Colorado New Play Festival announces 2026 lineup

Four theatre companies head to Steamboat Springs in June with new works in development.

The Colorado New Play Festival (CNPF) has announced the four theatre companies and plays that will participate in its 28th annual festival this June in Steamboat Springs.

Festival Producer Matthew Laws and a panel of outside readers selected the participants from 50 submissions received from companies across the country. Three of the four companies are making their CNPF debut: Second Stage Theater (New York), Mosaic Theater Company (Washington, D.C.) and LAByrinth Theater Company (New York). Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Chicago) returns to Steamboat Springs after developing Purpose by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins at the 2019 festival — a production that went on to win both the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play.

This year’s festival features a Colorado connection: Natural History, presented by Mosaic Theater Company, was written by Denver-based playwright Collin Van Son.

Readings will take place June 13-14 at Library Hall in the Bud Werner Memorial Library in downtown Steamboat Springs. Single tickets are $20; a Festival Pass covering all four readings is $75; and a VIP Festival Pass — which includes the readings, a wrap party with artists, a thank-you bag and a tax-deductible donation — is $175.

Founded in 1998, CNPF partners each year with theatre companies from around the country for a supported week-long workshop of a new play in progress. More than 70 percent of plays developed at the festival have since been produced, from regional theatres to Broadway. Recent productions of CNPF-developed works include Mother Russia by Lauren Yee (Signature Theatre, New York), Wave After Wave by Benjamin Benne (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and The Thin Place by Lucas Hnath (Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company).

Tickets are on sale now at cnpfsteamboat.org.

2026 Colorado New Play Festival

June 13–14 · Library Hall, Bud Werner Memorial Library · Steamboat Springs, CO

Title & playwright	Company	Date & time	Description
Adirondack Chair Circle Stephanie Alison Walker World premiere 2026/27	Steppenwolf Theatre Company Chicago, IL	Sat., June 13 4 p.m. MT	A perfection-seeking suburban mom leads a parents’ group fighting school “indoctrination” — until sinister allies force a reckoning with her own facade.
The Visitors Bryna Turner	Second Stage Theater New York, NY	Sat., June 13 7:30 p.m. MT	A dark comedy about siblings who descend on their sister’s apartment — each with a different score to settle — and the family roles we can’t escape.
Natural History Collin Van Son World premiere 2026/27	Mosaic Theater Company Washington, D.C.	Sun., June 14 4 p.m. MT	Set in 2169, two environmental activists plan to steal a taxidermied bison from a natural history museum. A darkly comic look at mythology, memory and what’s worth saving. Written by Denver-based playwright Collin Van Son.
Days End Brett C. Leonard	LAByrinth Theater Company New York, NY	Sun., June 14 7:30 p.m. MT	Told in reverse chronology over two decades, this family drama follows estranged spouses Bobby and Jessie Padilla through grief, addiction and love — ending on the night they first met.