Red Bull Theater Announces Eight World Premieres for 2026 Short New Play Festival

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The event will feature eight world premieres in one night and  will spotlight works by writers from across the country.

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Red Bull Theater has revealed the line-up for their renowned annual SHORT NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 2026 to be held on Monday, June 22 at 7:30 PM at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Peter Norton Symphony Space . The event, directed by José Zayas and Tatiana Baccari , will feature eight world premieres in one night and will spotlight works by writers from across the country, penning classically inspired 10-minute plays.

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This year's theme is “REFINISHED” and will include new, commissioned plays by Ken Ludwig (Lend Me a Tenor, Crazy for You) and Betty Shamieh (Malvolio, Roar), alongside six plays from up-and-coming playwrights selected through an open submission process: Sabrina Caruso, Nate Currier, Nadel Henville, Nick Martorelli and Justin Muschong, Karen Ogle, and Chris Browne Valenzuela. SHORT NEW PLAY FESTIVAL 2026 is made possible by the leadership support of The Noël Coward Foundation.

By Sabrina Caruso Just before Act 2, Scene 3 of Henry IV, Part 1 begins, Lady Percy arrives onstage a moment too soon. In a private moment, she discovers something impossible: the audience can hear her thoughts-a privilege usually reserved for Shakespeare’s more prominent characters. In the play as written, she cannot stop Hotspur from leaving for war. But if the audience can truly hear her… perhaps he can too. As the familiar Shakespearean scene unfolds, Lady Percy searches for a way to reach her husband between the lines of the text, testing the fragile boundary between character and will, script and choice. Tonight, she may have the chance she has never had before-to try to change what has already been written.

By Nate Currier Vengeance is a dish best served yellow and cross-gartered.

By Nadel Henville Ophelia, stricken with grief after her father's death, attempts to kill Gertrude.

By Nick Martorelli After exiting Twelfth Night, Malvolio encounters the Weird Sisters of Macbeth. He hopes they will help him take his revenge, but they only further his misery.

By Karen Ogle Imagine if divorce were an option. Would Medea still have committed infanticide? Medea and Jason Get a Divorce explores the breakdown of their relationship, the attempt at negotiation and reveals what is most important to both parties. Ah, the civility.

By Chris Browne Valenzuela “exit, pursued by a bear” is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous stage direction. The reasons why he chose this seemingly random devise to get rid of Antigonus in The Winter’s Tale are obscured by history, but it was likely at least partly practical: His company probably had a bearskin they wanted to use. The part of “the bear” was therefore (and most usually since) played by a man in a costume. Enter, Pursued by a Bear follows the man under the bearskin as he unknowingly pursues Antigonus romantically. Strangers to each other in every meaning of the word, they struggle to understand each other as they get lost and found again in translation. The play refinishes Antigonus’s unceremonious exit as a Queer love story that ennobles both man and bear.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-broadway/article/Red-Bull-Theater-Unveils-Line-Up-For-SHORT-NEW-PLAY-FESTIVAL-2026-20260528)._