2026 LA Writers’ Workshop Reading Series

About the Plays

Sunday, July 12
Kirk Douglas Theatre

Back East  by Maddox Pennington
A prodigal trans son faces down his extended family in the Cherokee Nation, as he attempts to win custody of his cousins. Jay must navigate his changing relationship, his eavesdropping ancestors, and his own imperfect sense of purpose.

Maddox Pennington (Playwright, he/they) is a performer, director, and playwright; a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, he received an MFA in Creative Nonfiction from Columbia University. His work has been developed via LA’s MADLab, Native Voices, The Fountain Theatre, NYC’s FRIGID Queerly Festival, Creative Nations First Storytellers Festival and the Kayenta Arts Center. He facilitates workshops for The Joy Who Lived as the Director of Education. You can find him online at MaddoxKPennington.com and @MKPinLA

The Shameful (Untrue) Story of Herbie Gregory Morgan  by Kevin Douglas
What happens when you start the job of a lifetime, only a bus ride away, the same week as the birth of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts? The Shameful (Untrue) Story of Herbie Gregory Morgan is the story of a Black man who secretly rides the bus in order to get to the job of his dreams.

Kevin Douglas (Playwright) is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, where his plays Thaddeus and Slocum: A Vaudeville Adventure (which earned him a Black Theatre Alliance Award for playwrighting), and Plantation! directed by David Schwimmer had their world premieres. He is the creator and writer of an independent comedy series titled Messy Lola. Watch episodes on messylola.com. Kevin’s hit play Untitled Vampire Play had its World Premiere at Lookingglass Theatre this summer and is currently running!

Sunday, August 30
at REDCAT

Lauren Sanchez  by Bernardo Cubría
As billionaire bride-to-be Lauren Sánchez prepares for her lavish wedding in Venice, Italy, a very different Lauren Sánchez in Venice, California watches her father detained by ICE, igniting protests across the city. As their worlds collide, the spectacle grows increasingly surreal, with appearances from Usher, Eva Longoria, Jeff Bezos, and a literal slime monster named Stephen Miller. In this biting satire about privilege, coincidence, and responsibility, two women who share a name must reckon with the wildly unequal lives they lead, and whether integrity can exist in a world run by billionaire dweebs with a micropenis.

Bernardo Cubría (Playwright). His play The Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx/Latine Vote received a NNPN rolling world premiere and has had 8 productions around the country. Crabs in a Bucket won the 2024 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Writing. His play The Play You Want premiered at L.A.’s Road Theatre in 2022, garnering Cubría both a Stage Raw Award and a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle nomination for Playwriting. In 2019, Cubría was nominated for the Ovation, Stage Raw and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Best Playwright awards for his play The Giant Void In My Soul. He is a chair for the 2025-2026 Dramatist Guild national playwrights fellows.

House of Misfortune by Keiko Green
A couple invites a group of friends over for a dinner party, when they discover a creepy, taped off crawl space hidden in their new home.

Keiko Green (Playwright, she/her) is a playwright, TV writer, and performer based in Los Angeles. Plays include: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (South Coast Rep; Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Company One), Empty Ride (Old Globe), Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (Old Globe; SF Playhouse; Porkfilled Productions), Hells Canyon (Theater Mu; WET), The Bed Trick (Seattle Shakespeare Co; Artists Repertory Theatre), Sharon (Cygnet Theatre), and Hometown Boy (Actors Express; Seattle Public Theater). Her plays have been developed at the Kennedy Center, the National New Play Network, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Seven Devils, and twice by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference. Awards/Honors: LA Critics Circle (Ted Schmitt Award), Susan Blackburn Prize Finalist, Kilroys List, San Diego Critics Circle Award (Outstanding New Play), Gregory Award (Outstanding New Play). She holds commissions from Atlantic Theatre Company, Signature Theatre (DC), Seattle Rep/South Coast Rep. Current/Past Affiliations: Old Globe Resident Artist, Geffen Writers Group, Chance Resident Playwright, Theater Mu's Mu Tang Clan, Seattle Rep Resident Writers Group, ACT Core Company Member. TV: AppleTV's Margo's Got Money Troubles and Hulu’s Interior Chinatown. BFA: NYU Drama - Experimental Theatre Wing, MFA: UCSD Playwriting. IG: @keikothegreen

Sunday, September 27
at REDCAT

Reagan Ranch by Christina Pumariega
In the hills of the Westside, an aging Hollywood actor rebuilds his life after a brutal divorce. An ambitious B-movie actress politics for her dream mate. Meanwhile California conservatives hunt the perfect candidate to claw back to power. On Reagan Ranch, one modest foreman bears witness to it all—growth and decimation, lies and the truth—one performance at a time.

Christina Pumariega (Playwright) acts and writes. Often simultaneously. Her Edgerton Award-winning, Pulitzer-nominated play ¡VOS! was developed at Ojai, premiered at Two River Theater, and plays next at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival. She holds commissions with MTC/Sloan and the Denver Center. TV writing includes Disney+ and NBC. Acting on and Off-Broadway and onscreen, Pumariega has cross-examined Coach Taylor, made out with the Fly, and set a Cuban pharmacy ablaze in a corset. MFA Acting, NYU.

In This House  by Erika Sheffer
A modern American family attempts to afford a modern American life by moving in with their divorced parents. In This House is a multi-generational story of love, sex, money, and the perils of belonging to a tribe.

Erika Sheffer (Playwright). Plays include Vladimir (Manhattan Theatre Club), Russian Transport (The New Group, Steppenwolf), The Fundamentals (Steppenwolf). Commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf, Geffen Playhouse. Alumna of Ars Nova Playgroup, SPACE on Ryder Farm. Awards include the Vineyard Theatre's Paula Vogel Prize, TCG's Edgerton Grant. Television: The Beast In Me (Netflix), Little America (Apple TV), multiple development rooms, and a new show for Apple TV premiering in 2027.