Review: 15TH ANNUAL 10X10 NEW PLAY FESTIVAL at Barrington Stage Company

With its 2026 10x10 New Play Festival line-up, Barrington Stage Company (BSC)celebrates the annual event’s fifteenth season with date nights, coffee shops, a Christmas Eve story, and more.   100-minutes of comedy and drama that unfold in fast-paced theatrical relay. A cast of familiar faces and favorites present 10 fast-paced plays full of drama, comedy, wit, and irreverence.

 “The 10x10 New Play Festival is one of the most highly anticipated events of the Barrington Stage season. From our staff to our brilliant cast and indefatigable crew – everyone who has a hand in bringing these ten plays to life does so with a sense of elation,” notes Barrington Stage Company Artistic Director Alan Paul, who directs three ten-minute plays this year. “I am thrilled that this year’s festival features three plays directed by BSC’s Artistic Coordinator Moira O’Sullivan, who is a talented emerging director – and features a play written by BSC’s Director of Development, playwright Jessica Provenz. 10x10 is truly a labor of love for me and everyone at the company.” 

This year’s cast features audience favorites Matt Neely of Williamstown, MA., Peggy Pharr Wilson of Dalton, MA., Robert Zukerman of Chatham, NY, and Raya Malcolm and Maya Loren Jackson of New York City. This year the cast welcomes newcomer Avery Whitted, also from New York City.

Directors are Emmy-nominated Matthew Penn returning for his tenth year; along with BSC Artistic Director, Alan Paul; and in her 10x10 directorial debut, BSC Literary and Artistic Coordinator, Moira O’Sullivan.

Creatives include Costume Designer Peggy Walsh, Lighting Designer Amina Alexander, Sound Designer Nathan Leigh, Production Stage Manager Renee Lutz, with Assistant Stage Manager Rebecca L. Johnston.

BSC’s 2026 season will include a 50th anniversary production of “A Chorus Line,” directed by Alan Paul, and the musical number that opens this production incorporates fitting elements.  What follows in two acts presented with one ten-minute intermission is a collection of ten new works as follows:

A Modest Proposal II by David MacGregor - Two State Senators come up with an innovative, "out of the box" solution to addressing unwanted pregnancies in a state that has outlawed abortion. 

Best By Date by Scott Mullen - Date night goes awry when a man learns how short life can be.

Cricket by Erin Osgood - Minutes before a funeral and still in her bathrobe, Elsie follows a mysterious chirping sound… 

Do You Hear an Echo? by Cynthia Faith Arsenault - Personal technology enhances our lives-- unless and until it doesn't!

Love Shovel by John C. Davenport - A shovel proves useful in digging up romance... and that’s not all.

Missed Disconnections by Samara Siskind - In the age of swiping left or right, three hopeless romantics defy the odds by looking for love the good old-fashioned way… on Craigslist. 

Tannenbaum by James McLindon - In a tree lot on Christmas Eve, the owner and his employee learn who they can trust… and who they can’t. 

The Rebound Quiz by Byron Nilsson - Marty loves old movies, so when he’s confronted in the coffee shop he frequents, with two failing relationships, he brings a romantic approach to solving these problems. 

Top Shelf Tolstoy by Maximillian Gill - A new arrival in a small town finds her quest to check out a copy of a Tolstoy novel thwarted when she discovers that the library has resorted to drastic means to raise funds. 

Waking Greek by Jessica Provenz - Phil and Mary wake to find themselves alone on a stage, in what they hope is a delightful French farce but turns out to be anything but.