FutureFest 2026
July 17 – 19 @ Dayton Playhouse
FutureFest is Dayton Playhouse's annual festival dedicated to discovering and celebrating new works for the stage. Each year, six finalist plays are brought to life as either fully staged productions or staged readings, with their playwrights in attendance as special guests.
Friday, July 17
DRESS - Dominic Finocchiaro
July 17, 8 p.m.
Directed by Melissa Ertsgaard
Cast:
Chuck: Frank Maranje
Ted: Nate Pryor
Martin: Joshua Ziegler
Clem: Jo James
Danielle: Luna Madison
Elijah: Matthew T. Fergus
Martin's surprising fashion choice sets his friend group of Brooklyn hipsters into a tailspin, reopening old wounds and leading them to question the very basis of what holds them together. A dark social comedy about liberal blindspots and the messy minefield that is gender in the 21st century.
Saturday, July 18
POCKETS Linda Ramsay-Detherage
July 18, 1 p.m.
Directed by Debra Kent
Cast:
Mona - Cassandra Engber
Mike - Jim Hagan
Lilith - Lynn Vanderpool
Max - Chuck Larkowski
Judge - Cheryl Mellen
After putting her career on hold to raise her son and support her husband's rise in the US Attorney's office, Mona finds herself divorced, alone, and in a low paying job that barely covers her debt and her rent at an age when most women are thinking about retirement. While she is struggling to put her life together, Mona not only discovers she has a very special talent, but risks everything for the joy of using it.
VICHY - Barry Slater
July 18, 7 p.m.
Directed by Jennifer Lockwood
Cast:
Elyce - Malina Hazzard-Hart
Phillippe - Tyler Hammack
Camille - Emma Allington
Emma - Shana Fishbein
When a young man returns Elyce’s lost ration book in Nazi-occupied Vichy, France, she’s torn between trust and suspicion. Her friend Emma, a Jewish mother, begs for help hiding her daughter. As danger grows, Elyce relies more on the man Emma fears is the enemy—until a final reckoning reveals the truth.
Sunday, July 19
AT THE BROKEN PLACES - Paul Coleman
July 19, 10 a.m.
Directed by Saul Caplan
Cast:
Mike: Ian Manuel
Jimmy: Ian Snapp
Devon: Colson Littrell
Franny: Debra Strauss
Karl: Jamie McQuinn
Worried that his son Devon--who is on the neurodiversity spectrum--might be harboring suicidal thoughts, Mike reaches out as a last resort to his half-brother Jimmy, Devon's uncle. But the men face a challenge they never expected; a challenge made more desperate because of secrets that could destroy their fragile bonds--or be the underpinnings of mercy.
CHAGUTOK - Vince Gatton
July 19, 3 p.m.
Directed by Jenna Gomes
Cast:
Tasha - Isabella Japs
Rex - David Sherman
Mary Jo - Jennifer Hanauer
Daniel - Garrett Wimberly
Four Americans each make a solitary pilgrimage to a remote, unpopulated Alaskan island, hoping to witness a mysterious atmospheric phenomenon known as the Chagutok Lights, which occurs only once every 17 years. These people-skills-challenged individuals find themselves stuck in each other’s company, but they manage...until a dead body appears. And it's just the first. Alone on this barren island, these four loners must work together to solve the mysteries of the dead, the Lights, and each other.