San Francisco Playhouse Reveals Six New Commissions

San Francisco Playhouse has revealed new commissions with six acclaimed theatre artists, increasing its commitment to fostering the future of American Theatre through its robust New Works Program. The announced works include San Francisco Playhouse's first commissioned musical: Dead Best Friend by Justin Huertas, whose hit musical Lizard Boy will perform at San Francisco Playhouse February 19 – April 3, 2027. Other commissions include the plays Fantasy Now! by Minna Lee (My Home on the Moon – 2024 World Premiere at San Francisco Playhouse), Some Freak Miracle by Harry Davis (Push/Pull – 2025 Will Glickman Award winner), This Time by Korean American playwright Jesse Jae Hoon (Saved, Titans), and In the Fold by Playhouse founding company member Lauren English, plus an untitled commission by Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Chairman Greg Sarris (Grand Avenue, Watermelon Nights).

This announcement comes during an era of expansion for San Francisco Playhouse. For the first time in its 24-year history, the company is currently staging seven works in its mainstage subscription season, offering shows at both the company's Post Street home theatre as well as the Creativity Theater from August 2026 through September 2027. At the Creativity Theater, the company recently presented the World Premiere of San Francisco Playhouse resident playwright Aaron Loeb's R.O.I. (Return on Investment), which was commissioned by the Playhouse and starred commissioned playwright Lauren English. Recently closing its sold out run, this cutting edge thriller garnered rapturous praise from audiences and critics alike, receiving the top rating from San Francisco Chronicle, which deemed it “San Francisco's best new play in a long time.”

Later this season, the Playhouse will stage another World Premiere: Chloé Hung's Perfect Daughter, which recently won Theatre Bay Area's 2026 Rella Lossy Award honoring the best new script of a full-length play by an emerging playwright in the Bay Area. This high-tech dramedy explores how artificial intelligence disrupts a father-daughter relationship (February 25 – April 3, 2027 at the Creativity Theater). San Francisco Playhouse's 2026-27 season will also introduce Bay Area audiences to the high-flying comedy Peter Pan Goes Wrong (September 26 – November 28, 2026) and an original production of the theatrically inventive stage adaptation of Life of Pi (April 16 – June 19, 2027). The season is rounded out with new productions of the groundbreaking rock musical Rent (December 11, 2026 – February 6, 2027) and the Stephen Sondheim opus Sweeney Todd (July 2 – September 11, 2027).

San Francisco Playhouse's celebrated New Works Program develops new plays and musicals through commissions, readings, workshops, and World Premiere productions. The Playhouse has presented more than 40 World Premieres and has commissioned more than 35 new works. The Playhouse's new works legacy included its Sandbox Series of intimate, smaller-scale premieres. For this next chapter for the New Works Program, the Playhouse will replace the Sandbox Series with additional full World Premiere productions in the company's mainstage season.

Over its nearly 25 years, San Francisco Playhouse has birthed new plays from notable playwrights including Lauren Yee, Theresa Rebeck, George Brant, Lauren Gunderson, Christopher Chen, Aaron Loeb, Ruben Grijalva, Minna Lee, Hend Ayoub, and others. World Premieres produced by the Playhouse have been recognized over the last decade with three prestigious Will Glickman Awards for Best New Bay Area Play (Grijalva's Shoot Me When… in 2022; Yee's In A Word in 2016; Loeb's Ideation in 2014). The Playhouse's 2024 World Premiere of My Home on the Moon received the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (SFBATCC) Award for Best New Script. The Playhouse also commissioned, developed, and produced the 2025 World Premiere of Hend Ayoub's Home? A Palestinian Woman's Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness, which performed sold-out runs in San Francisco and Off-Broadway at New York's 59E59 Theaters. San Francisco Playhouse also has open commissions with Octavio Solis, Ruben Grijalva, Geetha Reddy, Candrice Jones, Lee Cataluna, and Melissa Ross.