Rough Draft Festival 2026 March 10-19
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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March 18 at 7:00 PM
RYBA-KIT | A Musical Folktale by Nadiya Atkinson
& Sammy Grob
A puppet-packed folktale musical where two kids chase ancestral myths through climate chaos to save what comes next.
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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.
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March 22 at 7:00 PM
THE 24 HOUR PLAYS
A one-night adrenaline sprint where LAGCC student writers, directors,
and actors create brand-new plays and musicals from scratch and perform them,
all in just 24 hours.
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*Workshop with invited guest artist.
Event Date:
March 10-19
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
