Audiences can watch new works evolve at TheatreWorks

In addition to a benefit performance by “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay, audiences at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s 23nd annual New Works Festival will be able to view the evolution of five plays and musicals, as playwrights and composers revise and refine their shows during the festival.

Hargitay, half-sister of TheatreWorks Artistic Director Giovanna Sardelli, will give three performances of the solo show “Every Brilliant Thing” on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 7-8, to benefit TheatreWorks and Joyful Heart Foundation, founded by Hargitay to support survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.

Set for Aug. 7-16 at Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto, the 2026 New Works Festival includes readings of “Roja” by Jaime Lozano and Tommy Newman, “The Tell Tale Heart” by Carlos Aguirre and “Rap Monologues” by Austin Dean Ashford. The shows are retellings of, respectively, “Little Red Riding Hood,” Edgar Allen Poe’s classic horror story and works by Shakespeare.

“Floor 37” by Margot Melcon and “RE–“ by Kimber Lee will also be given readings during the festival.

“Vienna,” a new musical from “Come From Away” creators Irene Sankoff and David Hein, makes a return appearance at this year’s festival after being given a reading last year. TheatreWorks’ production of “Come From Away” shattered box office records this spring, making it the highest grossing musical produced by the company in its 56-year history.
Cast members from that production will join Sankoff and Hein on Aug. 14 for “Cut From Away,” a fundraiser showcasing the songs, stories and characters that were cut from “Come From Away” before it made its Broadway debut.

All festival performances are at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets for “Every Brilliant Thing” are $270-$400; “Cut From Away” tickets are $125-$250. Festival passes for the five staged readings are $90-$95 at theatreworks.org or 877-662-8978.