Theatre & Performing Arts
Chicago Writers’ Bloc hosts a Spring 2026 Festival of New Plays and Musicals
Chicago Writers’ Bloc Announces Its 2026 Spring Festival of New Plays and Musicals
March 15–29 at City Lit Theater
1020 W. Bryn Mawr Avenue, Chicago
All performances begin at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available at ChicagoWritersBloc.org/tickets $20 general admission and $10 for students.
FLEX-PASS−SEE 3 NEW PLAYS & MUSICALS FOR FORTY DOLLARS!
Order our $40 flex pass and select a combination of 3 new musicals and plays of your
choice! Seating is open, but City Lit Theater has only 99 seats and they are going fast.
Order today by going to ChicagoWritersBloc.org/flex-pass.
Chicago Writers’ Bloc, one of the city’s longest-running incubators for new dramatic writing, proudly presents its 2026 Spring Festival of New Plays, running March 15–29 at City Lit Theater. Now in its thirty-fifth year, the festival offers audiences a rare opportunity to peek into the creative process, engage directly with playwrights, and help shape the next generation of Chicago theater.
This season highlights staged readings of a powerful slate of new work, many of which feature women’s voices prominently, across genres from historical dramas to musicals, speculative fiction, and dark comedy. Here are the featured plays:
Perverse Mortgage by Blake Levinson. 3/15/26
After striking a deal with a dying widower, a desperate developer faces the unthinkable when the man refuses to die.
Driving the Dream by Chloe Bolan and Gerald H. Bailey. 3/16/26
In this musical, Bertha Benz of Mercedes Benz fame defies her parents, the Kaiser, and the Nazis but is known for jump-starting the auto industry’s popularity.
Authentic Intelligence by Richard Norby 3/19/26
Alex trains an AI and is surprised when it absorbs his quirky personality. A psychologist starts losing patients, and maybe even his wife, to an AI companion. An art agent is excited by a young artist’s latest painting. Does he tell her that it was actually painted by his new AI appliance?
Cor Virginis by Patrick Bolan 3/22/26
A pregnant unwed teenaged Jewish girl in early Roman Empire Galilee fights a corrupt Sanhedrin.
Better Than Bingo by John S. Green 3/23/26
The thirty year old rec director of a retirement home believes she understands the realities of aging and death better than the residents do. A comedy.
Stop Feeding the Aliens by Wencke Braathen 3/25/26
Aliens harvest negative energy from humans, until some turn friendly and warn people that the balance in the universe is at stake.
Exiled to Indiana by June Finfer 3/26/26
After moving from Chicago to Indiana in the turbulent 1960s, a young wife feels lost and tries to find herself. A dramedy.
Hearts in the Wood by Joanne Koch and Jim Lucas 3/29/26
In this lively yet tender country musical, when Becky reveals she is folk singer Jonas’s granddaughter, she changes her life and his.
About Chicago Writers’ Bloc: This IRS-designated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization was founded 35 years ago. As one of Chicago’s most enduring centers for new play development, it has helped inspire thousands of scripts to grow through its community workshops and has presented hundreds of staged readings at theaters across the city, with many moving on to full productions nationwide. Chicago Writers’ Bloc continues to champion new voices and expand the landscape of American theater.
