JAW New Play Festival To Return At Portland Center Stage

Portland Center Stage announces the 26th annual JAW New Play Festival, July 24–26, 2026, at The Armory. This year’s festival features readings of four dynamic new plays in development by local and national writers, a showcase of short works from up-and-coming teen playwrights, inspiring Community Artist Labs, and a wide array of Press Play community events preceding each reading. All events are free and open to the public.

Founded in 1999, JAW is a longstanding summer tradition at PCS. Each July, artistic teams including playwrights, directors, actors, and dramaturgs come together to workshop and rehearse new plays for one week. The final piece of the process, fondly referred to as “The Big Weekend,” happens when audiences flood in to hear readings of the works in progress. Not only does the audience get to experience groundbreaking work in its earliest stages, but the playwrights gain invaluable insight from hearing their work in front of an audience, often for the very first time.

"JAW 2026 is full of humor and music, but also truth and hard questions,” says PCS Literary Manager Kamilah Bush. ”The playwrights who are joining us this year have full, vibrant, exciting worlds to share.”

This year’s plays include Cessair: The Birth of Ireland, a new musical by Portlanders Holly Harmon and Lolly Ward; 809 Almond, a dark comedy about race, sex, late-stage capitalism, and the hypocrisies of well-intentioned liberalism by Mylan Gray; ark (of cypress wood), a lyrical tale set against the backdrop of the 1921 Tulsa race riot as two pairs of lovers imagine a world where they can breathe, by 2025 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize Winner a.k. payne; and God Save the Queen, a poignant comedy about a Costume Designer with early-onset Alzheimer’s who comes alive when he dons the iconic leading ladies’ dresses he’s designed over the years, by Phillip Christian Smith. 

“I'm so glad that they've chosen PCS as a stop on what will be long and full journeys for their plays," adds Bush.

Since its inception, JAW has supported the development of over 100 plays, most of which have gone on to receive professional productions across the country. Many, including Kate Hamill’s Ms. Holmes and Ms. Watson, Apt. 2B, the world premiere of Dan O’Brien’s The Body of an American, and Yussef El Guindi’s Threesome, have enjoyed productions at PCS. Dozens more nationally known playwrights, including Lauren Gunderson, Leah Nanako Winkler, Roger Guenveur Smith, David Adjmi, Jen Silverman, Samuel D. Hunter, and Kara Lee Corthran, have developed their work with JAW over the years. 

In addition to championing playwrights, JAW puts local actors and other artists front and center through the readings and the pre-show Press Play community events. Audiences can expect several opportunities to gather before each new play to experience dance, music, visual art, and more in the Armory’s main lobby and gallery spaces. The festival also offers community members the chance to attend free workshops led by accomplished theater artists on a variety of topics. Due to limited space, participants in the JAW Community Artist Labs are selected via lottery. Community members can enter the lottery by emailing education@pcs.org.

Because JAW readings and Press Play events are free and open to the public, no tickets are required. However, PCS is requesting RSVPs for the JAW 2026 readings. While not mandatory, RSVPs help the organization provide ample seating and clear day-of communication around each event. PCS is accepting RSVPs now and throughout the festival weekend here.