Now in its 26th year, the Occidental New Works Festival has paired student playwrights and actors with professional guest directors and performers. Focused on writer-centric rehearsal and performance, the festival provides a real-world experience of new play development as it is practiced in major theaters around the country.
Produced by Fiona Dosanjh '27, Elizabeth Heitman '29, and Resident Professor Laural Meade
The Plays & Schedule | Playwrights | Student Producers
The Plays & Schedule
This year the festival features three comedies, each featuring a trio of young adults!
All performances are in Keck Theater and will be followed by a brief talk with the writer and director.
Admission is free.
Saturday, February 21, 2026
7:00pm
Early Days by Eliana Joftus
directed by Cynthia Ettinger
Three cavewomen's world turns upside down when one of them reveals she wants to have children. Against the backdrop of an election for a new Cave King, prehistoric female friendship is tested. What does it mean to exist in an uncertain world when all you have is a rock in your hand? How do you even make babies in the first place?
AND
The Water Cooler by Quinn Patwardhan
directed by Daniel Passer
After decades of loyal service at Schrotum Compliance LLC, eternally cheerful employee-of-the-month Debby has finally been promoted - she'll now manage three recent college grads as they begin their journey into the bowels of corporate America. Life in her lifeless office park has never been better, until a manager 30 years her junior makes impossible demands. A cat-themed pill organizer and the office water cooler point the way to an absurdly delightful solution.
Sunday, February 22, 2026
6:00pm
Oh, Clarence! by Alexandria Wells
directed by Michael A. Shepperd
Three queer twenty-something roommates each manage out-sized, over-the-top problems. One has gone missing, one has gone off the rails, and one's gone teutonic - speaking nothing but German. If their world wasn't weird enough, Clarence Thomas (yes, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas) has moved into the spare bedroom. House rules spin wildly out of bounds when getting real about personal identity becomes more important than who's cooking and who's cleaning up.
The Playwrights
Eliana Joftus ‘27
Eliana Joftus is a junior student majoring in Media Arts & Culture on the media production track with an Interdisciplinary Writing minor. At Oxy, Eliana edits for The Occidental and performs improv and stand-up comedy. This is her first experience working in the New Works Festival, and she is super excited and thankful for the opportunity!
Quinn Patwardhan ‘28
Quinn grew up in Kensington, M.D. (just outside of Washington DC). He's a sophomore majoring in Media Arts & Culture and Computer Science. Quinn's an aspiring comedy writer and stand-up comic, and the founder of Lying Club, Oxy's first club dedicated towards advancing and promoting the art of lying.
Alexandria Wells ‘27
Alexandria is a double major in Theater & Performance Studies and Group Language, with a focus in German and Linguistics. She is fascinated by language and how we use it, both on the stage and in day to day life.
Student Producers
Fiona Dosanjh '27
Fiona Dosanjh is a junior majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Theater & Performance Studies. She is from Hamilton, NY. She wishes to pursue a career in comedy.
Elizabeth Heitman '29
Elizabeth Heitman is a Freshman from Denver, CO that is studying on the pre-health track and majoring in Economics, with a minor in Music Production. She has enjoyed working tech in her past high school productions and is passionate about all aspects of the performing arts.