Plays written by KWLT members, plus workshops and more
Auditions: May 17–19 & 22–23, 2026
Performances: August 14–23, 2026
It’s back! After a successful debut in 2024, KWLT’s New Works Collective is once again mounting a festival of home-grown plays to share with our community with a few extras along the way.
The festival showcase
The centrepiece of the festival is a collection of eight fully-staged plays. These shows will be presented in eight performances across the two weeks of the festival, in groups as follows:
- 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).
The first weekend matinee performances (“Mystery Matinee!!!” on August 15 and “A Glass Darkly” on August 16) will be presented with author talk-backs following the shows.
Ticketing and festival passes
Tickets are $15 for the general public, $10 for KWLT members.
Extras
In addition to the showcase, the New Works Collective has a few other activities planned as part of this year’s festival.
Workshop: Playwriting intensive with Paula Wing, July 25–26
KWLT will host Canadian playwright and actor Paula Wing on July 25–26 for a playwriting workshop, focussing on questions of craft. This workshop is free for members of KWLT and of the New Works Collective, with a $10 admission for others.
First Listen: August 17
Join us on August 17 for a reading of Hope You’ve Got a Plan by Talia Dmitrienko from the New Works Collective, with discussion to follow. Admission will be by donation.
Play-in-a-Day: August 19–20
How does a play come together? In this two-part workshop led by Josh Ashley of KWLT’s Artistic Steering Committee, participants will brainstorm elements of a play on August 19 and then come back together on August 20 to assemble their pieces into a unified whole. Will it make sense? Maybe!
Here’s more information about the workshop; if you’re interested in participating you can sign up here. Admission for the August 20 performance will be by donation.
The 2026 New Works Festival is supported by a grant from Waterloo Region Arts Fund.