Three Bold New Plays
Three Wednesday nights at 7:00 PM. October 7, 14, and 21. Pay-What-You-Can.
Join us for staged readings of this year’s Quill to Act finalists and hear three fresh, original new plays. One script will win a place on the Murphys Creek Theatre mainstage next season.
Each reading will be followed by a talkback, giving you the chance to share your thoughts. Attend all three finalist readings, and you’ll have the chance to VOTE for the winner.
2026 FINALISTS
by Rachel Leighson
Two years after a worldwide nuclear war, four souls collide at Murphys Creek Theatre on the road to recovery. Mac is a professor, Cam is a chef, Lez is an actor, and Tal is a scientist—for whatever that means when it all disappears. With jobs to do, pasts to wrestle, ghosts to settle, and a future to secure, the question becomes: if you can't look back, how do you move forward?
Cast: Robbie Allen, Braeden Harris, Gillian Mackay Brown, Jodi Vaccaro
Content note: nuclear war and mass death; grief and loss; references to violence and suicide; religious and afterlife themes; strong language.
Staged Reading: October 7, 7:00 PM
CLEAN SLATE
by Dana Leslie Goldstein
Can love really conquer all? In this romantic farce, the answer is a resounding yes. George and Sylvia are senior citizens with a lust for life and each other. Ted and Christina are young academics who overthink everything. When Sylvia plays matchmaker for the younger couple, the results defy death, fate, and a bad tarot reading. Love is in the air and in the cards.
Cast: Maryann Curmi, Don Bilotti, Sophie Falvey, Dan Fitz
Content note: depression and mortality themes; tarot/occult activity; alcohol and brief firearm use.
Staged Reading: October 14, 7:00 PM
COURTING
by James McLindon
When Lane picks up a young hitchhiker in upstate New York, neither is quite what the other expects. Dee is running from an abusive home; Lane is supposedly driving west to pick up his young daughter. Over the next 36 hours, as their stories and lies unravel, two strangers on very different journeys challenge each other to confront what they’re running from and decide where they need to go next.
Cast: Todd Thomas, Alexandria Wilson
Content note: sexual abuse and grooming of a minor; domestic abuse; discussions of race and racism; sexual references; strong language.
Staged Reading: October 21, 7:00 PM
HITCH
