Local Playwriting Group Selects Scripts for Staged Readings
Cincinnati, Ohio—July 7, 2026—Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI) Board of Directors is proud to announce the selected scripts for its New Voices 2026/2027 season which will showcase both new and emerging local playwrights.
The following CPI members will have their Full-length and One-Act plays performed as staged readings at the Fifth Third Theater in downtown Cincinnati on the following five Tuesday evenings.
- September 15, 2026
The Opposite of Failure: a Full-Length play by Nancy Robinson Crist - October 20, 2026
What Might Have Been: a Full-Length Drama by Leo Bradley - November 17, 2026
Who Gets Grandma’s Eyeball: a One-Act play by Paul Bergman
Waiting Room Commerce: a One-Act play by Jon Singer - February 12-14, 2027
Lovefest 4
CPI’s annual ten-minute play festival fundraiser returns for a fourth time to support the Save the Animals Foundation’s no-kill shelter on Red Bank Road in Cincinnati.
Eight short plays celebrating love and romance will be performed as fully staged productions on Valentine’s weekend at the Evendale Bell Tower Pavilion.
Selected plays will be announced in October, 2026
Tickets will go on sale separately in December for this event which is always a sell-out. - March 30, 2027
Arc of Luminescence: a full-length play by Michael Defrancesco - April 27, 2027
Behind the Scene: a full-length 1933 comedy period piece by Susan and Doug Decatur
Twenty-minute audience talkback sessions are conducted for staged readings at the end of each performance. Written feedback forms will be obtained from the audience for Lovefest 4.
Season tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 7 through Tuesday, September 15, 2026 for $45 which includes all 5 staged reading dates at the Aronoff and can be purchased online at www.cincinnatiarts.org/events/detail/cincinnati-playwrights-initiative-2026-2027-new-voices-series or by calling the Aronoff box office at 513-621-2787. Single event tickets also go on sale July 7, 2026 for
$11 each. Lovefest 4 tickets will be sold separately in December, 2026 with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the local non-profit Save the Animals Foundation. All ticket prices are inclusive of service fees.
CPI is a non-profit theater arts organization whose mission is to support playwrights in the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area by offering free playwriting workshops, staged readings and full produced plays to provide valuable feedback so that scripts can be further developed for future productions or publication.
To join CPI, visit the website at www.cincyplaywrights.org or follow on social media both on Facebook www.facebook.com/cincyplaywrights and X www.x.com/cincyplaywright.
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Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 