South Coast Repertory to Showcase New Talent at 2026 Pacific Playwrights Festival

South Coast Repertory has revealed the lineup for the 28th Pacific Playwrights Festival, anchored by two world premieres of fully staged productions. One of the nation's premier showcases for bold new theatre voices and part of SCR's play development initiative, The Lab@SCR, PPF runs May 1-3. 

The immersive experience brings audiences, artists and industry leaders together for staged readings and first looks at some of the best playwriting talent in the country. The Festival is a nationally recognized springboard for new plays that often find their way to stages across the country.

The five staged readings are The Ingenue by Eleanor Burgess, Three-headed Monster by JuCoby Johnson, Advanced Persistent Teenagers by Deepak Kumar, Pleasers by Avery Deutsch and Blow Away the Clouds by Evelina Fernández. Serving as Festival anchors are the previously announced, world-premiere productions of Eat Me by Talene Monahon, and Fremont Ave. by Reggie D. White, a co-production with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.—which enjoyed a successful run last fall.

Both Burgess and Johnson have had plays featured at the Festival before. Burgess' Galilee, 34 was a 2023 Festival selection before becoming a full production in the spring of 2024. Johnson's The Red Man was featured at last year's Festival. Eat Me and Fremont Ave. both came to the stage from previous PPFs. Eat Me was a selection at last year's Festival and Fremont Ave. was featured in 2024.

Immediately before the 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2 performance of Eat Me, the American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association (ATCA) will present the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. One of the most prestigious honors a new play can receive, the Steinberg Award recognizes the best scripts premiering professionally outside of New York City. Past winners include The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh (2024), Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee (2019), Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (2016) and All The Way by Robert Schenkken (2013). All four plays have been produced at SCR, with Cambodian Rock Band and Vietgone having been commissioned by SCR and developed there.

The weekend also includes a free panel discussion with the festival playwrights on Sunday, May 3, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The panel will be moderated by SCR Artistic and Audience Engagement Associate H. Adam Harris.

The 2026 Pacific Playwrights Festival

Productions

Eat Me

by Talene Monahon (@talenemonahon)

directed by Caitlin Sullivan

April 12-May 3, 2026, Julianne Argyros Stage

About this play: Chris loves fine cuisine. He spends hours in a corner of the internet, where like-minded foodies share their extraordinary culinary experiences. Stevie doesn't eat fish with souls, Beatrice and Jen just baked a flax loaf and Cindy might have salad, later. As she explores obsession and fulfillment, Monahon brings audiences into a world where everyone is longing for something that makes them feel full—and when the meal is over, maybe they'll be transformed.

Fremont Ave.

by Reggie D. White (@r2thaedgy)

directed by Lili-Anne Brown

April 25-May 23, 2026, Segerstrom Stage

About this play: In 1968, George buys a suburban Southern California home—a stop on his way to something bigger—and hires Audrey as a housekeeper. In 1991, Robert is still living there, itching to start his own life.  Thirty years later, Joseph returns home, still struggling with a secret that holds him back. With humor and heart, this multigenerational drama revolves around three Black men, their journeys to choose love and the woman who holds them all together.

Staged Readings

The Ingenue

By Eleanor Burgess (@eleanorjburgess)

Friday, May 1, at 1 p.m., Julianne Argyros Stage

About this play: In 18th-century London, arranged marriages have high stakes. Neither Letitia nor Doricourt wants to wed, and each will stop at nothing to force the other to cancel the wedding. Meanwhile, playwright Hannah Cowley struggles to pen a romantic comedy—about a couple named Letitia and Doricourt—while her own marriage is on shaky ground.

Three-headed Monster

by JuCoby Johnson (@jucobyjohnson)

directed by H. Adam Harris

dramaturgy by Zeina Salame

Friday, May 1, at 4 p.m., Julianne Argyros Stage

About this play: After serving time for a crime he didn't commit, 21-year-old Kyrie returns to the Bronx and his two best friends. A once-inseparable trio is reunited at last. But in the cramped apartment, Kyrie begins to fear there's no room left for him in a friendship—and world—that grew up while he was gone.

Advanced Persistent Teenagers

by Deepak Kumar (@_kumarde)

directed by Morgan Green

dramaturgy by Adrian Trujillo Centeno

Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m., Saturday, May 2, at 8 p.m., Sunday, May 3, at 2:30 p.m., Nicholas Studio

About this play: Two teenagers with a tragic bond spend their days hacking children's video games for fun, profit and glory. But when their hacker collective, dark w0rld, abruptly disbands, the boys find themselves adrift. Searching for purpose—and still craving the rush—the two launch a plan that may just change the hacker world forever.

Pleasers

by Avery Deutsch (@averydeutsch)

Saturday, May 2, at 10:30 a.m., Julianne Argyros Stage

About this play: Evan wants to get into Yale. Each week he works on his college essays at Miriam's house. Tyler, her 28-year-old son, wants to be Evan's friend, trying each week to impress him. But Evan would rather be Miriam's friend. And Miriam has a lot going on—so she just wants her boys to be good.

Blow Away the Clouds

by Evelina Fernández

directed by José Luis Valenzuela

an SCR Commission

Sunday, May 3, at 10:30 a.m., Julianne Argyros Stage

About this play: Milagros is a good wife, works hard and follows church rules…and her life in a small Arizona mining town is about to be turned upside down. As her friends and their troubles force her to stray from her rigid beliefs, Milagros finds a new sense of freedom in the secrets they keep—and the power of sisterhood.

The Pacific Playwrights Festival is made possible with support from The Shubert Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, the Elizabeth George Writers Foundation, and the Pacific Playwrights Festival Honorary Producers: Sophie & Larry Cripe and John & Laura Drachman, Peter & Joy Sloan and Julia Voce.

TICKETS

The 2026 Pacific Playwrights Festival offers several ticketing options:

·        Tickets for individual readings are $24 each

·        Subscriber packages to see all five readings cost $95.

·        Tickets for the productions of Fremont Ave. and Eat Me range from $36-$139 each

·        The Sunday, May 3 playwrights panel discussion is free and open to the public.