Lineup announced for 2026 SC New Play Festival

The South Carolina New Play Festival has announced full casting and creative teams for its 2026 festival, a milestone 5th anniversary season that includes the organization’s first world-premiere production, The House I Live In: Josh White’s America. From July 29- August 9 SCNPF will present a multi-day lineup of full productions, developmental readings of new plays and musicals, variety shows, street fairs, cabarets, and a musical theater scholarship contest that transforms Greenville into a hub of theatrical innovation.

At the center of this year’s festival is The House I Live In: Josh White’s America, an original musical commissioned by SCNPF and written by Donnetta Lavinia Grays with music and lyrics by Josh White, directed by Tamilla Woodard (resident director at Yale Repertory Theater, Chair of the Acting Program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale) with musical direction by Wesley Hix.

Leading the company as Josh White is Kena Anae. He is joined by Debo Balogun (Goodman Theatre: Covenant, graveyard shift, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing, Richard III, Measure for Measure) as Paul Robeson/Papa. Other casting includes Tinasha LaRayé as Carol White; Clark E. Nesbitt (Founder and Director of Clark Nesbitt’s No Dreams Deferred) as Leonard du Paur/Ensemble; Guillermo Jemmott Jr. as Waring Cuney/Ensemble; Isaiah Hogue as Richard Wright/Ensemble; Jacob Seay as Pete Seeger/Ensemble; Kirsten Brock (Centre Stage: The Color Purple) as Mama/Billie Holiday/Ensemble; Nykila Norman as Zora Neale Hurston/Ensemble; Michael Hart as Woody Guthrie/FDR/Ensemble; and Erica Doran (Nat’l Tour: Hair) as Libby Holman/Eleanor/Ensemble.

In addition to the world premiere production of The House I Live In: Josh White’s America, SCNPF will present four staged readings of new works:

The Communist Revolution: A Ninth-Grade European History Project (there will be a practical demonstration), a new play by Grace McLeod (Geffen: Closing Costs) and directed by SCNPF Artistic Director Shelley Butler follows a teenager who takes her history project to the extreme by launching a backyard communist revolution. The reading will take place Friday, August 7 at 7pm at Greenville Theatre and will feature Siri Howard (Broadway: The Sound of Music, Les Miserables) as Caroline, Oona Borovicka as Sasha, and Matias Cruz (Recent Graduate of UNC School of Arts) as Tommy.

Night Game, a new play by Octavio Solis (Lydia, Santos & Santos, Man of the Flesh) and directed by Lisa Portes (Chair of the Theatre and Dance Department at University of California, San Diego), centers on baseball legend Ted Williams. Night Game is presented in partnership with La Jolla Playhouse and will perform Saturday, August 8 at 10am and 2pm at the Warehouse Theatre. Night Game will feature Michael Manuel as Ted Williams, Jose Cantillo  as Danny Williams, and Brock Koonce (The Warehouse Theatre: Twelfth Night) as The Broadcaster.

Fission, by Cindy Lou Johnson (Brilliant Traces, The Years) and directed by Kimberly Colburn, follows scientists Lise Meitner and Otto Hahn as their discovery of nuclear fission reshapes history—and destroys their thirty-year partnership. It is presented in partnership with Seattle Repertory Company and will perform Saturday, August 8 at 7pm at Greenville Theatre. Fission will feature Eliza Pagelle (Off Broadway: All the World’s a Stage) as Lise, Sam Lilja as Otto Hahn, Kevin Symons (TV/Film: Parks and Recreation, The West Wing, Veronica Mars), as Max Planck, Lea Seaton as Meitner, Adell Ehrhorn as Elisabeth Schiemann/Margrethe Bohr, and Patrick Kelly (Off Broadway: The Cherry Orchard Sequel) as Kurt Hess/Ernst Rutherford/Niels Bohr/Registrar.

Twelve Kinds of Ice by Ben Steinfeld and directed by Rick Dildine (Artistic Director at Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis) is a musical for all ages in which cold temperatures and warm hearts unite to tell a tender story that takes us from spotting the first glaze of ice to building an ice rink and hosting skating shows, hockey games, and moonlit solos. It is presented in partnership with Children’s Theater Company and will perform Friday, August 7 at 2pm at the Cristal Palace, and Saturday, August 8, at 2pm at Clemson University. It will feature Abby Gilbert as Ellen and Neil Shurley (South Carolina Children’s Theatre: Beauty and the Beast) as Dad.

In addition to these productions, the 2026 festival will present the SPINX Market Live Arts Fair, hosted by award-winning performer Christina Gelsone . The event will take place on Main Street and Falls Park Drive on August 8 from 10am to 1pm and later that evening, the festival’s featured acrobats will come together under the canopy of the Cristal Palace Spiegeltent for a Late-Night Variety Show on Saturday, August 8, at 9:30pm.

The festival will also continue South Carolina’s Next Broadway Star, a scholarship program supporting talented teens across the state. Finalists will perform at the Cristal Palace and receive scholarships and training opportunities and will culminate with the Broadway Cabaret starring Drew Gehling. Gehling, currently starring on Broadway in & Juliet, made his Broadway debut as Bob Gaudio in Jersey Boys and originated the role of Dr. Jim Pomatter in Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson’s Waitress.

The South Carolina New Play Festival is led by Executive Director West Hyler, Managing Director Morgan Patterson, Artistic Director Shelley Butler, and Associate Artistic Director Kimberly Colburn. Casting is by Merri Sugarman, C.S.A.

For tickets, applications, and full festival details, visit www.scnpf.org. 

About The South Carolina New Play Festival

The South Carolina New Play Festival exists to illuminate new theatrical works that entertain, challenge conventions, and invite audiences to be part of the creative process. Now in its fifth year, the festival has become a dynamic force in the national new play ecosystem and a celebrated summer tradition in Greenville, SC. The staff includes Executive Director, West Hyler, Artistic Director, Shelley Butler, Managing Director, Morgan Patterson, and Associate Artistic Director, Kimberly Colburn. To learn more, visit www.scnpf.org and follow along @southcarolinanewplayfest.