Santino Fontana and More Set for 7th Theatre Aspen SOLO FLIGHTS FESTIVAL

Theatre Aspen has revealed the six new works selected for the seventh annual Solo Flights Festival to be held from September 8-13, 2026 at Theatre Aspen’s Hurst Theatre. The six new works include Ruthless by Liza Powel O’Brien, Crusades by Jason Gray Platt and starring Tony Award winner Santino Fontana, This is Not an Immigrant Story by Reza Salazar, The Day I Accidentally Went to War by Bill Posley, Nash by Hannah Benitez & Kevin Cloud, and Destroying David by Jason Odell Williams.

This year’s Solo Flights Festival will feature six new works, all receiving early developmental support from Theatre Aspen including:

RUTHLESS

Thursday, September 10 at 7PM & Sunday, September 13 at 4PM
Written by Liza Powel O’Brien

Directed by Mimi O’Donnell

Ruth is trapped—in her closet, in her marriage, and in her mind. Her husband has confessed to $65 billion worth of fraud and now she faces a difficult choice—protect her freedom by disavowing her love or face an eternity of scorn. Ruthless interrogates the immutability of identity and asks what happens to love when its object proves rotten.

CRUSADES

Wednesday, September 9 at 7PM & Saturday, September 12 at 4PM

Written by Jason Gray Platt
Directed by Nikki DiLoreto
Starring Santino Fontana

Stephen and his family recently moved to a small-town paradise in Colorado. But when one of his children mysteriously falls ill, his desperation for answers begins to shatter his marriage, his faith in reason, and ultimately his understanding of just how far he is willing to go to get justice.

THIS IS NOT AN IMMIGRANT STORY

Tuesday, September 8 at 7PM & Friday, September 11 at 4PM
Written by and starring Reza Salazar
Directed by Kate Whoriskey

When Reza Salazar was just four, his young mother painted a circle on his nose, then her own. In a moment of desperate creativity, they reinvented themselves as clowns, turning survival into performance.

This Is Not An Immigrant Story is a solo theatrical piece tracing a son's journey to understand and love his mother, shaped by their nomadic early years as clowns traveling throughout South America. In this coming-of-age story, Reza explores trauma, resilience, and love through humor, compassion, and arresting physicality. 

THE DAY I ACCIDENTALLY WENT TO WAR

Wednesday, September 9 at 4PM & Saturday, September 12 at 7PM
Written by and starring Bill Posley
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel

In The Day I Accidentally Went to War, writer, comedian, and veteran Bill Posley (writer of “Shrinking” and “Cobra Kai”) shares the remarkable true story of how his college dreams were shattered when his mother gambles away their house. Bill, a resourceful 17-year-old, enlists in the National Guard for a second chance; however, the day of his boot camp graduation, a plane strikes the World Trade Center, sending him unexpectedly to war in Iraq. Bill’scharismatic humor, heartfelt storytelling, and first-hand insight explore friendship, service, resilience, and what it means to be an American.

NASH

Tuesday, September 8 at 4PM & Friday, September 11 at 7PM
Written by Hannah Benitez & Kevin Cloud
Directed by Hannah Ryan
Starring Katie Boeck

Nash is “Fleabag” meets Waitress, with a charmingly unreliable narrator who takes us on an 80-minute musical journey of redemption, as she returns to her small hometown in Missouri after Nashville’s music scene chews her up and spits her out. Affronted by the life she left behind, she must choose to risk it all for a last shot at her dream, or the safety of settling.

DESTROYING DAVID

Thursday, September 10 at 4PM & Sunday, September 13 at 7PM
Written by Jason Odell Williams
Directed by Charlotte Cohn
Starring Lois Robbins

An unnamed tour guide leads the audience on a private tour through the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze. But as the guide shares the fascinating history and precarious physical condition of Michelangelo’s famous statue, the story becomes more personal as the guide reveals they have recently suffered a profound loss and believe the only way to heal is to destroy the world’s most beautiful work of art: Michelangelo’s David. Funny, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting, Destroying David is an ode to the beauty, resilience, and power of art to help us through our darkest hours.