Juniper Circle Productions Announces 2026 Season: Remembrance, Renewal, and Reckoning

Juniper Circle Productions announced its 2026 season, a year of bold artistic storytelling rooted in remembrance, renewal, and reckoning.

Based in rural Colorado yet reaching far beyond it, the season unites artists and audiences in shared, groundbreaking experiences that honor memory, foster connection, and invite transformation.

THE ALAN ESPINOZA SOLO PERFORMANCE SERIES

At the heart of the season is the Alan Espinoza Solo Performance Series, an annual commissioning and presentation platform uplifting marginalized voices. Through work that reckons with care, land, and longing, the 2026 commissioned artists include:

• Rose Costello - exploring motherhood, devotion, and endurance through movement-based storytelling.
• Tanya Blacklight - weaving music and ceremony into a site-specific performance that calls forth the river as witness to memory and survival.
• Diane Sylvain - offering words and paintings as a springboard for rural and urban artists to create original pieces inspired by place and identity.

NEW IN 2026

From Seed to Song
In collaboration with The Learning Council, this summer series plants the seeds of original performances inspired by the Arbol Farmers Market, featuring local musicians alongside visiting writers in Paonia Park.

Marty Durlin: A New Musical in Development
Playwright, composer, and lyricist Marty Durlin develops a new project centered on the lives of social activist women, with a full production anticipated in 2027. Durlin has spent decades crafting and sharing original musical theatre in the North Fork Valley, Boulder, and Moab. Her process unfolds through writing sessions, workshops, and staged readings - building the musical from the ground up.

The Edward Slater Project
Developed by Juniper Circle Productions Resident Artists Anton Dudley & Michael Cooper
A haunting new work, based on actual events, that unearths a buried family story echoing across generations. Through memory, imagination, and investigation, The Edward Slater Project traces the murder of a Long Island schoolteacher and its aftermath following a chance encounter between two strangers. Part ghost story, part reckoning, the piece asks what we inherit from those who came before us - and how unspoken histories shape who we become.

Iron & Coal
A documentary theatre piece honoring the laborers who built and powered the American West, Iron & Coal explores migration, resilience, labor, and legacy through song and testimony. This multi-year project weaves together stories of Asian American railroad workers and coal miners from Colorado's North Fork Valley through rural residencies and interviews.

Arts 4 All: Francis the Guinea Fowl
A joyful, accessible arts initiative for young audiences, sparking imagination and inviting children to explore storytelling, puppetry, and music in workshops and creative play. Fluttering into classrooms and community spaces, Francis the Guinea Fowl gives children that first experience of live performance, ensuring that everyone — regardless of ability or background — can participate.