Join us for the seventh annual Pegasus PlayLab, a celebration of innovation and creativity in theatre! At Pegasus PlayLab, we serve as an arts incubator for the next generation of theatre. A place for creativity, passion, and storytelling, dedicated to nurturing emerging playwrights and launching new works into the spotlight. Get ready to immerse yourself in the world of theatre as you witness the early stages of development for these new productions.
Festival FAQ
What is Pegasus PlayLab?
Pegasus PlayLab is a festival dedicated to developing plays by emerging playwrights. Playwrights are invited to UCF's campus for a two-week residency to develop their new play with students and faculty. Audiences are to hear staged readings and experience a full production of a new play first workshopped at Orlando Shakes’ PlayFest. Follow these plays into the next stage of development and be part of the creative process with playwrights, casts and artistic teams!
When is Pegasus PlayLab?
Pegasus PlayLab spans six weeks starting mid-May through the end of June. Selected playwrights are expected to commit to a two-week residency within that timeframe.
What Should I Expect at a Workshop?
What you will see on stage is the culmination of 8 days of rehearsals, script changes and discussions between the actors, playwright, director, dramaturg, and designers. Actors will bring the new work to life in front of the audience with scripts in-hand and minimal staging.
After the performance, discuss what you saw and heard with the playwright, director, cast and the rest of the creative team. You play a crucial role in the work’s development through your feedback.
What Should I Expect at a Full Developmental Production?
This is a play that has already been through workshops and readings and is ready for a fully-staged production with a set, costumes, lighting and a full rehearsal schedule.
This does not mean that this is the final version of the script. After developmental productions, the playwright will use what they saw and the feedback you give to continue to revise the script.
How do I get involved as a UCF student?
All UCF students can audition to be in the readings and workshops. Auditions for Pegasus PlayLab are typically held in March. Check the Theatre UCF Production Audition page for the most up to date audition information. Design, technology and stage management students may also be assigned roles on the performances.
How Do I Submit My Play?
Please upload a draft of a full-length play and complete the required questions on the Pegasus PlayLab Google Form.
We are seeking four full-length plays, including devised works and Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) pieces, which we will rehearse for two weeks in collaboration with the playwright and subsequently present as workshop productions. There is a possibility that one play will be fully mounted into a production.
As an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, UCF encourages all qualified applicants to apply, including women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and members of traditionally underrepresented populations.
If you have any questions, please email ucfpegasusplaylab@gmail.com.
Pegasus PlayLab 2025 Package
This package includes all three workshops — Visiting Hours, Moments of Wonder and Public Wickedness–and the full production of The Drolls. Package benefits include: priority seating, free ticket exchanges and exclusive ticket discounts!
$60 Standard | $40 UCF Student | $40 UCF Faculty/Staff
Ticket Package on Sale Now!Workshops | Studio 1
Visiting Hours
Playwright: Avery Lewis | Director: Tara Kromer
When Gram receives a terminal diagnosis, she’s placed in a senior care facility against her will, left to spend two lonely months in quiet resentment. Then, one morning, she heard a knock. Not just any knock, but a sudden, specific knock. It’s her granddaughter, Maggie. Upon learning why her grandmother has been locked away, Maggie refuses to let Gram fade into solitude. Week after week, she finds new ways to remind her that life still holds joy, even as they wrestle with the weight of choices made for them, the ache of the past, and the power of forgiveness.
May 30–31, 2025 at 7 PM | $15, $10 student
Please join us for a talkback following both performances
Moments of Wonder: Stories That Endure
Director: Sage Tokach
A devised theatre project that brings together students with and without disabilities to create a theatrical piece about childhood and nostalgia inspired by participants’ early memories and using the source material “Millions of Cats,” the oldest picture book still in print. This project builds on the 2023 Building a Shared Home and 2024 Daring to Dream processes, but participants will create an original story.
This workshop is supported by a Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts & Wellness Innovation Award
June 6-7, 2025 at 7 PM | $15, $10 student
Please join us for a talkback following both performances
Public Wickedness
Playwright: Lee Osorio | Director: Adonis Perez-Escobar
Based on a true story, Public Wickedness explores a lesser-known chapter in Queer History. In 1966, Laud Humphreys is searching for a dissertation topic … and for so much more. When his advisor encourages him to choose something that scares him, Laud dives headfirst into the world of tearooms — public restrooms where men meet to have sex. Determined to prove that these men aren’t monsters, he learns that they are something much more complicated. They’re human. Can Laud make peace with their — and his own — fallibility, or will his desire to deny who he is ultimately destroy him?
June 13-14, 2025 at 7 PM | $15, $10 student
Please join us for a talkback following both performances
Developmental Production | Black Box
The Drolls
Playwright: Deborah Brevoort | Director: Roberta Emerson
The Drolls is a comedy with music that tells the story of the outlaw actors who kept the theatre alive during one of the darkest chapters in England’s history — and in the process, rescued Shakespeare from the dustbins of history.
June 11-14, 2025 at 7:30 PM | $25, $10 student
Talkbacks will follow the performances on June 11 and June 12