UTNT (UT New Theatre)

New plays by M.F.A. playwrights

Producing Artistic Director Alexandra Bassiakou Shaw

UTNT (UT New Theatre) presents newly developed works from playwrights of Texas Theatre and Dance and Michener Center for Writers. Now celebrating its 17th season, this showcase exists as an incubator for new work, with many plays continuing on to be professionally produced across the country.

Meet the playwrights and directors of UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2024

View the program for UTNT (UT New Theatre).

Titles featured in UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2024 will include: 

Choreomaniac 1518 

By Malena Pennycook 
Directed by Caley Chase 

It's 16th century France and everything is horrible! There's bubonic plague, major agricultural collapse and the leadership is corrupt as all hell.  When a dancing plague breaks out, a group of potato farmers cue the strobe lights and reach towards hope. These are the choreomaniacs. This is their (mostly) true story.

Contains mature content and themes; performance includes elements of strobe and the use of haze. 

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Pretend it's Pretend 

By Emma Watkins 
Directed by Jenny Lavery 

Playgrounds are designed to be dangerous enough for experimentation, yet safe enough to allow experiments to fail without serious injury. This play is a playground. When Arthur is asked to design a bulletproof playscape for his daughter’s old school, he confronts an unsettling reality: that the world does not operate by the same rules as playgrounds. At a time when dangers beyond the playground are overwhelmingly present, this is a story about the endurance of care. It is a play about learning, growing up, and grown-ups learning to play.

For questions about the content of this piece, please contact us at tadticketing@austin.utexas.edu

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UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2024 will also include two readings: 

Taste Buds: The Adventures of Cake and Broccoli 

By Claire Derriennic  
Directed by Renita James

When Cake and Broccoli are unexpectedly rejected, they must learn to be good so the humans will eat them. But will these unlikely buds find the answer before they face the unmentionable fate of being thrown in the trash? Or is the meaning of “good” more elusive than it first appears? By complicating harmful narratives classifying food as “good” or “bad,” this play for ages 6 and up prompts us to reflect on the meaning of worthiness and the value of food in our lives.

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spayce boys 

By Mateo Hernandez  
Directed by Diamante Martinez

IGGY and OÑIO are two middle school boys who have a hard time fitting in with nearly anyone around them – peers at school, family at home and even each other. But, one night OÑIO decides to take IGGY on an intergalactic adventure into outer-spayce to figure out if they can actually become friends after constantly ignoring each other at school. Traversing through planets with friendly aliens, stardust meteor showers and even a lunar encounter, the boys start to see each other for who they really are and, in the process, see themselves too.

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UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2024 will also include a free Theatre-Making Workshop (space limited): 

Serious Play

Join us for a writing and theatre-making workshop led by Kirk Lynn. 

March 3, 2024 
WIN 1.134 

4:00-6:00 P.M.  
Event is free but registration recommended as space is limited. 

"Humans are most nearly themselves when they achieve the seriousness of a child at play." - Heraclitus 

Harness inspiration, direction, community and chaos through a deep engagement with the play spirit. We'll write and play games in the hope that we might lose ourselves and find some meaning. 

View this video in Vimeo.

Inside Look

• Meet the Casts of UTNT (UT New Theatre) 2024 - Off Book: A Theatre and Dance Blog
• UT New Theatre Festival highlights collaboration between graduate, undergraduate programs - The Daily Texan
• The Process Behind the Play: The UTNT 2024 Playwrights Speak on Their Plays - Off Book: A Theatre and Dance Blog