The Hippodrome Theatre’s Fifth Annual New Works Festival
✦ Florida Voices ✦
Submissions have closed
Winners will be announced January 13, 2025!
Development, rehearsals, and performances will run from Feb 23 – March 1, 2025.
Develop your work and join our community of artists!
Started in 2020, The Hippodrome Theatre’s annual New Works Festival was created to support narrative voices through the development and exploration of plays in traditional and experimental formats representing the diverse landscape of artists in Florida and their stories which reveal the American experience based on the kaleidoscope of identity. We support innovative, experimental or thought provoking material, formats, and styles.
Some of our selected plays have included the eco-feminist meditation on climate change in Florida in Jessica Farr’s experimental King Tide; an investigation of the cycle of incarceration and justice in Terrence through the eyes of a teen African-American boy as explored through the hip-hop poetry of Gainesville native Terrence Jackson, adapted for the stage with Jane Edwards; a musical experiment that investigates the space where identity, loneliness, and community meet in a new musical combining elements of opera and theater in Ken Pedersen’s Yes, No, Maybe Omm; an innovative-format play that takes a magical look at motherhood and LGBTQ+ identity in Monica Cross’ The Changeling; a look inside the lives of fast-food workers in The Ultimate Cheeseburger by Jena Rashid; competition, friendship, and divorce in the world of Magic, The Gathering in Slaymaker by Bethany Dickens Assaf.
Festival Details
Chosen playwrights spend one week in residence with a professional producer, director, and Equity or Equity-eligible actors.
Chosen plays receive a $300 prize
The festival presentations are concert readings and staged readings. The emphasis, therefore, is on the language and dialogue of a show.
Meet the Behind the Scenes Team
"The NWF allows us to support and be part of theater growing and changing which is what theater does best. Bringing new voices into the conversation and supporting emerging artists is a dream come true and an integral part of our mission. The festival is my favorite time every year."
“The New Works Festival is the culmination of a dream to provide developmental support to playwrights in a welcoming, nurturing, and dynamic environment.”
5th annual NWF Guest Judge
"After two wonderful experiences participating in the New Works Festival as a playwright, I am so excited to be participating as a guest judge this year! I am passionate about new plays and cannot wait to read the submissions.”
2025 Interns
Elizabeth Insuasti
Elizabeth Insuasti is a junior at the University of Florida studying History and Media Production. With a passion for storytelling and creative expression, she is very involved with the student filmmaking projects in Gainesville, including serving as an executive producer with Chompics Productions and F.E.M Films. She is also the founder of Lucero Films, a student organization that aims to support Hispanic and Latinx students in media production. She was also a previous immersion student at WUFT Media, where she got to practice high quality videography and editing for Amplified, Greater Goods, and other projects. Beyond media, she is actively involved in UF’s Hispanic Student Association as an Alumni Director, where they contribute to building community and promoting cultural unity. She has also served as Student Government senator, serving on the Judiciary Committee her entire term.
Ava Sickler
Ava Sickler is a student at the University of Florida, currently majoring in Stage Management. They have worked on several productions at UF's School of Theatre + Dance; they were the Production Assistant for Cabaret, a Deck Stage Manager for Blood at the Root and Pipeline, and the Stage Manager for Dust. They are also interested in graphic design, linguistics, and play/screenwriting. Ava is extremely excited to be interning at the Hipp for the New Works Festival, and is looking forward to working with the playwrights as they develop their scripts on stage!