Photos: Mariska Hargitay Performs EVERY BRILLIANT THING at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor Mariska Hargitay was in Palo Alto over the weekend, kicking off TheatreWorks Silicon Valley's 23rd Annual New Works Festival at Lucie Stern Theatre. Check out photos from the performances.

On August 7 and 8, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star appeared in benefit performances of EVERY BRILLIANT THING, the solo show she recently performed on Broadway.

Proceeds from the performances benefited TheatreWorks and the Joyful Heart Foundation, the organization founded by Hargitay to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse. The organization has a San Francisco Bay Area Committee.

Hargitay's half-sister, Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli, leads TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. Sardelli invited Hargitay to bring the production to Bay Area audiences at the Tony Award recipient theatre company.

Three packed TheatreWorks audiences saw Hargitay perform the play, written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. The interactive work celebrates the people, experiences and everyday pleasures that make life worth living, with members of the audience participating throughout the performance.

Special guests included TheatreWorks Founding Artistic Director Robert Kelley and Olivier Award-winning COME FROM AWAY composers David Hein and Irene Sankoff, along with TheatreWorks trustees, supporters and other attendees.

TheatreWorks' 23rd Annual New Works Festival continues through August 16 at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre, featuring readings of new plays and musicals as well as special events.

The 2026 festival includes VIENNA, a new musical from COME FROM AWAY composers Irene Sankoff and David Hein. Sankoff and Hein will also perform a benefit engagement of CUT FROM AWAY, featuring songs and stories that were cut during the development of COME FROM AWAY.

Additional festival readings include ROJA, a new take on the Little Red Riding Hood story that incorporates traditional Mexican folk music and Mestizo folklore, by Jaime Lozano and Tommy Newman.

The lineup also includes new plays by Margot Melcon and Kimber Lee, as well as a double bill of hip-hop solo plays by Carlos Aguirre and Austin Dean Ashford.

TheatreWorks' 2026 New Works Festival continues through August 16, 2026 at Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto.