2026 Wagner New Play Festival Debuts Three Original Graduate Student Productions
The festival will be held at UC San Diego April 24 through May 16
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Each spring, UC San Diego’s theatre and dance graduate students develop new plays that showcase their storytelling talents. This year’s Wagner New Play Festival features an array of whimsical characters – from a teenage Grim Reaper to a caveman named Gor – while tackling topics ranging from the complexity of friendship to the elusiveness of truth.
Led by the Department of Theatre and Dance, the festival is named in recognition of the generosity of Molli and Arthur Wagner. Each production represents a unique collaboration between MFA playwrights with graduate and undergraduate peers in the areas of directing, acting, design, stage management and dramaturgy.
The festival is designed to celebrate original stories by new voices. “The Wagner New Play Festival showcases some of the most exciting new plays in American theater,” said Naomi Iizuka, head of the MFA Playwriting Program. “It gives San Diego audiences a first look at cutting-edge work by our world-class MFA playwrights, many of whom — such as Lauren Yee, Jeff Augustin, Dave Harris, Keiko Green, Milo Cramer and Beth Hyland — have gone on to become some of the most well-known and highly produced playwrights in American theater.”
The annual showcase has grown to become nationally recognized, attended by local theatergoers as well as artistic directors and top theatre and film professionals from Los Angeles and across the U.S. Plays featured in the Wagner New Play Festival have flourished, with productions off-Broadway and in major theaters across the country. The signature program is one piece of UC San Diego’s lively arts scene, where people across campus and the community can learn, connect, and create through the arts.
Tickets and complete information can be found on the Department of Theatre and Dance website or directly through squadup.com. Discounted tickets are available for UC San Diego students.
Learn more about this year’s world-premiere productions.
“Someone North Loves You” | Chesed Chap
“It gives San Diego audiences a first look at cutting-edge work by our world-class MFA playwrights."
It’s the early 2000s and Jules is falling for an anonymous stranger she meets on Craigslist. Meanwhile, somewhere else in time, it's the beginning of the Ice Age and caveman Gor is falling for a stranger named Fiv. “Someone North Loves You” explores the mysteries of friendship and romance at two distant points in human history, asking what it means to fall in love in a cold and dangerous world.
Preview date: Apr. 24
Show dates: May 5, 8, 9, 14 and 16
Location: Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “Someone North Loves You.”
“Fancy Jungle” | Katie Đỗ
Margo Ho, a playwright coming off a hit production, has just landed her dream job writing for a television show about the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) experience. It’s a dream come true – or so she thinks until reality sinks in. As Margo struggles to tell her story and have her voice heard, she also has to navigate a difficult boss, a slippery ex, relentless pressure and unspoken rules. Fancy Jungle examines the price you pay to tell your story, what it means to represent and who gets the last word.
Show dates: May 6, 9, 12, 14 and 15
Location:
Location: Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre
Purchase tickets for “Fancy Jungle.”
“Shattered Dreams (and where we put them)” | Mack Lawrence
Five teens are putting on a show, an elaborate PSA sponsored by their high school where they’ll recreate a deadly car crash designed to scare away fellow students from drinking and driving. Between theatre games, fake-blood logistics, and a Grim Reaper costume, the teens begin to deal with their secrets and the truth of one fateful night. “Shattered Dreams (and where we put them)” is an exploration of growing up and the stories we tell about our past and future selves.
Preview date: May 1
Show dates: May 7, 9, 12, 13 and 16
Location: Theodore and Adele Shank Theatre, UC San Diego
Purchase tickets for “Shattered Dreams (and where we put them).”
Playwriting at UC San Diego
The UC San Diego Playwriting MFA Program trains writers with bold, distinctive voices to tell compelling stories for the stage. With just one or two students admitted each year, the program offers intensive mentorship and multiple production opportunities. Writers collaborate closely with peers across acting, directing, design, dance, and stage management to develop and fully realize new work, culminating in the nationally recognized Wagner New Play Festival each spring. Learn more about the playwriting program.
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