Photos: IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES PERFORMANCE FESTIVAL at The Marsh Berkeley & SF

This year’s festival will include 18 new stage works, and will showcase each production twice.

By: Chloe Rabinowitz Aug. 06, 2026

The Marsh will present its second In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival, a curated collection of developing work by a roster of nationally-acclaimed as well as newcomer women and nonbinary performers. See photos!

The In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival will be staged at both the Berkeley and San Francisco locations of The Marsh, offering audiences first looks at an array of compelling new musicals, ensembles, and solo shows. This year’s festival will include 18 new stage works, and will showcase each production twice, giving audiences a chance to participate in the dramaturgical process by providing feedback as the artists develop these pieces. Audiences at each show will also see a short “curtain raiser” by an additional roster of artists whose works are also undergoing artistic development with The Marsh.

The In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival will be presented Wednesdays – Sundays August 12 – 16, 2026 at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco and Wednesdays – Sundays August 19 – 30, 2026 at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley.

Festival guests will be able to purchase food, beverages, and cocktails at each of The Marsh’s Bay Area venues during the festival and enjoy pre-and-post-show conversations including director talkbacks. At the festival’s close, select works will be given special awards from The Marsh, including audience choice awards, giving avid attendees the chance to vote for the Bay Area’s next-big performance.

This year’s In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival comes after a lauded inaugural run in 2024, out of which came full-scale productions at The Marsh including BroadwayWorld Award-winner Pearl Ong’s Night Driver, Candace Johnson’s acclaimed and oft-extended Scat-ter Brain: The Music of ADHD, Kathryn Seabron’s lauded Angry Black Woman 101, and Marga Gomez’s tour-de-force Spanish Stew.

The 2026 In Front of Your Eyes Performance Festival will feature full-length developing new works from nationally-acclaimed veteran performers and playwrights, as well as new faces, including Dev Cuny, Catherine Debon, Robyn DeGuzman, Theresa Donahoe, Elizabeth Du Val, Sara Felder, Sherry Glaser, Abbey Glover, Hannah Gould, Candace Johnson, Pearl Louise, Yvonne Martinez, Lauren Mayer, International Sex Club Party Girl, Joyful Raven, Natacha Ruck, Holly Shaw, and Janet Thornburg.

Each production will be opened by a shorter performance from an additional lineup of artists including Molly Rose-Williams, Barbara Brady, Stacey Winn, Elizabeth Zitrin, Shayla Kerr-Munsie, Jordan Morgan, Silvi Alcivar, Judith Linzer, Michelle Moghtader, Ipeleng Kgositsile, Ellen Thompson, Pearl Ong, Katie Macks, Christina Aanestad, Irma Herrera, Erin-Kate Whitcomb, Daisy Crane, and Dara Kosberg.

Photo credit: Cynthia Smalley