Headwaters New Play Festival
The Festival
August 25-27, 2023
Now in its 11th season, the Headwaters New Play Festival will showcase a commissioned work written specifically for CRT. A festival pass includes:
The Prima’s Guide to Funerals by New Mexico based playwright Leonard Madrid (pictured).
August 26 at 1pm in The Ruth
The City Dog & The Prairie Dog with book and lyrics by Diana Grisanti and music by Emiliano Messiez.
August 25 & 26 at 10am in the Virginia Christensen Multi-Use Facility.
Headwaters Brunch. Eat, drink, and participate in a guided discussion about the plays you just saw.
August 27 at 10am on the Cliffside Patio.
A festival pass is $40.
Our Mission
To foster the development of new plays for the CRT stage and beyond. Our unique and remote location, high in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, cultivates artistic growth, focus, and inspiration for new work.
Our Vision
Since its inception in 2012, the Headwaters New Play Festival is a week-long workshop where new plays are developed with a team of professional theatre artists and receive public readings. Like its name suggests, Headwaters aspires to be a source of new American plays, constantly evolving. Currently, we are interested in plays that capture the intricacies of life; plays that examine the American urban/rural divide; and finally, plays that inspire the pioneering spirit that lives within us all. Creede Rep seeks to amplify the voices of Latinx playwrights on our stage and to reach the communities of the San Luis Valley and beyond.
In 2022, we moved away from an open-submission process. Inspired by its bilingual Young Audience Outreach Tour, the Headwaters Festival has merged with its Mainstage/Ruth Commission component launched in 2020. Creede Rep will support the work of new and returning playwrights. Once a playwright receives a commission, they will collaborate with CRT through a series of online and in-person workshops, including a staged reading at the annual Headwaters New Play Festival in late summer and often, with a full scale production in the Mainstage or Ruth Theatre.
Submission Guidelines
The Headwaters New Play Festival is currently not accepting submissions.
CRT’s bilingual Young Audience Outreach Tour (YAOT) brings high quality musical theatre outside of Creede, particularly to rural and historically neglected communities. This program annually produces an original children’s show, for students in grades K-6, that tours throughout the southwest, Kansas and more. Proposals for YAOT commissions typically open up every three years. Submissions for the 2024 season will open in May of 2023.