Since its construction in 1902 to celebrate the city of Waterville’s centennial, the Waterville Opera House has hosted countless events, including plays, musicians, vaudeville acts, dancers, poets and circuses. Submitted 2019 photo

The Waterville Opera House has been selected as a producing theatre for the American Association of Community Theatre’s NewPlayFest 2026.

The opera house is one of only six theatres in the nation to receive this honor. Each cycle, hundreds of playwrights submit original scripts for consideration. Following a three-tier review process, the producing theatres will select one finalist to produce, and the six plays are then announced as AACT NewPlayFest 2026 award winners, according to a news release from Jackie Ferlito, communications coordinator with the opera house.

Aligned with AACT’s mission of providing support and resources to community theatres, NewPlayFest addresses the critical need for new, high-quality plays for community theatre audiences worldwide. This unique playwriting competition guarantees that each winning play will be produced as a world premiere by an established theatre and published by Dramatic Publishing Company in an AACT NewPlayFest anthology. The winning plays will receive a full production by the Producing Theatres between June 2025 and December 2026.

“Theatres rarely have a chance to work hand-in-glove with a show’s playwright during the rehearsal process,” said Debra Susi, Waterville Opera House’s long-serving stage and intimacy director and theatre educator, who will direct the NewPlayFest world premiere.

“This award provides the Waterville Opera House with the rare opportunity for all creatives — designers, directors, and most importantly our talented central Maine actors — to work directly with the playwright and play a significant role in the premiere of an award-winning play. It is a unique and exciting experience for our theatre community.”

AACT NewPlayFest produces six original plays as world premieres across the country every two years. More than 40 original scripts have been published, with productions licensed globally and receiving international acclaim. Visit aact.org/newplayfest for information on past winning plays and their productions.

These plays are available to be produced through Dramatic Publishing Company.

Visit dramaticpublishing.com for information on producing these new works.

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