Contemporary American Theater Festival Announces 2026 Season, Featuring Five New Plays

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THE SMOKER, REFUGEE RHAPSODY, and ¡VOS! headline the Shepherd University Campus lineup.

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The Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) has announced the full casts and creative teams for its 2026 mainstage season.

This summer's lineup features five new plays by acclaimed playwrights, including four world premieres: The Smoker, Refugee Rhapsody, Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols , ¡VOS!, and My Favorite Sociopath. Bringing these stories to life is a company of actors, directors, designers, and stage managers whose work spans leading theater communities across the country. Throughout the summer, these artists will make Shepherdstown their creative home, developing and performing new work while engaging with the local community.

The Smoker by Pulitzer Prize finalist Lisa D'Amour depicts an unlikely cohort of under-employed, underinsured dreamers on a New York street corner who have one thing in common: their need for a cigarette. The cast features Brad Fleischer (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo on Broadway, The Walking Dead on AMC) as The Smoker, Orlando Arriaga (The Lehman Trilogy at Stages Houston, American Mariachi at Alley Theatre) as Roberto, Danielle Davenport (Julius Caesar at The Public Theater /Shakespeare in the Park, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on Netflix) as Tonya, Regina Gibson (The Golden Bride at the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene) as Kim, and Vivia Font (The Art of Burning at Hartford Stage, Recent Alien Abductions at PlayCo/SoHo Rep) as The Lady Who Walks Sammy/Ruthie/Miranda. The production includes direction by Shelley Butler , dramaturgy by Bradley Michalakis, sound design by Christian Frederickson , scenic design by Michael Raiford, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew , and costume design by Lex Liang and Sydney Dufka. Deb Acquavella is Stage Manager, Esther Chilson is Assistant Stage Manager, and Vee Romano is Stage Management Intern. The technical director is Michael Strickland.

In Yussef El Guindi 's Refugee Rhapsody — 2025 recipient of the Laurents/Hatcher Foundation Citation of Excellence — a chance meeting of a pair of young Arab Americans and an impossibly rich patroness sets in motion a chain of events that leads to a violent crime. The cast features Ellena Eshraghi (Hound Dog at Ars Nova, Mean Girls on Paramount) as Sakinah, Jada Alston Owens (Romeo and Juliet at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to the yellow house at La Jolla Playhouse) as Jenny, Revon Yousif (Blue Stockings at Promethean Theatre Ensemble, Layalina at Goodman Theatre) as Fouad, Joshua David Scarlett (Julius Caesar at The Public Theater /Shakespeare in the Park, Big Man at Studio Tisch/ Cherry Lane Theatre ) as Richard/Walled, and Shelby Alayne Antel (Giovanni's Room at Quintessence Theatre, Wu-Tang: An American Saga on Hulu) as Emily. The production includes direction by Zi Alikhan , dramaturgy by Naysan Mojgani, lighting design by Venus Gulbranson, costume design by Lux Haac , scenic design by Afsoon Pajoufar , and sound design by Sinan Refik Zafar . Genevieve Dornemann is Stage Manager and Jake Vollmar is Assistant Stage Manager. The technical director is Brodie Steele.

Best Line Wins: A Play Inspired by the Improvised Lives of Elaine May & Mike Nichols , by USA Today bestselling author Beth Kander , follows the real-life comedy duo of Nichols & May, who existed within a system that rewarded “charming” men and punished “difficult” women. The cast features Lori Vega (Babel at CATF, And Just Like That on HBO Max) as Elaine and Riley Shanahan (Jane Eyre, A Christmas Carol, and Misalliance at A Noise Within and Doom Patrol on HBO Max) as Mike. The creative team includes direction by Jessica Kubzansky , dramaturgy by Jackie Goldfinger, sound design by Christian Frederickson , projections design by Mona Kasra , scenic design by Michael Raiford, lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew , and costume design by Ann Closs Farley. Lindsay Eberly is Stage Manager and Jessie Flam is Production Assistant. The technical director is Michael Strickland.

¡VOS! by Christina Pumariega , the 2025 winner of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, follows Annie as she returns to her estranged birthplace of Buenos Aires to undergo IVF treatments with the renowned Dr. Cossi — a journey toward motherhood that unexpectedly uncovers the lives of two women who vanished during Argentina's Dirty War. The cast features Francesca Santodomingo (Rebel Verses at Vineyard Theatre , Lady Power Project at Dixon Place) as Annie and Sofia and Maggie Bofill (Public Charge at The Public Theater , Laughs in Spanish at Hartford Stage) as Dr. Cossi, Ana & Others. The creative team includes direction by Kimberly Senior , dramaturgy by Sarah Rose Leonard, scenic design by Afsaneh Aayani, lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia , sound design by Caroline Eng , projections design by Kelly Colburn, and costume design by Shahrzad Mazaheri. Brandon Clark is Stage Manager and Nathan A. Hernandez is Production Assistant. The technical director is Andrew Neal .

My Favorite Sociopath by Aurin Squire — winner of the 2017 Helen Merrill Prize for Emerging Playwrights — is a biting comedy set at the dawning of the 24-hour news cycle era, portraying three journalism students whose friendship spirals into a dangerous game of ambition, seduction, and betrayal. The cast features Nick Saxton (Valor, Macbeth, and Master Butchers Singing Club at Guthrie Theater) as Miles, Brooke Turner (Dial M for Murder at Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Pamela on Amazon Prime) as Gina, and Kennedy Kanagawa (Into the Woods on Broadway, Gold Mountain at Utah Shakespeare Festival) as Evan. The production includes direction by Céline Rosenthal, dramaturgy by Paul Adolphsen, scenic design by Afsaneh Aayani, lighting design by Anshuman Bhatia , sound design by Caroline Eng , projections design by Kelly Colburn, and costume design by Shahrzad Mazaheri. Ingrid Pierson is Stage Manager and Austin Meadows is Stage Management Intern. The technical director is Andrew Neal .

In addition to the festival's mainstage productions, CATF also hosts over 30 talktheater events, where audiences come together to explore the themes of the shows, as well as meet with the artists to discuss the new play development process. More information about the 2026 talktheater events is available on the CATF website .

Casting for all 2026 productions is by Pat McCorkle Casting , Ltd , CSA.

For more information and the CATF 2026 performance schedule, visit catf.org .

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/boston/article/The-Contemporary-American-Theater-Festival-to-Present-Five-New-Plays-Four-World-Premieres-and-More-in-2026-20260612)._