Wagner New Play Festival 2025

Arts and Entertainment

April 15, 2025

Schedule:

May 2 - 17, 2025

Baby Shower Katie

Written by Beth Hyland | Directed by Aysan Celik

Rebecca desperately wants to have a child; her best friend Hannah can’t imagine anything worse. Over the course of four different baby showers for mutual friends all named Katie, Rebecca and Hannah grapple with their unspoken wishes and fears about motherhood–and everything else. BABY SHOWER KATIE is an antic, irreverent, and deeply felt exploration of women’s choices and the baby shower industrial complex.

The Cast

Rebecca: Bailey Lee

Hannah: Emjay Williams

Katies: Sydney Prebe

Dr. Almond: Andrea Caban

Time:

May 2, 2025 - 7:00pm: Preview

May 8, 13, 14, 17, 2025 - 7:30pm

May 10, 2025 - 2:00pm

Location: Theodore & Adele Shank Theatre

Tickets

General Admission - $20

Alumni & Staff - $15

Student - $10

Buy Tickets

May 6 - 17, 2025

Refuse It: A Black Woman’s Guide to 21st Century Rage

Written by Phanésia Pharel | Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenburg

Refuse to Mammy. Refuse Shame. Refuse to Explain. REFUSE IT: A BLACK WOMAN’S GUIDE TO 21ST CENTURY RAGE explores the lives of Black women who reject the status quo. Through a kaleidoscope of vignettes, these women confront the costs and benefits of living radically under the persistent weight of the past. Darkly comedic and unapologetically defiant, REFUSE IT asks: If society has truly progressed and living conditions are undeniably better, why don’t we feel better?

The Cast

Dr. Bowenski: Mysia Anderson

Track 1: Ruva Chigwedere

Track 2: Kennedy Tolson

Track 3: Griffin Hanson

Track 4: Olivia Picazo

Track 5: Kenneth J. Ray

Time:

April 25, 2025 - 7:00pm: Preview

May 6, 9, 10, 15, 2025 - 7:30pm

May 17, 2025 - 2:00pm

Location: Theodore & Adele Shank Theatre

Tickets

General Admission - $20

Alumni & Staff - $15

Student - $10

Buy Tickets

May 5 - 16, 2025

Motherloss

Written by Mylan Gray | Directed by Ludmila de Brito | Choreographed by Ana María Álvarez

When Dwayne meets his long-lost mother in a dream, he leaves behind everything he’s ever known to go find her. In a fantastical journey through space and time, MOTHERLOSS follows Dwayne as he retraces his mother’s steps from the Gold Coast, through the Middle Passage, to the New World. On the way, he meets strangers, tricksters, and unexpected guides who teach him how to traverse a history of loss and grief, and how to hold those closest to you near.

The Cast

Dwayne: Nate B. Smith

Reggie/ Chico/ Market Person 3/ Slavers: Germainne Lebrón

Bartum/ Old Man/ João/ Trader/ Slavers: Elliot Sagay

Nemasa/ Rainha: Nio Russell

Mother/ Mami Wata: Kara Mack

Chorus 1/ Boys/ Market Person 1: Mercedes Rockin

Chorus 2/ Person 2/ Boys/ African Auntie/ Slavers: Leah Mitchell

Chorus 3/ Person 3/ Boys/ Market Person 2: Emilia Molina

Person 1/ Missus/ Boys/ African Auntie/ Slavers: Kylah Whittaker

Miss/ Boys: Emelysse Parez

Time:

May 5, 2025 - 7:00pm: Preview

May 7, 13, 15, 16, 2025 - 7:30pm

May 10, 2025 - 2:00pm

Location: Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre

Tickets

General Admission - $20

Alumni & Staff - $15

Student - $10

Buy Tickets

May 9 - 17, 2025

One Acts: Dirty Martini + Nerve Endings

Written by Katie ?? | Directed by Shyama Nithiananda

Kara and Poppy were best friends - until they weren't. After a mysterious falling out, they reunite and try to rebuild their friendship, but unfinished business keeps getting in the way. What really happened with She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named? And what other secrets are they keeping from one another? DIRTY MARTINI looks at what happens when the people closest to you are not who you think they are and what it really means to be a good friend.

The Cast

Poppy: Mai Lan Nguyen

Katie: Rachel Daguman

Time:

May 9, 2025 - 7:00pm: Preview

May 10, 13, 15, 2025 - 7:30pm

May 10, 17 2025 - 2:00pm

Location: Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre

Tickets

General Admission - $20

Alumni & Staff - $15

Student - $10