Ticket Information
Tickets go on sale starting Monday, May 5 at noon, at the Theatre Building box office window. In-person, cash sales only.
There will be NO LATE SEATING for any of the productions. Due to the potential for sold out performances, all non-claimed tickets will be released 10 minutes before curtain time. This includes already purchased tickets.
Productions
UI Students (with ID) – Free, limit 1 ticket per student
General Admission – $5, cash only
Reading Series
UI Students (with ID) – Free, limit 1 ticket per student
General Admission – Free, but you must obtain a ticket
Box Office Hours
Monday, May 5
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday, May 6
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 8
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Friday, May 9
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
8:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Full 2025 Schedule
Iowa New Play Festival
Monday, May 5 to Friday, May 9, 2025 (all day)
We are thrilled to present our annual Iowa New Play Festival in the Theatre Building featuring full productions written by MFA playwrights Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe, Eli Campbell, Xiaoyan Kang, and a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop! Plus, there are readings daily from new, full plays written by MFA playwrights.
Welcome Reception + Guest Panel
Monday, May 5, 2025 10:30am to 12:00pm
Join us for the kick-off of Iowa New Play Festival 2025! The Welcome Reception begins at 10:30 a.m. and the Guest Panel begins at 11 a.m.
POP!
Monday, May 5, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
POP! explores the proximity of humanity and nature through a forest that is very much alive and deliriously in danger.
Adaku
Monday, May 5, 2025 5:30pm to 7:30pm
In 1979 Nigeria, a good man’s sudden death in a hunting accident leaves his widow in a mourning chair. Their daughter, Adaku, seeks to bring honor to her community like her great hunter-father, but soon discovers the unwritten rules that govern her destiny as a woman, and even more so, as an Igbo woman.
Adaku
Monday, May 5, 2025 9:00pm to 11:00pm
In 1979 Nigeria, a good man’s sudden death in a hunting accident leaves his widow in a mourning chair. Their daughter, Adaku, seeks to bring honor to her community like her great hunter-father, but soon discovers the unwritten rules that govern her destiny as a woman, and even more so, as an Igbo woman.
Iowa New Play Festival
Tuesday, May 6 to Friday, May 9, 2025 (all day)
We are thrilled to present our annual Iowa New Play Festival in the Theatre Building featuring full productions written by MFA playwrights Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe, Eli Campbell, Xiaoyan Kang, and a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop! Plus, there are readings daily from new, full plays written by MFA playwrights.
Guest Roundtable | Adaku
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
A roundtable discussion of the Iowa New Play Festival production Adaku by Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe directed by Josh Turner.
LARPlay
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
LARPlay follows Ash, a stubborn non-gamer recovering from a near-death experience, who is reluctantly pulled into a LARP designed by her late childhood friend. As she struggles with grief and the fear of her own mortality, the fantasy world begins to feel more real. Forcing her to confront what it truly means to fight, to play, and to keep living.
3 Cubes and a Ghostlight
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 7:00pm to 9:00pm
3 Cubes and a Ghostlight is a collection of original works written by the students of the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop, each inspired by the shared image of three cubes and a ghostlight.
Iowa New Play Festival
Wednesday, May 7 to Friday, May 9, 2025 (all day)
We are thrilled to present our annual Iowa New Play Festival in the Theatre Building featuring full productions written by MFA playwrights Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe, Eli Campbell, Xiaoyan Kang, and a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop! Plus, there are readings daily from new, full plays written by MFA playwrights.
Guest Roundtable | 3 Cubes and a Ghostlight
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
A roundtable discussion of the Iowa New Play Festival production 3 Cubes and a Ghostlight, a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop, directed and choreographed by Michael C. Flores.
Terminal
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
A girl about to leave for college is compelled to navigate her grief in the landscape of her own mind with the help of her younger sister.
This is My Body
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 5:30pm to 7:30pm
In Southern Baptist Suburbia, a pastor grapples with his failing health and faith as he falls in love with his fellow pastor.
Iowa New Play Festival
Thursday, May 8 to Friday, May 9, 2025 (all day)
We are thrilled to present our annual Iowa New Play Festival in the Theatre Building featuring full productions written by MFA playwrights Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe, Eli Campbell, Xiaoyan Kang, and a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop! Plus, there are readings daily from new, full plays written by MFA playwrights.
Go!
Thursday, May 8, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
In the amazing world of "Punymon Go!" expert trainers form lasting friendships with their creature companions, go on glorious adventures to improve their skills, and team up to battle an ultra-serious gaming addiction.
salt tongue
Thursday, May 8, 2025 5:30pm to 7:30pm
It's 1615 on an island off the coast of Ireland, and Fintan has caught the last fish in the sea. When he finds a man washed ashore that same day, he assumes Rossa must be a shipwrecked sailor and takes him home to recover. But things turn strange the longer Rossa stays, and soon the family that's adopted him must decide whether they've made the right decision.
salt tongue
Thursday, May 8, 2025 9:00pm to 11:00pm
It's 1615 on an island off the coast of Ireland, and Fintan has caught the last fish in the sea. When he finds a man washed ashore that same day, he assumes Rossa must be a shipwrecked sailor and takes him home to recover. But things turn strange the longer Rossa stays, and soon the family that's adopted him must decide whether they've made the right decision.
Digital Graffiti showing
Thursday, May 8, 2025 10:15pm
Public showing of semester-long project created by students in Digital Graffiti course
Iowa New Play Festival
Friday, May 9, 2025 (all day)
We are thrilled to present our annual Iowa New Play Festival in the Theatre Building featuring full productions written by MFA playwrights Sixtus Chetachi Igbokwe, Eli Campbell, Xiaoyan Kang, and a collection of work by the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop! Plus, there are readings daily from new, full plays written by MFA playwrights.
Guest Roundtable | salt tongue
Friday, May 9, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
A roundtable discussion of the Iowa New Play Festival production salt tongue by Eli Campbell directed by Kayla Adams.
The Milk Miracle
Friday, May 9, 2025 1:30pm to 3:30pm
The Milk Miracle centers on a playwright navigating questions of identity, place, and belonging—both personal and cultural—while writing a story about a family struggling with grief, community expectations, and the weight of tradition. The play explores the layered tensions between the act of writing and the forces that shape a story’s creation.
The Words of Ants
Friday, May 9, 2025 5:30pm to 7:30pm
The visit of an uninvited woman changes Yan's life forever. As the last natural inheritor, Yan embarks upon a journey to preserve an almost extinct language, but at what cost?
The Words of Ants
Friday, May 9, 2025 9:00pm to 11:00pm
The visit of an uninvited woman changes Yan's life forever. As the last natural inheritor, Yan embarks upon a journey to preserve an almost extinct language, but at what cost?
Digital Graffiti showing
Friday, May 9, 2025 10:15pm
Public showing of semester-long project created by students in Digital Graffiti course
Guest Roundtable | The Words of Ants
Saturday, May 10, 2025 10:30am to 11:30am
A roundtable discussion of the Iowa New Play Festival production The Words of Ants by Xiaoyan Kang directed by Meredith G. Healy.