Twisted Playfest
Redtwist's New Play Incubator
Our goal is to build a new play incubator at Redtwist Theatre that provides ongoing play readings and development for aspiring Chicago Playwrights. The centerpiece of this initiative is the Twisted Play Festival, hosted annually at Redtwist Theatre. The festival will feature ten plays at various stages of development. Redtwist will support festival playwrights throughout the year with additional readings and workshops. Keep reading to learn about each new work and the creatives around it.
Submissions for our 2026 Twisted PlayFest open on February 2nd, 2026
Our
Values
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This Project values Chicago Voices.
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This Project values diversity and representation, including diversity of race, gender, sexuality, age, and ability. We intend to express this value at every level, from producers and readers, to playwrights and directors, as well as the performers on our stage.
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This Project values playwrights as growing artists and commits to nurturing that growth through collaboration and feedback.
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This Project values stories for NOW. The ideal play should tell us about the world we live in, speak to how we should live in it, and do so in an entertaining and engaging way.
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This Project values Collaboration — the collective expression of the orchestra, over the singular effort of the soloist.
Development Stages
Headline Production
ManCave by Caroline Kidwell
This fully realized play is the culmination of the Twisted PlayFest new work incubator. The Headliner is fully produced: led by a talented director; performed by a cast of professionals; and realized by a team of incredible designers. Plays at this stage are World Premieres and Redtwist strives to connect the playwright with theaters around the country and see their script produced nationally.
Staged Readings
Strange Fruit by Brandon Wright
Deserted by Melanie Coffey
Short Changed
by Jordan Gleaves
These plays are in their final stages of development before receiving a full production. Staged readings allow for a deeper collaboration between playwrights and directors, exploring how the play evolves as the actors add movement. This level also includes designers, to consider how costumes, props, and visual elements can enhance the script. Each year, one Staged Reading will be selected for a year of development and become the next PlayFest's Headliner.
Stand Readings
To Be Determined...
Submissions Open February 2nd
These represent the newest plays in the Twisted PlayFest, just beginning their development journey. Stand Readings pair playwrights with professional actors and directors to explore pacing and language of the script. Each year, three Stand Readings will be selected for a year of development and become the next PlayFest's Staged Readings.
Written by Caroline Kidwell
Guess what? The world ended. And Hannah, a lifestyle vlogger, has been living alone in a bunker for five years. She’s an influencer with no one to influence until Wanda, a survivor, knocks on her door.
Written by Brandon Wright
Directed by Rashaad A. Bond
In quiet suburbia, a group of five come across the body of a black boy hanging from a tree. They take it upon themselves to figure out whodunit, but as they explore the nature of this violent hate crime true secrets start to become uncovered within themselves.
Written by Melanie Coffey
Directed by Dusty Brown
Jodie and Emma are the lucky winners of the Project's Soil competition, where they receive a truckload of soil and are to garden it with prairie grasses, native flowers and the vegetables of their choosing. But their well is drying up, the Neighbor keeps sneaking over and eating the soil and the couple is becoming less and less the good team they thought they were. Putting roots down in desertified land is never easy.
Empower
Growth
