The Mizzou New Play Series offers a glimpse into the passion, writing, and performance-crafting processes that accompany new play development! Seven brand new MU student-written plays will be performed as staged or concert readings and will include the opportunity to chat with (and provide feedback to) the playwrights themselves! 

Midwest Comfortable: A Devised Theatre Project (Friday, February 14, 7:30pm)

This full-length staged reading explores the life, work, and techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed founder Augusto Boal. Drawing from methods of devising, in which performers create and fine-tune the script during the rehearsal process, this performance uses poetry, movement, and short scenes to ultimately ask the question— how do we as a community get comfortable with learning uncomfortable things?

Short Plays Series (Saturday, February 15, 2:00pm)

This staged reading celebrates the new play development process by premiering several brand new short plays written by MU students, including: Alice Gee’s She’s Waiting for Me, Nate Brown’s Lloyd Gaines, Ben Baumgart’s Unpolished, Kennedy Rhoades’ Running Mates, Sophie Campos’ Love Thrown Away, and Andrew Smith’s Queen Bathsheba.

Sophie Campos’ Love Thrown Away, was selected as a finalist in the 2025 Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Ten Minute Play Festival, and is one of five new Mizzou-Made scripts featured at KCACTF this year.