In 2014, Artistic Director Carol Dunne and the leadership team of Northern Stage made a commitment to develop new work for the American theater by launching a New Works Now Festival featuring readings of works in progress on the mainstage. Since then, the New Works program has grown to include providing additional workshops throughout the season for works under commission, producing New Works Now-nurtured plays as part of our mainstage season, and making a concerted effort to shepherd these plays into a bright future on the American stage.
Developing new works directly supports Northern Stage’s mission to change lives, one story at a time. Giving playwrights, directors and their collaborators time and space to develop a new piece not only supports the development of a new play, but can also change artists’ career trajectories. Our Vermont location, away from the pressures of the New York industry and press, allows for more artistic risk and experimentation. Furthermore, bringing in fresh voices allows our audience to interact with a diverse set of perspectives about the world today.
Northern Stage is thrilled to have produced the first full production of 15 new plays!
The annual Neukom Literary Arts Award for Playwriting is a cornerstone of Northern Stage’s new works programming. Established in 2018, the Neukom award supports a play that addresses the question “what does it mean to be a human in a computerized world?” The award is a partnership between the Neukom Institute for Computational Science, Dartmouth College’s Department of Theater, and Northern Stage. Winning playwrights receive a $5,000 award and a workshop of the play culminating in public readings at both Northern Stage and Dartmouth College. The program also gives Dartmouth students a chance to work with professionals on premiere pieces of theater staging revolutionary artistic representations of questions they discuss in the classroom, while providing writers the chance to hone their craft and experiment with subject matter rarely depicted onstage.
The Age of Mary follows Mary, an actress in her 70s cast to play a teenager in a big-budget motion-capture film. As Mary and three other characters navigate a physical movie set designed to produce digital entertainment, they struggle to reconcile their real identities with the roles they are asked to inhabit.
The Age of Mary received staged readings at Northern Stage and Dartmouth College from April 24-April 26, 2026 with the following cast:
Caitlin O’Connell* as Mary
Lauren Mills (Dartmouth ’27) as Sarah
Ethan Dubin* as Russell
Frederick Weller* as David
The reading was directed by Anne Kauffman with Production Stage Manager Kira Barnes.
The 2024 Neukom Award-winning Intimate Surveillance probes deep at technology’s role in our private lives. When disgraced entrepreneur Mina Azimi sits down with storied journalist David Mendez, a seemingly innocent interview on Mina’s new invention quickly unravels out of her control with David’s relentless and searing questions. Stewart’s timely and taut 90-minute drama unfolds in real-time over one charged conversation, pushing Mina – and all of us – to grapple with the reality and consequences of allowing technology to surveil some of our most intimate aspects of life.
Intimate Surveillance received staged readings at Northern Stage and Dartmouth College on February 14 & 15, 2025, with the following cast:
Ellena Eshraghi as Mina
Gilbert Cruz* as David
The reading was directed by Marie Cisco with Production Stage Manager Kevin David Thomas.
The 2023 Neukom Award-winning Instagirl puts social media and influencer culture center stage unlike any other piece. The emotional feminist comedy focuses on a house of Instagram influencers and their perpetual struggle in pursuit of fame and success. When an AI influencer is brought into the house as a final attempt by their agency to revive their dwindling careers, her arrival rips open the facade kept up by these young women and probes hard at what lies at the core of authenticity and humanity. Jessica Moss’s uniquely comic portrayal of these young influencers is fresh and bold, yet compelling to all, regardless of one’s familiarity with social media.
Instagirl received staged readings at Northern Stage and Dartmouth College from April 25-27, 2024, with the following cast:
Kate Budney (Dartmouth ’21) as Summer
Lily Easter (Dartmouth ’25) as Mel
Ashton Heyl* as Ingrid
Elle Muller (Dartmouth ’24) as Jacqueline
Sophia Serpas (Dartmouth ’24) as Dani
Sarah Grace Williams (Dartmouth ’25) as Brooke
Caroline Wong (Dartmouth ’23+1) as Eliza
Julia Zichy (Dartmouth ’27) as Ariana
Understudy – Dulce Silva (Dartmouth ’25)
The reading was directed by Sarah Elizabeth Wansley with Production Stage Manager Julia Egizio.
Told over the course of 90 years, Sisters tracks Matilda and Greta, a pair of sisters, growing up, learning from each other, dealing with responsibility and loss, fighting viciously, drifting apart, and eventually coming back together. They’re just like any other sisters. Oh, except Greta is an artificially intelligent computer program. But other than that…
Sisters received staged readings at Northern Stage and Dartmouth College on January 12 & 13, 2023, with the following cast:
Madeleine Barker as Greta
Jihan Haddad as Matilda
Understudy – Elle Muller (Dartmouth College ’24)
The reading was directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy with Production Stage Manager Brandy (Yijin) Zhang (Dartmouth College ’22).
The play received a full production at Northern Stage from October 2-22, 2024 with Barker and Haddad reprising their roles. The production was directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy with Production Stage Manager Julia Egizio.
Bill is in Alaska and AG is in NY. They’re old High School pals who have nearly forgotten about one another. When they reconnect over AIM after not speaking for 20 years, they find that looking back might help them remember who they are.
meet you at the Galaxy diner. received a staged reading during Dartmouth College’s VoxFest on July 18, 2021. It received another staged reading at Northern Stage on July 30, 2022 with the following cast:
Alisha Espinosa as Actor 1
Lorenzo Landini as Bill
Stacery Raymond as Silver
Bari Robinson as Adam
Akyiaa Wilson as AG
The reading was directed by Rebecca Martinez with Production Stage Manager Caroline Ragland.
A community of truckers in a small town in Iowa are forced to shift gears when they lose their jobs to self-driving vehicles. When Gloria becomes the only trucker in town still employed, resentments surface and tensions escalate. Set in a time not far down the road, Drive explores our collective fears for the future and what happens when individuals who are fiercely defined by their work are forced to reevaluate what drives them.
Drive received a virtual reading as a part of Dartmouth College’s VoxFest on July 30, 2020. The reading was directed by Dina Vovsi and featured J. Stephen Brantley, Abigail Gampel, Carene Rose Mekertichyan (Dartmouth College ’16), Lee Sellars, Nidra Sous La Terre, and Andrea Syglowski.
Drive received a staged reading at Northern Stage on January 16, 2021, with the following cast:
Allison Jean White as Jo
CJ Wilson as Cliff
Jayla McDonald as Ainsley
Larry Bull as Arthur
Nehassaiu DeGannes as Gloria
Johanna Day as Arlene
The reading was directed by Michael Legg.
When his estranged, alcoholic father is diagnosed with liver cancer, computer scientist Jorge dreams up a nursing app to manage the disease in his stead. As the machine’s capabilities grow, however, the possibility of leaving it in charge of the treatment becomes more real, forcing Jorge to reckon with his responsibilities as a son and as a creator. Dealing with issues of immigration, legacy and life dreams, Machine Learning explores what it means to be children – and what it means to be parents.
Machine Learning received a reading as a part of Dartmouth College’s VoxFest on July 7, 2019. The play received a staged reading at Northern Stage on January 10, 2020, with the following cast:
Fernando Gonzalez* as Jorge
Jose Antonio Melián as Gabriel
Michael Maerlender as Arnold
Shetal Shah* as Anita
The reading was directed by Gabriel Vega Weissman with Production Stage Manager Ciara Allinder.
Dr. Rosalinda Tamayo and her research partner Dr. Harold Cooper have created one of history’s greatest scientific breakthroughs. Her name is Athena. Now Dr. Roz and Athena are showing up at Roz’s mother’s door with a problem. It turns out that just because Athena and her body are bleeding edge technology doesn’t mean they’re not subject to the same questions women have been grappling with for centuries.
Choices People Make received a reading as a part of Dartmouth College’s VoxFest 2018. The play received a staged reading at Northern Stage on , with the following cast:
Teresa Avia Lim* as Dr. Rosalinda Tamayo
Virginia Wing* as Sharon Tamayo
Noelle Franco* as Athena
Ryan McCarthy as Dr. Harold Cooper
The reading was directed by Daniela Varon with Production Stage Manager Ciara Heaps.
Thank you for your interest in Northern Stage and New Works Now!
The New Work department is continuously on the lookout for artists and works that are aligned with Northern Stage’s risk-taking aesthetic and values. We seek out this work by connecting with artists, by attending performances, festivals, and readings, as well through relationships with agents and colleagues.
At this time, submission for the New Works Now Festival is by invitation only. We do accept open submissions for the annual Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award, more information available HERE.
Northern Stage’s Box Office will be closed from Friday, August 21 through Tuesday, August 25 for administrative training. We will not be able to respond to phone calls or emails during this time, nor take any in-person sales.
Our Box Office is always open online by clicking the “Ticket” link in in the header above. If you have any troubles, send us an email at boxoffice@northernstage.org or leave a voicemail at (802) 296-7000 and we will get back to you once we reopen on Wednesday, August 26.
Thank you for your understanding!
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