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Annie Purcell in a performance of the New Play Workshop production “Birthday Candles”

New Play Development

Signature Staged Readings

Agent submissions may be sent to theater@chq.org


CTC has been committed to developing and producing new work since 2005.

Over the last eighteen years, CTC has dedicated our resources to launching new work onto the stage and into the industry. New Play Workshops (NPWs) have been at the center of this endeavor. Previously, NPWs were staged and produced with design and technical support. Moving forward, we will be using a more fluid, less produced model for our New Play Workshops and Readings: shifting our focus toward the text and the individual needs of each project and playwright. Depending upon what will best serve the play in its current stage of development, we may still offer occasional staging or design elements. 

Past seasons have hosted new works by Heidi Armbruster, Zayd Dohrn, Kate Fodor, Nick Gandiello, Rinne Groff, EM Lewis, Quincy Long, Chelsea Marcantel, Molly Smith Metzler, Michael Mitnick, Lauren Yee and Anna Ziegler, among others. Our past NPWs have gone on to receive productions both off-Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club, Primary Stages, Playwrights Horizons, and at regional theaters across the country. 

CTC’s most notable NPW success was Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles, directed by former Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch, which celebrated a successful run on Broadway in 2022. 

New Play Development at CTC is made possible in part by a generous grant from The Roe Green Foundation. 

2022

2021

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2022

a broken teacupFLOWERS OF HAWAII

By Lee Cataluna
June 22-24

“We understand what it’s like to raise kids who turn out nothing like we intended.”

This extended Hawaii family has a wealth of personalities including sexy grandmothers, delinquent grandkids, gender-fluid cousins, abusive wives, addict uncles, and more. They clash, they break, they mend, they eat, and they love each other. Lee Cataluna dishes up a unique play filled with heartbreak and humor and a dash of authentic Hawaiiana.


a sketch of an eye with the reflection of a sunset over the oceanTHROUGH THE EYES OF HOLLY GERMAINE

By Y York
July 20-22

“Marty said when I help the birds it will change people’s impression of my shallowness.”

On the Canary Islands in the spring of 1986, an oil spill changes everything. In this enticing new eco-drama by Y York, a rising movie star’s vacation becomes an environmental rescue mission, a long-lost love triangle re-emerges as a quadrangle, and buried family secrets are washed ashore for all to see. Romantic, funny, and deadly serious, the truth will emerge Through the Eyes of Holly Germaine.


a hand holding a microphoneBLACK LIKE ME, adapted from the memoir by John Howard Griffin

By Monty Cole
July 23-24

“Like shipwrecked people, we huddled together in a warmth and courtesy that was equal parts pure and pathetic.”

In 1961, white journalist John Howard Griffin medically darkened his skin to “pass” as Black. With the goal of investigating race, Griffin traveled the segregated South for three weeks and published his experiences in a series of journal entries. Black Like Me revisits Griffin’s memoir through the response of modern-day characters. This innovative noir docu-drama examines the fine line between allyship and appropriation and asks how we can transform into the people we truly want to be.

2021

REBECCA OXACA LAYS DOWN A BLUNT

By Kristoffer Diaz
August 18

In this modern day five-door farce, the overarching theme is to find, express, and celebrate your true calling in life. The action takes place in a renovated hotel, The Hotelman Arms, in Chicago, where the motto is, “No privacy is the new privacy.” The cast features a wide range of idiosyncratic roles including the title bunter who just wants to have fun, a mystery writer working on her next bestseller, a blogger trying to capture the next big thing, various members of the hotel staff who are either trying to hide or make love to the guests, and baseball executives that are vying to sign Rebecca to a major league deal. The pace is fast and furious.


TAILBONE

By Juliette Carrillo
August 16

Tailbone follows a woman named Anabelle who is determined to take her next relationship in baby steps, but when her new beau gets flooded out of his apartment, she’s quick to suggest he stay with her.

2019

New Play Workshop artworkHOW THE LIGHT GETS IN

By E. M. Lewis
Directed by Emilie Beck
July 18–20

While grappling with her recent cancer diagnosis, a travel writer meets a frustrated Japanese architect, a homeless girl who lives under a weeping willow tree, and a tattoo artist who doesn’t want to use his gift. How the Light Gets Inis a poetic and quirky romantic comedy about four lonely people who find each other when one of them falls apart.


ON THE EXHALE

By Martín Zimmerman
Directed by Patrick Walsh (CTC Directing Fellow alum)
An Actor/Director Workshop
August 14–18

When the tragedy of mass shootings hits home, one mother finds herself inexplicably drawn to the weapon that changed her life forever. On the Exhale is a powerful solo performance featuring CTC alumna Claire Karpen, directed by CTC alumnus Patrick Walsh.


AGENT 355

Music, Lyrics and Book by Preston Max Allen
Book and Dramaturgy by Jessica Kahkoska
Directed by Estefanía Fadul
August 15–18

True story: during the Revolutionary War, an unidentified female spy helped George Washington and his army to victory. Today, a contemporary all-female band is determined to figure out who she was. In the New Play Workshop’s first musical, Agent 355 explores the loyalty, heritage, and courage of six real Revolutionary women whose stories, sacrifices, and secrets shaped the nation.

2018

New Play Workshop artworkUNTITLED RUSSIA PLAY

By Lauren Yee
July 30– August 1

Two young Russian men try to find their way after the fall of communism. An absurd comedy about art, love and advertising in the dawn of capitalism.

 


New Play Workshop artworkJUMP

By Charly Evon Simpson
August 2– August 4

After a death in the family, Fay finds unexpected solace on a bridge. A poetic drama about family, loss and the kindness of strangers.

 


The Amish Project artworkTHE AMISH PROJECT

By Jessica Dickey
August 19-21

A fictional investigation of the real life Nickel Mines school shooting, this riveting one-woman show explores the Amish community’s concept of radical forgiveness. Performed by CTC Conservatory alumna Kathryn Metzger, The Amish Project portrays two communities shattered by a mass shooting, and the journey to healing.

2017

Dan Cody's Yacht artworkDAN CODY’S YACHT

By Anthony Giardina
June 9-10

Chautauqua Theater Company is pleased to announce an unorthodox addition to its 2017 repertoire — on June 9 and 10, the company welcomes playwright Anthony Giardina and director Doug Hughes to Bratton Theater for a “New Play Workshop: Pre-season” staged reading of Dan Cody’s Yacht. Its stop at Chautauqua represents a significant step for CTC and Chautauqua toward the long-term goal of more off-season offerings.


Birthday Candles artworkBIRTHDAY CANDLES

By Noah Haidle 
August 1-4

Birthday Candles follows Ernestine Ashworth on a magical 100-year journey from her 17th birthday through her 117th. This quirky and clever play invites us into questions of identity, family and legacy. Birthday Candles was commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre and will premiere there this fall.


Building the Wall artworkBUILDING THE WALL

By Robert Schenkkan
August 2-5

Written by the Pulitzer and Tony winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, Building The Wall is a tense, immediate drama that brings a human element to what could happen when inflamatory rhetoric transforms into policy. Not to be missed!

2016

TINY HOUSES

By Chelsea Marcantel
July 14-16

Bohdi is a hypnotherapist. Jevne is a YouTube artist. Ollie sells haunted dolls online. Cath just left her job to move to Oregon with her boyfriend. And they are all building a house together in the back yard. In a world where bigger is always better, can tiny really be happy? Or is this a recipe for disaster? A comedy about what happens when the world shrinks.


THE GLOW OVERHEAD

By Nick Gandiello
August 3-5

Maryanne and Allan Dempsey’s son disappeared in a deep cave dive many years ago and now a young and ambitious diver wants to retrieve his remains at great personal risk. This achingly beautiful play investigates the depth of loss when we unexpectedly lose someone we love and what might arise after they are gone.

2015

THE ENGINE OF OUR RUIN

By Jason Wells
July 17-18

A routine trade agreement nearly escalates into a declaration of war when a team of American diplomats meets with delegates from an unnamed Arab nation and diplomacy is –literally–lost in translation. A mischievously sharp-tongued comedy of misinformation and misunderstanding.


AFTERLOVE

By David West Read
August 5-7

A troubled young doctor, struggling with the loss of a patient, finds unexpected tenderness when he’s visited by an enchanting female ghost. A funny and poignant look at the afterlife of love.

2014

DAIRYLAND

By Heidi Armbruster
July 10-12 

Allie, a food writer in NYC, is determined to find authenticity in a world of internet dating, baby shower crafting, and journalistic in-fighting. But when she takes on the local food movement she finds herself on the wrong side of an epic food fight. Allie escapes the city for her father’s dairy farm. Will a dairy cow named Patches leave Allie with a taste of the authenticity she craves?


THE GUADALUPE

By Carol Carpenter
July 31–August 2

On the first night of the annual harvest, the Northrip-Valle family farm becomes the target of a cartel territory war. But why? As gunmen surround the farmhouse in the dark hours of night, secrets unravel and politics collide as the family strategizes their escape.

2013

DARK RADIO

By Colin McKenna

Something is wrong in Ron’s suburban neighborhood, but he’s the only person in the family who seems to notice. Streets are deserted and cell phones are dead. The only communication Ron is receiving is from a single radio station, buried deep in the AM dial.


TRANSIT

By Kait Kerrigan

A small-town newscaster seizes her opportunity for a big break when an unidentified Muslim woman jumps in front of a commuter train on the one-year anniversary of a major terrorist attack. Delving into the haunted life of the train’s conductor, his ailing mother and his hapless colleague, Transit explores the power of faith in the face of fear – and of fear in the face of faith.

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