When playwright and theatre professor Alvaro Saar Rios created the New Dramaworks Short Play Festival, he set out to accomplish two goals: showcase new work by UWM students and alumni and provide theatre students with an opportunity to work on something new.
“This is student-directed, student-acted, and student-produced, so it’s an opportunity to work on something that didn’t exist until recently,” Rios said. “That gives them an experience of what it means to work on something where the playwright is still living.”
Many theatre programs produce shows by playwrights who are no longer living, Rios noted. That eliminates the opportunity to connect directly with the playwright.
“There’s something different when a playwright can attend one of the readings—when you can have a conversation with them about the genesis of the play,” Rios added.
That’s exactly the kind of experience the New Dramaworks Short Play Festival makes possible.
From submission to production
A campus-wide call for submissions goes out about a year before the festival. New plays come from students majoring in a variety of disciplines.
This year’s festival includes works by students in creative writing, music, and architecture, alongside a range of theatre majors.
As curator of the festival, Rios leads a committee that ultimately selects the works that best serve its purpose.
“One of the things we look for are short plays that utilize between three and five actors—more, if possible,” Rios said. “This gives students more performance opportunities.”
Once the lineup is finalized, a reading in December gives playwrights the opportunity and encouragement to continue developing their work as it moves toward rehearsals. That’s also when student directors are paired with both a play and the person who wrote it.
“I always encourage them to get coffee or at least set up a Zoom meeting so they can talk about why they wrote the play,” he added.
From there, directors are mentored by theatre educator Ralph Janes, who ensures that students are prepared and empowered to turn what’s on the page into a fully realized theatrical work on stage.
A sampling of what’s on stage
Jackson Vinning, a senior acting major, is the writer behind Dreamland 2: Rise of Evil Beep Boop. His play is a continuation of Dreamland by alum Jerome Klockenkemper (BA 2025, Theatre Education), which debuted at the festival’s 2024 installment.
Vinning acted in Klockenkemper’s play and found himself deeply moved by the piece.
“I played Beep Boop in the first play and playing him was an entirely different experience than I have had as an actor,” Vinning said. “Because of how unique the story was, I wanted to see what I could do with the original universe and carry on its legacy.”
Senior theatre practices major Ambrose Schulte is excited to see his play, Proper Protocol, on the stage. Inspired by political discourse, Schulte’s play follows the struggle of two people fighting to take back their careers and lives after their employer is bought out by a corporate raider.
For Schulte, writing this play was a positive outlet for his frustrations.
“This play was created to explore and exaggerate political outrage in a corporate setting,” Schulte explained. “I wanted to show how far you could push someone before they stop playing by the rules and stand up for themselves.”
Junior acting and ASL student Joy Heatherly explores how art can heal in her play Now: Still, which follows three teens in a psychiatric facility as they prepare to perform Hamlet.
Heatherly incorporates her experience with mental health, sharing how live performance helped her in her healing journey.
“Now: Still comes from my own experience with mental health and my love for performing,” Heatherly said. “It’s going to show how acting and performance art can help in recovery, and I hope that gives someone hope.”
In all, there are ten new plays in this year’s festival, each as unique and meaningful as the students and alumni who wrote them.
“The plays represent what is important to the current student body of UWM, new works about what they want to talk about,” Rios said. “And that’s an important thing.”
The New Dramaworks Short Play Festival opens on May 6 and runs through May 10. For tickets and more information, visit the PSOA Event Calendar.
Story by Payton Murphy ’27 (BFA Film)