Feb 14 & 15, 2026 HELEN BONFILS THEATRE COMPLEX MAP
Celebrating 20 years of the Colorado New Play Summit!
Our stories start with you… Before a story can sweep you off to another world comes a whole lot of collaboration. After coaxing an idea into a script, playwrights can rely on the expertise of dramaturgs, directors, and actors to offer valuable insights during their rewriting process. But nothing compares to presenting a piece to a live audience.
Join us for the 20th annual Colorado New Play Summit, where new works are shaped in real time. Your presence and response will help fuel the creative process of some of theatre’s most exciting voices as you experience four staged readings and two fully produced Theatre Company productions: the world premieres of Cowboys and East Indians and Godspeed, both of which were featured readings at the 2024 Summit.
This milestone year is a tribute to two decades of innovation, collaboration, and theatrical discovery—don’t miss your chance to shape what’s next.
“Arguably local theater’s premiere event” – The Denver Post
LINEUP
Learn more about the four featured new play readings and two world premiere productions through the tabs below!
Influent by Isaac Gómez
“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.

Lemuria by Bonnie Antosh
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.

BONNIE ANTOSH (She/Her) is a playwright and screenwriter from both Carolinas and New York. She’s a staff member and Tennessee Williams Scholar at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and a Concord OOB Short Play Festival winner. Recently, her work has been performed and developed by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Threshold Theater in Minneapolis, PlayPenn, The Road in LA, and City Theatre Miami. Her EST/Sloan commission Lemuria is the winner of the NC New Play Project’s Mark Gilbert Award; it’s also been a finalist for Seven Devils and a semi-finalist for Ojai. BA: Yale. BonnieAAntosh.com
The Myth of the Two Marcos by Tony Meneses
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 the 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.

TONY MENESES was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and raised in Albuquerque/Dallas. At the DCPA: twenty50. Old Globe: El Borracho and The Hombres. Two River Theater: Guadalupe in the Guest Room, The Hombres, and A Thousand Maids. Alum: Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab, Ars Nova Play Group, Sundance Playwrights Retreat at Ucross, Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship. Development: DCPA’s Colorado New Play Summit, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor, Old Globe’s Powers Fest, South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwrights Festival and New SCRipt Series, The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. He’s a resident playwright in New Dramatists and published by DPS and TRW. Education: UT Austin, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, Juilliard.
You Should be So Lucky by Alyssa Haddad-Chin
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.

ALYSSA HADDAD-CHIN (She/Her) is a Brooklyn-based Lebanese American playwright, educator, and arts facilitator. Her play, You Should Be So Lucky, received the 2025 American Blues Theater Blue Ink Award for Playwriting. She has developed work with New York Theatre Workshop, The Playwrights Realm, Mercury Store, Clubbed Thumb, Keen Company, Premiere Stages at Kean, B Street Theatre, The People’s Theatre, and others. She is the Company and Community Manager at Target Margin Theater, a Resident Artist at Breaking & Entering Co., a New Georges Affiliated Artist, and a member of the Dramatists Guild. MFA: NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Alyssahaddad.com
Cowboys and East Indians by Nina McConigley and Matthew Spangler
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.

NINA MCCONIGLEY is the author of Cowboys and East Indians (Viking) and How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder (Pantheon). Cowboys and East Indians was the winner of the PEN Open Book Award and High Plains Book Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Orion, O, Oprah Magazine, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Short Fiction, and Ploughshares, among others. In 2019-2020, she was the Walter Jackson Bate fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Creative Writing Fellowship. She teaches at Colorado State University.

MATTHEW SPANGLER. The Kite Runner from Khaled Hosseini’s novel (Broadway, West End, U.S. & U.K. tours); The Beekeeper of Aleppo co-written with Nesrin Alrefaai, from Christy Lefteri’s novel (U.K. tour); Operation Ajax co-written with Farshad Farahat; Tortilla Curtain from T.C. Boyle’s novel (San Diego Rep); Albatross co-written with Benjamin Evett (off-Broadway); Striking Back co-written with Kellie Hughes, from Mary Manning and Sinead O’Brien’s memoir (Dublin Theatre Festival); Forgotten Empress co-written with Farah Yasmeen Shaikh (Z Space, San Francisco). Matthew is Professor of Performance Studies at San José State University, California; and Writer in Residence at the Hinterland Festival, Ireland.
Godspeed by Terence Anthony
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.

TERENCE ANTHONY is a playwright and TV writer based in Los Angeles. TV credits include the Paramount+ show “Lawmen: Bass Reeves” and an upcoming series for Netflix. He is currently developing a limited series with Escape Artists Entertainment. Terence’s plays have been seen at the Alcove/Lortel Theatre, Colorado New Play Summit, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, PlayPenn Conference, Chicago Dramatists, RADAR LA Festival, and Great Plains Theatre Conference. Theater credits include: The House of the Negro Insane (World Premiere, Contemporary American Theater Festival, 2022 + National Black Theater Conference, 2022), Burners (2017 Ovation nominee), Euphrates (Max K. Lerner Playwriting Fellowship), Tombolo (O’Neill Conference finalist).
PACKAGE OPTIONS
Packages grant you access to all the readings and plays featured in the Summit, plus the Summit Lunch and Dinner, and the Playwright’s Slam. If you’d prefer to only participate in one or a handful of readings, A La Carte tickets to individual events will be available on November 26.
| Regular Price Starting Jan 13 | Early Bird Price Buy before 11:59pm on Jan 5 – SOLD OUT | |
| DCPA Theatre Company Subscribers | $199* *Total package price reflects a base price of $190 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $9 service fee. | *Total package price reflects a base price of $175 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $9 service fee. |
| General Admission | $314* *Total package price reflects a base price of $290 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $24 service fee. | *Total package price reflects a base price of $265 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $22.50 service fee. |
| Students | $186.20* *Total package price reflects a base price of $173 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $13.20 service fee. | |
| Ages 35 & Under | $205* *Total package price reflects a base price of $190 (inclusive of applicable 10% city seat tax) plus a $15 service fee. |
| Early Bird Price Buy before 11:59pm on Dec 1 | Regular Price Starting Dec 2 | |
| General Admission | $285.56* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $242 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $43.56 service fee. | $333.94* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $283 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $50.94 service fee. |
| General Admission, Theatre Company Subscribers Excludes Cowboys and East Indians and Godspeed that are included in the Full Season Theatre Company subscription. | $179.36* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $152 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $27.36 service fee. | $204.14* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $173 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $31.14 service fee. |
| General Admission, Students | $206.50* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $175 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $31.50 service fee. | |
| General Admission, Ages 35 & Under | $220.66* *Total package price reflects a base ticket price of $187 (inclusive of a 10% city seat tax) plus a $33.66 service fee. |
SCHEDULE
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
11:30am: Registration in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex Lobby
12:30pm: New play readings
- Orange Track: Lemuria in the Wolf Theatre
- Blue Track: You Should Be So Lucky in the Kilstrom Theatre
3:30pm: New play readings
- Orange Track: Influent in the Kilstrom Theatre
- Blue Track: The Myth of the Two Marcos in the Wolf Theatre
6:30-7:45pm: Summit Dinner in the Seawell Ballroom
8pm: World Premiere Production – Cowboys and East Indians in the Singleton Theatre
10pm: Playwrights’ Slam in the Jones Theatre
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15
9:30am: High School Playwriting Competition in the Randy Weeks Conservatory Theatre
11:30am: Lunch in the Seawell Ballroom
12:30pm: New play readings
- Orange Track: You Should Be So Lucky in the Kilstrom Theatre
- Blue Track: Lemuria in the Wolf Theatre
3:30pm: New play readings
- Orange Track: The Myth of the Two Marcos in the Wolf Theatre
- Blue Track: Influent in the Kilstrom Theatre
Dinner on your own
8pm: World Premiere Production – Godspeed in the Kilstrom Theatre
10pm: Summit Wrap Party
MEET THE ACTORS
SPONSORS
Premiere Sponsors


Supporting Sponsors

Summit Sponsors

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Please feel free to contact us with any other questions not answered here.
What is a reading?
New play readings are how we showcase the essence of a story without production elements like scenery, staging, lights and costumes. Think of it like watching a live radio program being recorded. Our actors stand on stage, scripts handy, and perform the lines with all of the passion of a final production. The audience gets all of the emotion of a fully-produced performance, just stripped down. This allows the playwright, director and audience to focus entirely on the language and story.
Who are the industry attendees?
Every year the Colorado New Play Summit attracts theatre industry leaders and artists from over 20 states. This includes playwrights, directors, actors, dramaturgs, artistic directors, literary managers, casting directors, managers, agents and other representatives from theatre companies throughout the country. Click here to view a list of industry leaders and artists who attended the 2025 Colorado New Play Summit.
How can I submit a play to be considered for the future?
Thank you for your interest in sharing your work with the Denver Center Theatre Company. To learn more about our Play Submission process, click here.
Do I get to choose a seat?
Readings and events are general admission, so you will get to choose your seat when you arrive. Our theatres are intimate enough that every seat will give you a great view of the action, but if you’d like to find somewhere to sit with a group, we recommend arriving at the reading at least 15 minutes early. The world premieres will have assigned seats; all of the tickets in your order will be seated together.
What are the Orange and Blue Tracks? Which should I choose?
Summit Weekend offers two tracks — orange and blue — which are simply the order in which you’ll see the readings. Both tracks include all readings and events, but due to the sizes of our theatres, we have to split the size of our audience into two groups that see different plays concurrently. If you’re attending the Summit with a group, make sure you buy tickets to the same track.
Will I get physical tickets or is there Will Call?
A La Carte Summit Weekend buyers may opt-in to receive a name badge, but will still receive individual tickets for their events.
Those with all-inclusive passes may pick up their badges and world premiere tickets at registration upon arrival. Please wear your badge to gain entry to all events. Registration will be located inside the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex. If you are arriving late for Summit Weekend or have any questions during the Summit, please see a box office agent. The main ticket counter is located inside the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex.
How do I get to the Summit?
All of our events will be located in the Denver Performing Arts Complex in downtown Denver. The intersection of 14th and Curtis streets is a good pick-up and drop-off location for all venues. Most Summit events take place in the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex.
Using a map app? Our exact address is 1400 Curtis Street, Denver, CO 80204.
Where should I stay for the Summit?
As a Summit attendee, you get exclusive Summit discount rates at nearby partner hotels. Check back here for details at a later date.
How can I get around Denver?
Avoid the cost and hassle of parking downtown with these options:
CAR TRANSPORTATION:
Ride-sharing Services: Both Lyft and Uber operate in Denver.
Taxis: A taxi stand is available just across 14th Street at The Curtis Hotel. Or, our staff is happy to call a cab from the Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex.
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION:
Bus: RTD offers more than 15 bus routes that pick up and drop off within one block of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. When planning your route to the Complex, put in “Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street” as your cross streets to get the best results. Light Rail: RTD Light Rail lines D, F and H all make stops at 14th & Champa, beneath the Colorado Convention Center. When planning your route to the Complex, put in “Speer Boulevard and Arapahoe Street” as your cross streets to get the best results. Airport Train: If you’re traveling to Denver and arrive at Denver International Airport, you can take RTD’s A Line Train straight to Union Station in downtown Denver, which is within walking distance of the Arts Complex and many area hotels.
BIKE & SCOOTER TRANSPORTATION:
News and media
See photos and read more about the Colorado New Play Summit from local and national writers who have experienced it.
History of readings
Learn who has been commissioned, who has contributed and which readings have gone on to full productions here and around the country.
Summit Successes Keep Coming
Over more than 40 years, our Theatre Company season has produced over 400 plays from scratch, including many that got their start as a reading. By commissioning new plays and presenting the Colorado New Play Summit, we underwrite the important work required of playwrights, invest in the future of the American Theatre and keep our finger on the pulse of contemporary writing.

Leana Rae Concepcion in Rattlesnake Kate. Music and Lyrics by Neyla Pekarek. Book by Karen Hartman. Photo by andrewkellyphotography.com

Monnae Michaell and the cast of In the Upper Room by Beaufield Berry. Photo by Adams VisCom

Tara Falk and Gareth Saxe in You Lost Me by Bonnie Metzgar. Photo by Adams VisCom

(l-r) Blanca Camacho, Frankie J. Alvarez, Valentina Guerra and Zeus Mendoza in twenty50 by Tony Meneses. Photo by Adams VisCom

Bob Ari and Linden Tailor in The Great Leap. Photo by Adams VisCom

The company of Human Error by Eric Pfeffinger. Photo by Adams VisCom

Erin Cherry and Bianca LaVerne Jones in Last Night and the Night Before by Donnetta Lavinia Grays. Photo by Adams VisCom

Robert Montano and Kathleen McCall in Two Degrees by Tira Palmquist. Photo by Adams VisCom

The company of The Book of Will. Photo by Adams VisCom

The company of American Mariachi. Photo by Adams VisCom

Eddie Martinez and Mariana Fernández in FADE by Tanya Saracho. Photo by Adams Visual Communication

(l-r) David Mason, Carly Street, Andrea Syglowski and Kevin Berntson in The Nest by Theresa Rebeck. Photo by Adams Visual Communication

(l-r) Darrie Lawrence and Lenne Klingaman in Appoggiatura by James Still. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen

(l-r) Nance Williamson, Zoe Delaney Stahlhut, Kathleen McCall and Billie McBride in Benediction. Adapted by Eric Schmiedl from the novel by Kent Haruf. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen

Casey Predovic and Cynthia Bastidas in Just Like Us by Karen Zacarías. Based on the book by Helen Thrope. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen

(l-r) Jeanne Paulsen and Judith Hawking in The Most Deserving by Catherine Trischmann. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen

(l-r) Cleavant Derricks and Tony Todd in black odyssey by Marcus Gardley. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen

Ben Huber and Jamie Ann Romero in the Denver Center Theatre Company’s world premiere production of The Legend of Georgia McBride. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen

Mary Michael Patterson and Jeremiah James in Sense and Sensibility The Musical. Book and Lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow. Music by Neal Hampton. Based on the novel by Jane Austen. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen

John Hutton and Julie Jesneck in Grace, Or the Art of Climbing by Lauren Feldman. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen

Annie Purcell in Ed, Downloaded by Michael Mitnick. Photo by Jennifer M Koskinen

Tom Alan Robbins in The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter. Photo by Terry Shapiro

(l-r) Mimi Lieber, Catherine E. Coulson and the cast of Two Things You Don’t Talk About at Dinner by Lisa Loomer. Photo by Terry Shapiro

(l-r) Christopher Kelly, Jacob Knoll and Mike Hartman in Great Wall Story by Lloyd Suh

(l-r) Stephanie Janssen and Jessica Love in Map of Heaven by Michele Lowe

(l-r) Mike Hartman and Ian Merrill Peakes in The Catch. By Ken Weitzman

Lauren Klein and Mike Hartman in Eventide. Adapted by Eric Schmiedl from the novel by Kent Haruf.

(l-r) Beth Malone, John Scherer, Michael Halling and Gregg Goodbrod in The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Lyrics and music by Meredith Willson. Book by Dick Scanlon. Based on the original book by Richard Morris. Photo by Jennifer M. Koskinen

Ian Merrill Peakes and Jessica Love in When Tang Met Laika by Rogelio Martinez

Piter Marek and Mahira Kakkar in Inana by Michele Lowe

(l-r) Chloe Nosan and Charlotte Booker in Dusty and the Big Bad World by Cusi Cram.

Suzy Jane Hunt in Our House by Theresa Rebeck. Photo by Terry Shapiro

(l-r) Philip Pleasants, Mike Hartman and Kathleen McCall in Plainsong. Adapted by Eric Schmiedl from the novel by Kent Haruf

John Livingstone Rolle in 1001 by Jason Grote. Photo by Terry Shapiro

James Rana and Kate MacCluggage in Hotter Than Egypt. Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography.

Maggie Bofill and Stephanie Machado in Laughs in Spanish. Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography.
Contact Us
Have a question about the Summit that’s not answered here? First-timer and not sure where to start? We’re here to help. Let us know what’s on your mind and we will get back to you soon.
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