THE HOMEFRONT, UPSTAGED and More Set for Forestburgh Playhouse The Works-In The Woods Festival
This year's In the Works~In the Woods Festival will showcase five exciting new works in development, including Kenneth Jones' Hut, Hut, Hike, and more.
Forestburgh Playhouse will present the return of its In The Works~In The Woods Festival, taking place September 18-20, 2026. Now approaching its sixth season, the festival has established itself as an incubator for new theatrical works, bringing together emerging and established artists to develop the next generation of plays and musicals in the inspiring surroundings of New York's Sullivan Catskills.
Led by Forestburgh Playhouse Producing Artistic Director Franklin Trapp and Festival Artistic Director Matt Lenz, the festival provides a creative home where writers, composers, lyricists, directors, and performers can collaborate, experiment, and refine their work before engaged audiences. Through readings, presentations, discussions, and special events, In The Works~In The Woods continues to champion bold storytelling while fostering meaningful connections between artists and theatre lovers alike.
This year's In the Works~In the Woods Festival will showcase five exciting new works in development, including Kenneth Jones' Hut, Hut, Hike, a coming-of-age drama about a college football star whose future is threatened when an unlikely connection with a theater major challenges his assumptions about ambition and identity, directed by Jeremy Webb; The Homefront, a new musical by Jenny Stafford, Malika Oyetimein, and Sam Salmond that explores friendship, race, and women's rights in the aftermath of World War II, directed by Oyetimein; and The Color of Things, a whimsical family musical about an inventive young girl determined to restore joy and color to her community. The festival will also feature Stacey Scotte's autobiographical solo play Upstaged, which chronicles a uniquely, complex mother-daughter relationship shaped by a shared life in show business, directed by Sue Hamilton, and the annual Catskills Cab Lab, showcasing 2 new cabaret shows by Lauren Chapman in “Thawed Out” and Ian Coarsey featuring his original music in “The Wandering Man.”
One of the festival's signature events, Off the Cuff: Conversations, offers audiences a rare opportunity to hear from some of the theatre industry's most accomplished artists in candid, unscripted discussions about their careers, creative journeys, and the ever-evolving art of making theatre. Full casting and special surprises to be announced in August.
Previous In the Works–In the Woods Festival offerings have gone on to successful productions around the country. By Any Other Name (our 2021 Festival musical) is receiving its world premiere at SpeakEasy Stage Company in Boston, and Stage Mother (2024) will receive its world premiere at Phoenix Theatre Company in May 2027. Douglas Lyons' play Don’t Touch My Hair premiered at IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles and continuing developmental workshops and readings of Stage Mother (Roundabout) and Rebel Genius (Atlantic Theatre Company), El Otro Oz, winner of the Off-Broadway Alliance Award, played Center Theatre Group; Bottle Shock received a world premiere production at The California Center for the Arts, Escondido, CA; Jessica Hendy’s Walking with Bubbles received an extended Off-Broadway run and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance; Gordon Gets Down! was part of Forestburgh's 2023 Season for Young Audiences.
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