DENVER – The Denver Center Theatre Company is proud to announce playwrights, dates, and details for the 2026 Colorado New Play Summit (CNPS). The 20th annual festival will take place over one weekend on February 14-15, and feature readings of new plays by Bonnie Antosh, DCPA commissioned playwright Isaac Gómez, Alyssa Haddad-Chin, and Tony Meneses. The festival will also feature the world premiere productions of the 2024 CNPS plays, Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler and Godspeed by Terence Anthony.

“As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Colorado New Play Summit, we’re honoring two decades of bold storytelling and boundary-pushing voices,” said Chris Coleman, Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company. “Bonnie Antosh’s Lemuria is a wild and witty exploration of power and legacy. Isaac Gómez returns to the Summit with his commissioned story Influent about the curated chaos of influencer culture and the search for authenticity. You Should Be So Lucky by Alyssa Hadad-Chin offers a tender, intergenerational portrait of family, food, and the stories we pass down, and Tony Meneses returns to the Summit and DCPA with his heart-tugging, time-bending tale of friendship and fate with The Myth of Two Marcos. This year’s selected readings reflect the Summit’s enduring commitment to new work, and we can’t wait to share them with our audiences.”

Hailed as a “must-see stop for new-play development” by American Theatre, the Colorado New Play Summit is the DCPA’s signature festival dedicated to supporting playwrights and developing new work. Participating playwrights are given rehearsal time with professional directors, actors, and dramaturgs to workshop the new plays. Industry professionals and the public are invited to meet the artists, experience staged readings, and provide feedback on the work as it is being developed.

Since its founding, the Summit has introduced 74 new plays, over half of which returned to the stage as full Theatre Company productions. Among the Summit world premieres are Denver native Jake Brasch’s The Reservoir, Samuel D. Hunter’s The Whale, Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride, Lauren Gunderson’s The Book of Will, Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap, José Cruz González’s American Mariachi, Neyla Pekarek and Karen Hartman’s Rattlesnake Kate, Tanya Saracho’s FADE, Theresa Rebeck’s The Nest, Karen Zacarías’ Just Like Us, and Dick Scanlan’s reimagined version of The Unsinkable Molly Brown.

THE NEW PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS

Lemuria by Bonnie Antosh| Reading

Professor Anabelle Katz-Carver, the greatest primatologist since Jane Goodall, runs her research lab as a strict matriarchy. Now, in the wake of her mysterious retirement, Anabelle’s protégées are staking their claims to succeed her — or maybe just to destroy each other. In the animal kingdom and in our own, how does a queen pass her crown to another queen? With a wink to Shakespeare’s King Lear, Lemuria reimagines the inheritance drama as a tale of queer Southern scientists, ambition, hallucination, and — oh yes — lemurs.

Influent by Isaac Gómez | DCPA Commission | Reading

“Hi, diva!” The moment viral beauty duo Yaya and Carmen posted their first video, followers were, like, instantly obsessed. But after a scandal, Carmen is no longer trending while Yaya has become the internet’s favorite influencer. They want to collaborate again — but in a world that’s become increasingly curated, can they figure out how to be real? In this playfully self-aware reckoning with public opinion and cancel culture, Influent asks if authenticity, friendship, and forgiveness can exist in a world where perception is everything.

You Should Be So Lucky by Alyssa Haddad-Chin | Reading

In her Chinatown apartment, Poh Poh tries to teach her granddaughter, Jenny, the family dumpling recipe for the Lunar New Year. Although Jenny’s attempts at connecting with her grandmother are as clumsy as her first dumplings – and Poh Poh’s unfiltered commentary isn’t helping – Jenny finds herself wanting to learn more about her family and their history. But there are some secrets Poh Poh won’t share – and the changing neighborhood isn’t leaving space for them.

The Myth of the Two Marcos by Tony Meneses | Reading

Marco, meet Marco: two boys with parallel lives but opposite outlooks collide and become unlikely best friends. Despite their mutual love of comic books and shared sanctuary at a local comic shop, life begins pulling Marco and Marco apart again. Will the help of a time-bending Aztec superhero be enough to bind their fates back together? Tony Meneses’ The Myth of Two Marcos explores friendships formed on the knife-edge of adolescence, the little moments that might have changed everything, and the relationships that become our origin stories.

Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler | Directed by Chris Coleman

World Premiere | Read at the 2024 Colorado New Play Summit

Adapted from Nina McConigley’s award-winning collection of short stories, Cowboys and East Indians follows the Sen family as they grapple with expectations and cultural collisions moving from India to Wyoming.

Lakshmi “Lucky” Sen’s dad calls her a prairie dog — hesitant and scared on the side of the road. Now on a mission to fulfill her mom’s final wish, Lucky has to figure out saris, how to stop burning the spices, and the many other things she didn’t pay attention to while she was busy trying to fit in. But on the eve of her sister’s wedding, a family secret resurfaces, and Lucky realizes there might be a lot more about her mom and being a “good Indian daughter” that she doesn’t know.

A rare exploration of rural immigrant experiences in the American West, Cowboys and East Indians examines the question of how one understands their identity when they don’t see a reflection of it in their community.

Godspeed by Terence Anthony | Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg

World Premiere | Read at the 2024 Colorado New Play Summit

It’s 1865. Slavery has just been abolished in Texas. And a gunslinger named Godspeed returns to the Lone Star State with a six-shooter, one bullet, and vengeance on her mind.

Having escaped bondage by fleeing to Mexico a decade earlier, she’s ready to stare down danger and near-certain death as she sets out on a perilous journey across the frontier with both wanted and unwanted companions in tow. But, when the time comes to satisfy her own personal vendetta, an unexpected discovery will make her question if the vengeance she desires can deliver the justice she’s been seeking.

Steeped in the ethos of a classic Western, Godspeed casts light on an often-ignored chapter of American history while taking audiences on an epic theatrical adventure.

The 20th annual Colorado New Play Summit
February 14-15, 2026

All-inclusive weekend packages, including 4 play readings, 2 world premieres, plus meals, and special events, are now on sale! A La Carte tickets will go on sale on November 28.