Br!NK New Play Festival, Sponsored by Sue & Tim Frautschi, strives to develop the original work of women-identifying, Midwest Playwrights.
Festival Passes go on sale April 13, 2026.
April 13, 2026 (MILWAUKEE, Wis.) —Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW), “theater by women, for everyone,” presents the 12th annual Br!NK New Play Festival on Saturday, May 16, and Sunday, May 17, 2026, at the Baumgartner Center for Dance at 128 N Jackson St. Festival passes to attend Br!NK, start at $40 and can be obtained at rtwmke.org/brink. Passes will be available starting April 13, 2026. Walk ups are welcome with a suggested minimum donation of $20.
Since 2013, RTW has invited Midwestern women playwrights to submit their work for consideration in the Br!NK New Play Festival. Two playwrights are selected to receive the Br!NK Residency Award — the opportunity to develop and advance their scripts during a week-long workshop with a director, cast, and dramaturg. Following the workshop week, the full-length plays are presented as featured staged readings for a public audience. A post-performance, moderated talkback encourages audience feedback, which the playwright often incorporates into subsequent versions of their work. The Br!NK New Play Festival weekend also includes performances of Br!NK Br!EFS — a collection of fully staged ten-minute plays.
Past Br!NK Playwrights and Plays
Br!NK 2025 Residency Play Great White Throne (GWT), by Local Playwright Cara Johnston is the first offering of RTW’s 2026-27 mainstage season and RTW’s entry into World Premiere Wisconsin. Additionally, GWT was a One-Act Play Contest finalist for the Tennessee Williams Festival 2026.
Other past Br!NK Playwrights & Plays include: Maria Pretzl’s Naked Tuesdays (2025) Karissa Murrell Myers’ Black Bear Island (Br!NK 2024), Winner – Maxim Mazumdar New Play Award (2023), Finalist – O’Neill National Playwrights Conference (2024) and Semi-Finalist – Blue Ink Awards (2024); Philana Omorontionmwan’s Before Evening Comes (Br!NK 2016) Semifinalist – Relentless Award and selected for the 2019 Kilroy list; Reina Hardy’s Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven (Br!NK 2017) was a Rolling World Premiere in RTW’s 2019 mainstage season.
This Year’s Br!NK Residency Plays:
CARE by Kristen Field Saturday, May 16, 7pm Rebecca, an agoraphobic woman with rheumatoid arthritis, has to confront her own fears and insecurities when Amy, a college dropout living with her parents, starts bringing her groceries (at the behest of her mother). When faced with the choice of what to do with their lives, both women test the limits of their own vulnerability and their desire to change. Kristen Field is a queer, non-binary playwright who hails originally from Melbourne, Australia. She is a graduate of Northwestern’s Dramatic Writing program and has worked with Chicago Dramatists, Facility Theatre, and Three Cat Productions, among other collectives. Kristen participated in Theatre Masters’ National MFA Playwrights Conference in 2017, was a finalist for the KCACTF Region 3 Conference in 2025, and her full-length play, sex/work, recently premiered at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, Tennessee. She has helped to coordinate short play festivals and readings in the past, including a showcase last November at the Dormouse Theatre in Kalamazoo, and her scripts have been published by Concord Theatricals, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Qu Literary Magazine, and Feels Blind Literary. Kristen is currently pursuing a PhD at Western Michigan University and working as the Drama Editor at Third Coast Magazine.
THE BILL by Caroline Norton May 17th, 7pm
A harrowing secret revealed by her stepfather’s will forces Amy to question everything she knows, THE BILL is a new Southern family tragicomedy that explores the ties that bind, the bonds we break and the wounds that bleed us dry.
Caroline Norton (She/Her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Alabama who has made her home here in Milwaukee. She is a freelance actor and director, the Education Director of Summit Players Theatre, and the Administrative and Artistic Manager of Next Act Theatre. Caroline has also worked as a guest lecturer with her alma mater, Marquette University, and serves as a mentor and private audition coach to many students. This is the first play Caroline has written, and she is excited to work with the RTW team to explore her newfound voice as a playwright.
Br!NK Br!EFS – a collection of fully staged ten-minute plays.
May 16th & 17th, 3:00pm
- Goddess of the Drowned by Karissa Murrell Myers
- Wine DNA by Erin Osgood
- Getaway by Katherine Swan
- Ground Fork Possibilities by Rachel Zake
- MotherPeace by Honore Schiro
Submissions for the 2027 Br!NK New Play Festival will be accepted from May 1st until June 30th, 2026 at 11:59PM. Eligibility and submission guidelines are available at rtwmke.org/brink.
About Renaissance Theaterworks
Renaissance Theaterworks is Milwaukee’s professional theater company founded and run by women. Since 1993, it has been dedicated to promoting the work of women, onstage and off, becoming a leader in the global movement toward gender equity in the arts. Renaissance Theaterworks creates provocative, courageous theater, connecting audiences with their shared sense of being human, making them feel more, think harder, and laugh louder.
