The Colorado New Play Festival in Steamboat Springs began 24 years ago as The New Works Theatre Festival at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp. Upon turning eighteen, CNPF Steamboat became its own 501c3 nonprofit. In this new incarnation, the theatre festival has emerged as a New York Times Pick for Top North American Festival. Today the Colorado New Play Festival is the only festival to partner with theatre companies across the country to provide a unique opportunity for artists to create new work for the American stage.

From June 12-16^th, playwrights will work with actors and directors to further develop their projects. The week culminates with a festival weekend of first readings on stage. Over 70% of plays go on to production in New York and throughout the United States. Past playwrights have included McArthur Genius and Pulitzer Prize winners. Purchase your 2022 Festival Pass.

2022 Colorado New Play Festival Plays

A MILLION TINY PIECES by Spenser Davis (South Coast Repertory, Costa Mesa, CA)
Assigned to an important cover story at the last possible second, two journalists travel halfway around the globe to uncover the true story behind one of the most recognizable pieces of pop culture in history. Their question: How did a video game created by one man in the heart of the Soviet Union lead to a high-stakes legal battle that split the Iron Curtain? This is the story of Tetris.

PARENTAL ADVISORY by Idris Goodwin (Milwaukee Rep, Milwaukee, WI)
During their first live show since the pandemic, a rapper and a DJ join up to explore the history of obscenity in hip hop in an attempt to answer the question: How young is too young to introduce your kid to the Wu Tang Clan?

THE GETT by Liba Vaynberg (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York, NY
The Gett: A Young Wife’s Tale explores the American Jewish experience as told through the dissolution of a marriage. It is a deeply emotional and uplifting story about reclaiming the feminine in Judaism and embracing regeneration post-crisis while taking a unique look at a rarely-discussed topic.

UNDER A BASEBALL SKY by José Cruz González (The Old Globe, San Diego, CA)
From the writer of American Mariachi comes a story about baseball’s deep roots in the Mexican American community. When troublemaker Teo is assigned to clean up a vacant lot belonging to the elderly Elí O’Reilly, these two unlikely friends form a bond forged in history and America’s pastime. Inspired by the playwright’s research into the history of San Diego’s Logan Heights neighborhood, Under a Baseball Sky celebrates communities and individuals coming together to find hope, healing, and love.

WALDEN by KJ Sanchez (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, GA)
Celebrating one of Earth’s greatest resources: the passion, drive and commitment of teenagers and young adults today, this play interrogates our role in the catastrophe of climate change.  In so doing, it examines the tension between isolation & forgiveness and abstract principle & concrete responsibility to our fellow human beings.

*EL JEFE by Bill Martin
El Jefe is a special benefit performance for the Colorado New Play Festival. Be the first to experience this taut drama of one man’s attempt to revisit and resolve his past.