Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival

ONE WEEKEND ONLY

Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival

May 13-15, 2026

Three plays in three nights.

Written by Wisconsin playwrights.

The goal of Forward Theater Company and Wisconsin Wrights is to support and develop new theatrical work, via a biennial new play festival that features up to three works by Wisconsin playwrights. After a submission and selection process, selected playwrights communicate with professional directors, dramaturgs, and actors to develop their plays, culminating in public readings at the festival. Each night is dedicated to a single play.

May 13-15, 2026
All performances at 7:30pm

Edgewood University
Diane Ballweg Theater
1000 Edgewood College Dr.

About the show

Runtime:
TBD

Performance Dates:
May 13-15, 2026

Age Recommendations:
Ages 13+

Parking/Access

Location and parking map available soon.

The Plays

Directed by Jake Penner

Roses and Ruses is a fast-paced romantic farce where grand gestures clash with genuine feelings as love proves far more complicated… and more honest… than anyone expects.

Directed by Samantha Martinson

Following Mary Anning, one of the world’s first paleontologists, Impossible Monsters tells the story of how the world reacted when dinosaurs were first discovered—and how humans recoil from new ideas. It’s environmental, funny, and full of questions about our wild, “impossible” world.

Directed by Orion Risk

Paper weaves together the lives of two Iranian theatre artists in present-day Tehran and the haunting story of Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Moving fluidly between rehearsal rooms and Akhmatova’s home, the play explores censorship, artistic resistance, friendship, and survival under oppressive systems.

2026 Winners & Finalists

Forward is thrilled to announce the plays selected for development and public reading in our 2026 Wisconsin Wrights New Play Development Festival. Hold the dates on your calendar! We’ll hear the latest versions of these titles May 13-15:

Impossible Monsters by Jacqueline Kehoe

Paper by Ali Mansouri

Roses and Ruses by David Daniel

Winners were selected from a pool of 52 plays submitted from every corner of Wisconsin. Best wishes to all of our writers, as your new works add to the wealth of stories generated in our state. Here’s hoping we’ll see some during World Premiere Wisconsin this year! A special congratulations to our finalists:

Wisconsin Wrights Finalists 2026

A Life Well Lived by Tanja Birke

About the Kids by Marcia Jablonski

Alala and The Scarman by Silma Sierra Berrada

The Bill by Caroline Norton

Certainty by Brendon Smith

God’s Pinky by Sam D. White

Last Night at the Spyglass by Eric Lynne

Maxwell’s Revenge and Izzy’s Request by Eric Appleton

Peter Principal by Emily Glick

Professional Learning by Amy Hanson

The Torchbearers by Kaila Bingen

ONE WEEKEND ONLY