BAY AREA PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL to Present 47th Edition With Four New Works
Playwrights Foundation selects Jordan Bird, Maxine Dillon, Greg T. Nanni, and christina michelle watkins for readings at ACT's Strand Theater.
Playwrights Foundation has announced the playwright cohort and creative teams for the 47th Bay Area Playwrights Festival (BAPF47), which will take place September 18–27 in San Francisco with on-demand streaming available October 19–25.
Selected from more than 600 applicants by a committee of 148 readers, this year's festival will feature new works by Jordan Bird, Maxine Dillon, Greg T. Nanni, and christina michelle watkins. Each playwright will participate in a year-long development process that includes dramaturgical support, workshops, an artist retreat, professional collaborators, and public readings before audiences.
The 2026 festival will feature Howling: A Fairy Tale by Jordan Bird, directed by Tessa Corrie with dramaturgy by Ariella Wolfe; THE NEGROES HAVE RISEN by Maxine Dillon, directed by Leigh Rondon-Davis with dramaturgy by Tierra Allen; Suicide Cowboys by Greg T. Nanni, directed by Adam L. Sussman with dramaturgy by Scott Horstein; and By the Banks by christina michelle watkins, directed by Sinjin Jones with dramaturgy by Austin Riffelmacher.
"The 47th Bay Area Playwrights Festival is about revival, resistance, and renewal, themes that live at the heart of every story in this year's cohort," said Executive Artistic Director Jessica Bird Beza. "Our expanded, biennial timeline gives them a full year in a laboratory environment with incredible collaborators to develop these plays, and I couldn't be prouder to bring their work to Bay Area audiences and online worldwide."
In addition to the four featured playwrights, audiences will have opportunities to meet Playwrights Foundation's 2026–27 Resident Playwrights—Linda Amayo-Hassan, Megan Calfas, Aidaa Peerzada, and Julius Ernesto Rea—through special events and a mini showcase during the festival. Theatre Professionals Weekend, scheduled for September 25–27, will offer networking opportunities, readings, and industry events for theater professionals.
Festival Lineup
By the Banks
By christina michelle watkins
Directed by: Sinjin Jones
Dramaturgy: Austin Riffelmacher
A poetic drama in which two estranged sisters reunite on the banks of Indiana's Wabash River to fulfill their late father's final wishes. As buried memories resurface and the natural world begins to intervene, they must confront old wounds and decide what they're willing to sacrifice for healing.
Howling: A Fairy Tale
By Jordan Bird
Directed by: Tessa Corrie
Dramaturgy: Ariella Wolfe
Diagnosed as autistic in adulthood, Birdie journeys through memory, dreams, and fairy-tale landscapes as she confronts childhood trauma, disability, and the fear of revealing her past to someone she loves.
Suicide Cowboys
By Greg T. Nanni
Directed by: Adam L. Sussman
Dramaturgy: Scott Horstein
A survivor of a suicide attempt tries to help another man choose life while confronting his own lingering doubts. Blending realism with a mythic Western landscape, the play explores survival, hope, and the emotional battles that continue long after a crisis.
THE NEGROES HAVE RISEN
By Maxine Dillon
Directed by: Leigh Rondon-Davis
Dramaturgy: Tierra Allen
A group of Black museum interpreters working at a plantation historic site uncover evidence of a forgotten slave uprising, forcing them to reconsider whose stories are preserved and how history should be told.
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