Here’s the line-up of plays featured in this summer’s New Works Festival. If you’d like to find out more about any of them, reach out to newworks@kwlt.org.
113 St John Street
Written by Tochi Okeke
Directed by Nyx Schlupp
A character-driven play about three siblings navigating tension, distance, and emotional honesty while living together during lockdown, as hidden struggles and past wounds come to the surface.
AI Wrote This Play
Written by Nyx Schlupp
Directed by Olivia Rossel
This play looks into what happens when you let an AI app write a play. It turns into a very chaotic, very unorthodox play.
First Date
Written by Jeremy Hawkins
Directed by Talia Dmitrienko
Tom is a lonely bonsai enthusiast. Jess is a quirky gardener. They seem like a perfect match with potential for true love… until they ask their friends Erik and Val for dating advice. …There’s no way this first date will go well.
This play offers social commentary on toxic dating advice that widely circulates online.
Gather Round [working title]
Written by Cas Stonehouse
Directed by Adam Adivi & Anthony DeCiccio
Rachel and Esther are two friends going to a party—one looking for love, the other for adventure. Will a brush with The Interloper prevent them from finding it? Not if Collin and Jacob have anything to say about it.
There’s romance. There’s fighting. Maybe it’s cyberpunk?
Love and Dirt
Written by Anna Nero
Directed by Adrienne Dandy
“Would you still love me if I was a worm?” The reality of this popular hypothetical puts young couple Evan and Sheila to the test in this absurdist one-act, navigating devotion, resentment, and a whole lot of dirt.
Please, Take a Seat
Written by Mel Mah
Directed by Cass Little
You go to an interview.
Is it your dream job? No, but you need it.
You sit down. Why did you say that?
What is the interviewer writing down?
It doesn’t look good.
Is there such a thing as a perfect interview?
Is there a world outside of work?
Sibling Robbery
Written by Rachael MacIntosh-Douglas
Directed by Jessica Seguin
Convinced her younger sister Flora has stolen money from their parents’ small business, Gia plans to amass enough evidence over one evening to prove Flora’s guilt and expose her to their parents. However, as Gia’s obsession grows, questions arise about her own role in their family.
Tony’s Only
Written by Zivy Hardy
Directed by Elizabeth Bate
Tony Powell, celebrity physician and host of the programme Tony’s Only, lives his life in the public eye, to the frustration of his wife Joan. But when he goes missing from a week-long getaway on a remote Greek island, she steps into the spotlight to search for him. Can she find what she’s lost?
Where Are We (The One With Sam)
Written by James Piper
Directed by Cas Stonehouse
Sam and Remy find themselves with no memory of how they arrived, no sense of what time it is, and no clear way home. What follows is a ten-minute comedy of repetition, circular logic, and mutual frustration — two people talking past each other while slowly, reluctantly arriving at something like acceptance. Then, just as they agree to part ways, Remy turns back with one final question that quietly reframes everything that came before.