Rough Draft Festival 2026 March 10-22
Event Description
The Rough Draft Festival is a theater festival that provides innovative and boundary-pushing artists with space, resources, and support to further develop their works-in-progress.
The festival showcases a series of in-progress performances and staged readings, offering artists the chance to put their work on its feet while giving audiences a rare, behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative process.
Each year, LPAC selects up to 5 compelling and impactful projects and provides the time, space and resources to advance their development. These presentations often reflect the strength and depth of fully realized productions.
Presented by the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, the Rough Draft Festival is committed to offering meaningful exposure and professional support to artists creating new work. Submissions are reviewed by a selection committee composed of theater industry professionals, ensuring that all applications are evaluated with artistic rigor, fairness, and an eye toward innovation. This year, LPAC will present five works-in-progress selected through a highly competitive review process, as well as one returning artist.
CLICK HERE to access the Media Kit
ROUGH DRAFT 2026 - LINEUP:
March 10 at 7:00 PM
Mama/Run by Lester Mayers
A blistering choreopoem that asks why mothers leave and why the world judges faster than it understands.
March 12 at 7:00 PM
At the Edge of Chinatown by Simon Tam & Joe X. Jiang
A punk-powered new musical where third-culture kids remix tradition forging an identity that’s loud, tender, and entirely their own.
March 13 at 7:00 PM
108 Notes by Kanishk Pandey
Eve and Ava are currently testing to see if they can figure out what it means to know a person, with the help of some index cards. You're gonna help them too.
March 14 at 7:00 PM
The Life and Times of Daisy Forbes by Scout Davis*
A dazzling lip-sync collage about a showgirl at the edge of reinvention,
plus an artist workshop.
March 18 at 7:00 PM
RYBA-KIT | A Musical Folktale by Nadiya Atkinson
& Sammy Grob
A multilingual folktale musical where two kids chase ancestral myths through climate chaos to save what comes next.
March 19 at 3:00 PM
Roadkill by Libby Carr
A raw play about sisters, survival, and the secrets that keep echoing long after the damage is done.
March 22 at 7:00 PM
THE 24 HOUR PLAYS: THE ARTIST INCUBATOR
A one-night adrenaline sprint where the artist incubator cohort of student writers, directors, and actors create brand-new plays from scratch and perform them,
all in just 24 hours.
*Workshop with invited guest artist.
Event Date:
March 10-22
at 3PM or 7PM
Location:
Mainstage Blackbox/Little Theater
Ticket Price:
General Admission $10
Students FREE w/ RSVP*
*student ID will be required at the door
