THIRD ANNUAL FESTIVAL

January 22 – 25, 2026

All performances in Union Arts Center’s Bullitt Cabaret

6 new plays by the next great voices of Pacific Northwest theatre

Union Arts Center is the epicenter of groundbreaking new works that promise to captivate, challenge, and inspire. New Works Northwest features readings in an intimate setting, where audiences can engage in the process of bringing stories from script to stage.

All tickets are pay-what-you-choose starting at $5.

Everyone is welcome. Your presence matters more than the price of admission.

By Gloria Majule
Directed by Bretteney Beverly

Thursday, January 22 at 7pm

Pendo can’t stay in America. At least, not without an enormous amount of money that she does not have. The faster time runs out on her visa, the more desperate she gets, and the more she is forced to confront the horrors and opportunities of migration in this transatlantic dramedy. Commissioned by Atlantic Theater Company

By Benjamin Benne
Directed by Bobbin Ramsey

Friday, January 23 at 7pm

Mary and Johnny are siblingswith a complicated cult upbringing. Johnny has left the cult but Mary remains. They reunite on a remote mountain in New Mexico when Mary brings news that will force them both to reckon with their relationship, their beliefs, and their faith. An evocative, powerful play that reckons with belief and our capacity for transformation. 

By Catherine Rush
Directed by Adrienne Mackey

Saturday, January 24 at 4pm

Jordan was born deaf. A maverick theatre director and staunch non-conformist, Jordan’s got his life pretty well mapped out. Until he meets Haylee, a quirky and independent woman who’s pretty much everything he’s not – and she doesn’t even speak ASL. An unconventional bilingual romantic comedy about navigating the bumpy terrain of opposites and oppositions on the road of love. In spoken English and ASL.

By Stacy D. Flood
Directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton

Saturday, January 24 at 7pm

In a high-rise office building in the middle of the night, a Black family-owned investment firm has one night to decide whether to risk everything on a superstar Black entrepreneur who may be the company’s savior – or a charlatan. What is the value of a family business, and what does it truly mean to care for one’s community? A taut, explosive drama that asks about obligation – to what degree we are each other’s keepers? 

By Aliza Jane Cosgrove
Directed by Anna Klein

Sunday, January 25 at 4pm

A contemporary take on gender politics inspired by Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, developed in collaboration with Union Arts Center’s Youth Company.

By Shanna Allman
Directed by Makaela Milburn

Sunday, January 25 at 7pm

Feeling unlovable? Emotionally adrift? Allison certainly is. Perhaps an Automated Relational Companion from The Institute for Enhanced Connections could help. But her best friend has a serious problem with Allison’s AI boyfriend. A comedy about what happens when technology comes home, crawls into bed, and kisses us goodnight.