Overview

Limited remaining!

"This...festival of original work in repertory propels Round House Theatre into the admirable ranks of companies pumping extra resources into new drama."
- Peter Marks, The Washington Post

Round House Theatre is proud to present the fifth Bonnie Hammerschlag National Capital New Play Festival, an annual event celebrating new work by some of the country’s leading playwrights and newer voices. In addition to a fully staged world premiere (part of Round House’s main stage season), audiences are invited to readings of plays in development, where they can sit alongside dramaturgs, directors, and other theatre professionals for an inside look into a play’s journey to the stage.

Industry Weekends
FEB 28 – MAR 1, 2026 • MAR 7-8, 2026

We invite our professional colleagues from around the country to join us for either (or both!) Industry Weekends in celebration of these exciting new plays. Each weekend has been planned to allow guests to attend the main stage world premiere and two staged readings, while leaving plenty of time to catch up with other guests and artists. Contact Amy Benson (Festival Producer) at abenson@roundhousetheatre.org for additional information or questions.

ON THE MAIN STAGE

Nothing Up My Sleeve...Simple Deceptions for Curious Humans

By Aaron Posner & Dendy
Magic by Dendy
Directed by Aaron Posner
February 11–March 15, 2026 | World Premiere

Master illusionist Dendy and acclaimed playwright/director Aaron Posner reunite after their smash-hit collaboration on The Tempest for a spellbinding new one-man show. Part dazzling magic act, part deeply personal journey, Nothing Up My Sleeve pulls back the curtain on the history of magic while exploring Dendy’s own path to becoming a magician. Prepare to be amazed, inspired, and transported into a world where the impossible becomes reality. Featuring captivating storytelling, jaw-dropping tricks, and mind-bending surprises, this exhilarating experience will leave audiences believing in magic again.

►BUY TICKETS

Thank you to the sponsors of Nothing Up My Sleeve

Lead Sponsors: Lisa Mezzetti and Jan & Carole Klein
Sponsors: John & Rachel King, Robert Hebda, and John & Val Wheeler
The Great Tomsoni Sponsors: Leslie Grizzard & Joseph Hale, John & Margaret Hauge, and Don McMinn & Harv Lester
Performance Sponsors: Nan Beckley and John Horman

DEVELOPMENTAL READINGS

Tickets for developmental play readings are free, but reservations are required. Reservations will be available to the general public on January 29.

The Cave
Written by Lauren M. Gunderson
Music by Bree Lowdermilk
Directed by Ryan Rilette
Thursday, February 26 and Saturday, February 28

The Cave is a Round House Theatre Equal Play Commission

While World War II is raging across Europe, four French teenagers (and their dog) make an extraordinary discovery in the woods: a cave full of shockingly well-preserved prehistoric cave paintings. This heartfelt new musical tells the extraordinary true story of the discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings and explores the complexities of human history.

Help! Help! Want. Want. Want.
Written by JuCoby Johnson
Directed by Megan Behm
Friday, February 27 and Sunday, March 1

Charleigh is lonely, hurting, and aching for a change. When she flees to a tiny AirBnB in the woods for some much-needed solo time, an encounter with a mysterious stranger conjures ghosts of Charleigh's past and forces her to face her present pain. Help! Help! Want. Want. Want. is a poetic meditation on love, regret, and choosing life.

Content advisory: Help! Help! Want. Want. Want. contains descriptions of depression and suicide.

Noise in the Line
Written by Matthew Capodicasa
Directed by Jared Mezzocchi
Thursday, March 5 and Saturday, march 7

While fighting Stage IV cancer, Graham coped by repeatedly listening to a podcast narrated by Blaise and his sister, who shared Graham's diagnosis. Graham managed to beat the cancer, but now he and his wife Thora are struggling to move on from the stress of his time in the hospital. When Graham unexpectedly meets Blaise in real life, the ripple effects change everyone's lives. This unique theatrical experience will be told through Bluetooth headsets, providing an intimate and personalized experience between the actors and the audience.

Content advisory: Noise in the Line contains descriptions of death by cancer.

Marble Rooftop
Written by Eliana Theologides Rodriguez
Directed by Nikki Mirza
Friday, March 6 and Sunday, March 8

During a dance team bonding sleepover, seven teenagers navigate power imbalances and tenuous friendships. As the alcohol flows, multiple shocking revelations make the evening increasingly tense. When a pair of unexpected guests arrive downstairs, the atmosphere of competition and bravado turns dangerous. With raw honesty, Marble Rooftop explores the brutality and vulnerability of teenage girlhood.

Content advisory: Marble Rooftop contains descriptions of sexual assault, coercion, and grooming.

The Bonnie Hammerschlag National Capital New Play Festival Developmental Reading Series is sponsored by Clare Evans and the Luger Charitable Trust.

Playwrights

Aaron Posner

NOTHING UP MY SLEEVE

Aaron Posner is a theatre director, playwright, former Artistic Director of two major regional theaters, and a tenured full professor at American University. Aaron has directed nearly 200 productions at major regional theaters across the country, including most major theatres in the DMV. Previously at Round House: The Tempest (with Teller), Or, Stage Kiss, and his Mark Twain musical (with composer James Sugg) A Murder, A Mystery & A Marriage. His many published and produced plays include Stupid Fucking Bird, Life Sucks, No Sisters, JQA, District Merchants, The Chosen, My Name Is Asher Lev, The Gift of Nothing, Me... Jane: The Adventures of Young Jane Goodall, and more. He has won more than 20 regional theatre awards, including six Helen Hayes Awards, two Barrymore Awards, a Jeff Award, an Eliot Norton Award, an Outer Circle Critics Award, and the John Gassner Prize.

Dendy

NOTHING UP MY SLEEVE

Dendy is a magician, actor, playwright, and magic designer. He returns to Round House Theatre, where he previously appeared as Ariel in The Tempest. Other DC acting credits include The Fantasticks at Arena Stage. His work has been seen at theaters across the country, including American Repertory Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, the Smith Center, Tanglewood Music Festival, Folger Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, and Atlantic Theatre Company. His magic designs have been seen on Broadway in the revival of Sondheim’s Company and Once Upon a One More Time, and featured on Netflix; including the Adam Sandler film The Week Of. He has worked with Penn & Teller, the longest-running headliners in Las Vegas history, and appears on Penn & Teller: Fool Us on The CW. Dendy has received a Jeff Award nomination and two Helen Hayes Award nominations for his work as an actor. Find him on Instagram @natedendy.

Lauren M. Gunderson

THE CAVE

Lauren M. Gunderson is one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015 topping the list 4 times including 2025/26. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I and You and The Book of Will, the William Inge Distinguished Achievement in Theater Award, the Lanford Wilson Award, the Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Arthur L. Weissberger Award, and John Gassner Award for Playwriting. Her musical adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife premiered on The West End last year and her new play Billie Jean about tennis icon Billie Jean King is Broadway bound after premiering at Chicago Shakespeare this summer. Revolutionary Women, her new anthology of five plays, was published by Bloomsbury in 2023. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her play The Catastrophist, about her husband virologist Nathan Wolfe, premiered digitally in January 2021 and is now in The COVID Art Capsule in the Library of Congress. She co-authored the Miss Bennet trilogy with Margot Melcon. The Half-Life of Marie Curie premiered off-Broadway and at Audible.com. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You; Exit Pursued By A Bear; The Taming; and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists Play Service (The Revolutionists; The Book of Will; Silent Sky; Bauer; Natural Shocks; The Wickhams; and Miss Bennet) and Samuel French (Emilie). Her picture book Dr Wonderful: Blast Off to the Moon is available from Two Lions/Amazon. She is the book writer for musicals with Dave Stewart and Joss Stone (The Time Traveler’s Wife), Ari Afsar (Jeannette and I and You), Joriah Kwamé (Lady M), Kira Stone (Built for This), and Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk (Justice and Earthrise). She is a former board member of The Playwrights Foundation, and a member of the Aspen Institute Science and Society cohort, and hosts the podcast How to Playwright. LaurenGunderson.com

Bree Lowdermilk

THE CAVE

BREE LOWDERMILK (Music) is an award-winning composer, lyricist, and playwright. NYC: The Mad Ones and Henry and Mudge. National Tour: Ada Twist Scientist & Friends, Henry and Mudge. Regional: Justice (Arizona Theatre Co, Marin Theatre Co), Earthrise (Kennedy Center), Dr. Wonderful (Kennedy Center), ERNXST, or the Importance of Being (Concord Theatricals), and The Bad Years, an immersive house party musical. Awards: Jonathan Larson, Alan Menken, Richard Rodgers. Concerts: Kennedy Center, Kimmel Center, Lincoln Center. Residencies: McDowell, Mercer. Albums: Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Live, Our First Mistake (#1 Singer/Songwriter chart), The Mad Ones (+30 million streams; thousands of fan videos). Founder of NewMusicalTheatre.com, board member of Applied Mechanics. Upcoming: Republic with director Michael Arden and Kill The Boy Band with Jiehae Park. This year, Bree was the recipient of the first Trans History Project commission for her new play Days of Awe at Round House Theatre, and she is a finalist for the 2025 Fred Ebb Songwriting award. (She/they)

JuCoby Johnson

HELP! HELP! WANT. WANT. WANT.

JuCoby Johnson is a New York-based playwright, actor, and screenwriter originally from Jacksonville, FL. JuCoby is a second-year playwright in the Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program. He has been seen onstage at The Guthrie Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Jungle Theater, Theater Latté Da, Theater Mu, Ten Thousand Things Theatre Company, and many more. His plays include How It's Gon Be (Echo Theater, 2023; Underdog Theater, 2019), ...but you could've held my hand (upcoming: IAMA Theater, 2026; CATCO, 2022; O'Neill NPC Summer Season, 2022), 5 (Jungle Theater, 2023; O'Neill NPC Summer Season, 2022; Seven Devils Finalist), Heritage (International Black Theater Festival, 2024), The Red Man (2025 Ojai Playwrights Conference, 2025 Pacific Playwrights Festival, 2025 O'Neill NPC Finalist, 2025 Seven Devils Finalist), I'll Be Seeing You Again (Jungle Serial Audio Series, 2021), and Revelations (Playing On Air, 2021). His television credits include The Runarounds (Amazon). He is the recipient of McKnight and Jerome Hill Artist Fellowships, was a member of the 2022 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Writers Program, and a member of the inaugural Artist Cohort at The Jungle Theater. (He/Him)

Matthew Capodicasa

NOISE IN THE LINE

Matthew Capodicasa has written The Scenarios, Noise in the Line, Next/Life, All the People You’ve Been, The City in the City in the City, You Remind Me of You, Frelmetsch the Maneater, and The City Of. His work has been presented or developed at Studio Theatre, Primary Stages, Theatre Lab, GPTC, Bluebarn Theatre, the Bloomington Playwrights Project, Theater Masters, and the Capitol Fringe. He is a recipient of a Judith Champion Launch Commission from the Atlantic Theater Company, a winner of the Woodward/Newman Drama Award, and a finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and the Heideman Award. Film credits include projects in development with Anonymous Content, Protozoa Pictures, Wattpad, Morning Moon, Space Bandit, and Video House. TV credits include Vladimir (Netflix). You can also hear him nerd out on various podcasts from the Glass Cannon Network. BFA, NYU/Tisch. MFA, Fordham. Recent grad: Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program at the Juilliard School. He currently teaches at NYU. (He/Him)

Eliana Theologides Rodriguez

MARBLE ROOFTOP

Eliana Theologides Rodriguez is a playwright, screenwriter, and dancer whose plays include Indian Princesses (2026 Atlantic Theater Company; 2025 World Premiere at La Jolla Playhouse), Poor Queenie (2025 World Premiere at Subtext Studio), Angels Just Like You (2025 Clubbed Thumb Summerworks Reading), and Marble Rooftop (2024 O'Neill NPC Finalist). Eliana is a current member of EST Youngblood and a proud alum of the Clubbed Thumb Early Career Writers Group and the Playwrights Realm Writing Fellowship. She is currently under commission at South Coast Repertory. www.elianatheologidesrodriguez.com.