Austin Playhouse invites playwrights from across Texas to submit their work for consideration in our 2026 Festival of New Texas Plays. The Austin Playhouse Festival of New Texas Plays celebrates the vibrant storytelling and diverse voices of Texas playwrights, showcasing new works that reflect the rich cultural landscape of our state. Austin Playhouse is committed to fostering new theatrical voices and providing a platform for emerging playwrights. 

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2026 Festival of New Texas Plays Readings

 

ACES by Emilie Budjaja: Saturday, August 15 at 4pm

ACES turns questions of language, identity, and belonging into an experience that is funny, moving and magical. The play interweaves two storylines twenty years apart, revealing how the same hopes, pressures, and sacrifices echo across generations. Partially performed in Mandarin with no subtitles, it asks the audience to experience, rather than just observe, the struggle to understand one another.

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Lulu Goes to the Jim Henson Memorial Service by Kleo James Ryan: Saturday, August 15 at 7:30pm

Lulu Goes to the Jim Henson Memorial Service is a wonderfully theatrical blend of heart, humor, grief, and puppetry. Yes, puppetry. The conceit that nearly everyone except Lulu’s parents is a puppet allows the audience to see the world through Lulu’s imaginative and deeply felt (pun fully intended) perspective. It is genuinely hilarious, delightfully weird, and ultimately profoundly tender.

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Mom and Pop by Carl Gonzales: Sunday, August 16 at 2pm

Mom and Pop is a vivid exploration of family, culture, and community, set in a down-home restaurant where everyone dreams of bigger things. It is both a family comedy and a love letter to the Latine community - messy, exuberant, politically alive, and full of heart.

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Tickets are Pick-Your-Price with a limited number of FREE tickets available for each performance

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Playwrights will be in attendance with a talkback following each reading. There will be an opening mixer between performances on August 15 with light refreshments. Guests are welcome to stay after the 4pm performance, arrive early for the 7:30pm, or attend both. Sunday’s reading will conclude with a closing reception.