FORESTBURGH — Forestburgh Playhouse has announced casting and creative teams for the 2026 In the Works~In the Woods Festival, taking place September 18–20 at the Forestburgh Playhouse.

The annual festival brings together emerging and established writers, composers, directors, musicians and performers for a weekend celebrating the development of new theatrical works. This year's festival will feature five new works in development, Catskills CabLab presentations and intimate conversations with some of the theatre's most accomplished artists.

“These are the kinds of artists and projects that make a new works festival so exciting,” said Matt Lenz, Festival Artistic Director. “Audiences aren't simply coming to see a finished production — they're becoming part of the creative process. They get to experience new stories, new music and new voices and, importantly, they get to see extraordinary artists taking risks and developing new work.”

“One of the things I love most about In the Works~In the Woods is that we get to welcome artists to Forestburgh who are not only incredibly talented, but who are genuinely excited about creating something new,” said Forestburgh Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Franklin Trapp. “This year’s festival is filled with wonderful artists, terrific stories and some really exciting new music. And then you add conversations with artists like Jeanine Tesori and David Loud, and it becomes an extraordinary weekend for anyone who loves theatre. There’s a real sense of discovery to this festival. We don’t know exactly what these works will become yet—and that’s the fun of it. We’re thrilled to share that journey with our audiences.”

This year's festival lineup includes Kenneth Jones' Hut, Hut, Hike, a coming-of-age drama about a college football star whose future is threatened when an unexpected connection with a theatre major challenges his assumptions about ambition and identity, directed by Jeremy Webb; The Homefront, a new musical by Jenny Stafford, Malika Oyetimein and Sam Salmond exploring friendship, race and women's rights in the aftermath of World War II, directed by Oyetimein; and The Color of Things, a whimsical family musical about an inventive young girl determined to restore joy and color to her community.

Tony Award winning composer Jeanine Tesori and veteran Broadway Music Director, Conductor, arranger David Loud kick off this year’s Off the Cuff Conversations. The festival will also feature Stacey Scotte's autobiographical solo play Upstaged, which explores a complex mother-daughter relationship shaped by a shared life in show business and is directed by Sue Hamilton. The annual Catskills CabLab will showcase new cabaret work by Lauren Nicole Chapman in Thawed Out and Ian Coursey in Wandering Man, featuring Coursey's original music.

OFF THE CUFF CONVERSATIONS

Adding to the festival experience will be Off the Cuff Conversations, intimate discussions offering audiences an opportunity to hear directly from some of the theatre's leading artists.

This year's featured guests include Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori and veteran musical director, arranger and conductor David Loud (Ragtime, And The World Goes Round, She Loves Me)

Tesori is the Tony Award-winning composer of Fun Home and Kimberly Akimbo, as well as Caroline, or Change and Violet. Loud's distinguished career as a musical director, arranger and conductor spans decades of Broadway and musical theatre. He is the author of Facing the Music: A Broadway Memoir.

The conversations will offer audiences an insider's perspective on the creative process, the development of new musicals and the ever-changing landscape of American theatre.

The In the Works~In the Woods Festival has a growing record of helping new theatrical works find their way to larger stages.

By Any Other Name, presented at the 2021 festival, is receiving its world premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston. Stage Mother, featured in the 2024 festival, will receive its world premiere at The Phoenix Theatre Company in May 2027.

Other festival works have gone on to significant productions and continued development, including Douglas Lyons' Don't Touch My Hair, which premiered at IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles; El Otro Oz, winner of the Off-Broadway Alliance Award and presented by Center Theatre Group; Bottle Shock, which received a world premiere production at California Center for the Arts, Escondido; and Jessica Hendy's Walking with Bubbles, which enjoyed an extended Off-Broadway run and received a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance.

Gordon Gets Down!, another In the Works~In the Woods selection, was subsequently featured in Forestburgh Playhouse's 2023 Season for Young Audiences.

Located just 90 minutes from New York City in the Sullivan Catskills, Forestburgh Playhouse is located at: 39 Forestburgh Road, Forestburgh. Festival Passports and additional information: fbplayhouse.org. Phone: 845-794-1194.