.
An Optimist’s Guide to the Dark Ages
Musical Reading
Bookwriter and Lyricist: Chris Dimond
Composer: Michael Kooman
Saturday, January 24 at 7:30pm
Fed up with a world filled with plague, pestilence, and poor personal hygiene, the world’s only optimist sets out on a quest to end the Dark Ages. Hilarity ensues.
