Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center proudly announces its fifth annual production of short plays. The 2026 New Jersey One-Act Play Festival features five world premiere one-act plays by New Jersey playwrights, continuing Dragonfly’s mission of championing local artists, producing new work, and bringing diverse, community-centered storytelling to the stage.
Performances will take place Friday, April 24 and Saturday, April 25 at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday, April 26 at 2:00 p.m. at duCret Center of Art in Plainfield, NJ.
Following the Friday evening performance, audiences are invited to stay for a special talkback with the playwrights, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process and the opportunity to engage directly with the writers behind these world premieres.
This year’s festival features:
- Unlove Me by Charles Grayson, directed by Andrew Rodriguez: A couple terribly in love visits a relationship counselor and tries to explain why they need help.
- Reunion by Stephen Patrick, directed by Matt Holbert: An elderly woman in a nursing home is depressed until she is given a possibly magical laptop.
- A Grave Mistake by Susan Cain McQuilkin, directed by Aidan O'Rourke: A man arrives in a wooded area with a body in a tarp. As he digs a grave, the tarp begins to move.
- Elizabeth, NJ by Benjamin V. Marshall, directed by Kat Perez and Aaliyah Whitfield: Two immigrant women waiting to see loved ones at a detention center are harassed by the security guard and annoyed by the ever-gabbing television.
- Game Company written and directed by Catherine LaMoreaux: A Baby Boomer and a Gen Z gamer are forced to work together at a video game company.
Tickets are $20–25 and may be purchased at the door or online at dragonflyartsnj.org/purchase-tickets.
Performances take place at duCret Center of Art, 1030 Central Avenue, Plainfield, NJ.