Why new works?

Missed the Boat got its start through new work: our first show (before we were even really a company) was Catholic Young Adults: The Musical – we became a theater company because we saw how joyful it was for a theater artist to get to write a play, and for so many other artists to get to be a part of bringing it to life. As we continued to grow, we realized that we couldn't (and didn’t want to) limit ourselves to only new work, both because there are other great stories that deserve to be told in new and innovative ways, and because the number of new works being written today that we have access to and that align with our mission and artistic standards have been hard to find. 

We also know that writing and developing a full length play takes a lot of time, and often playwrights are not ready to debut their plays for years, because they juggle full-time jobs, families, and/or other vocations while pursuing their love of playwriting. And while there are many new plays being premiered all around the country every year, many of them do not align with our mission. Because of this, we knew we wanted to create a space and a community that can support the playwrights that do share our mission and our beliefs. 

We are interested in telling contemporary stories that engage with the world today –  because theater is a living, breathing art form. We want there to be more art and entertainment in the world, of stories that are true, good, and beautiful (AND compelling, intriguing, thought-provoking, funny, gut-wrenching, etc. – all the things you hope for in a good story). We have the ability to put on shows, and we WANT to see more art in the world that glorifies God (often implicitly). We are dedicated to producing new work because Catholic / Christian playwrights should be unafraid to tell their stories.

New Works Festival

Our New Works Festival was created to support such playwrights and to foster our relationship with them. To develop a script to be performance-ready, it is crucial to have the opportunity to have that play workshopped aloud, played around with by actors, and then to receive the feedback of an audience. A writer - especially one working solo - is only able to bring their own experiences to a text, while as soon as actors start working with the dialogue, they may notice things or ask questions about their characters that the playwright had not considered.

First and foremost, this Festival is a gift to writers to support their creative process. It is also an opportunity for us as a theater to see what else is out there. Especially at our current stage of growth, hosting this festival gives us the following opportunities: 

  • A chance to support new works (per our mission)

  • A chance to share with audiences that there are talented writers out there creating new plays that align with their values

  • A chance for actors to to work with a playwright and learn more about the creation process of a play

  • A chance to learn more about what great new works are out there and what stage of readiness they are at, so that we CAN select new plays for our season when we have open slots. Rather than being limited in our knowledge of what’s out there, we’ll have direct knowledge of a bunch of new plays and will develop relationships with playwrights near and far who we can contact about taking a show to the next level of full production when it’s ready.