Wagner New Play Festival 2023

The Wagner New Play Festival is an annual festival of new works by MFA playwrights, in collaboration with MFA/PhD directors, actors, designers, stage managers, and dramaturges.

We're delighted to welcome all audiences back to the Theatre District!

Head over to our Return to Learn FAQ to learn Theatre + Dance's COVID and safety protocols.
Head over to our Complimentary Ticket Policy page to see if you qualify for a free ticket or a discount.

Ticketing Information

UCSD Student tickets are $10
UCSD Faculty and Staff tickets are $15
General Admission tickets are $20
Head over to our Complimentary Ticket Policy page for more information, and to see if you qualify for a free ticket or a discount.

Please email tdpromo@ucsd.edu for a promo code if you are having trouble with promo codes.

If a performance is marked "sold out," and you wish to attend that performance, please email tdpromo@ucsd.edu to be added to the waiting list.

Thicker Than...

by Agyeiwaa Asante. Directed by Lamar Perry. Shank Theatre. May 4 - June 9.

Jillian is ready for a change. Her adult son, Tom, is not. Set in a not-too-distant future where a new kind of technology exists that allows anyone to emotionally "uncouple" from anyone in their lives, Thicker Than… asks what it means to cut off ties with a loved one and move on with your life. Can you ever truly walk away? And what are the ethical and emotional consequences if you do?

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नेहा & Neel

by Ankita Raturi. Directed by Rosie Glen-Lambert. Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. May 18 - June 8.

Neha (नेहा) fears she has failed to pass her language and culture down to her seventeen-year-old son, Neel (नील). A summer trip to visit colleges could be Neha’s last chance, if only she can get Neel to visit the historic Hope Diamond and witness a piece of Indian history for himself. नेहा & Neel asks what we lose with every generation in America, and if it’s ever too late to connect with your roots.

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900 Years

by Preston Choi. Directed by Cambria Herrera. Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre. May 25 - June 10.

A complicated stepmother with complicated feelings casts a complicated curse on her complicated step-children. A bold and inventive retelling of an Irish fairytale, 900 Years spans centuries of family drama to explore the consequences of intergenerational trauma and the complex magic of forgiveness.

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