I.T. TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL
ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF ORIGINAL PLAYS BY LOCAL AUTHORS
Every August, Island Theatre presents the TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL – a celebration of local plays, playwrights, actors and directors.
The centerpiece of FESTIVAL WEEK is the Ten-Minute Play Festival – a juried selection of plays by Kitsap County playwrights—both established and aspiring. The winning plays are fully staged and performed at Bainbridge Performing Arts in both evening and matinee performances.
The deadline for play submissions each year is Valentine's Day, February 14th. Sign up for our mailing list below to receive notifications.
FESTIVAL WEEK kicks off with Meet the Playwrights, a panel discussion and Q&A with the playwrights behind each year’s winning plays.
Each fall we host the TEN-MINUTE PLAYWRITING WORKSHOP -- a two-session course taught by a professional playwright and teacher that gives you a jumpstart on writing a play for next year’s Festival.
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The 2026 Island Theatre
Ten-Minute Play Festival!
Festival dates:
Thursday, August 20 at 7:00 pm
Friday August 21 at 7:00 pm
Saturday August 22 at 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Festival location:
Buxton Center at Bainbridge Performing Arts
200 Madison Avenue North Bainbridge Island
WE’RE PULLING BACK THE CURTAIN ON THIS YEAR’S PLAYS
FOR THE TEN-MIINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL
This summer, it’s time again for your Kitsap neighbors to shine. After a month of reading, evaluating and discussing, our program selection panel has arrived at the slate of ten works to be fully showcased in our 2026 Ten-Minute Play Festival.
Join us in August for:
· “5 Fifty” by Mitch Henderson
· “Exciting Times” by Maddy Sinclair
· “Please Be Seated” by Jason Erickson
· “Sea Life” by Joel Soisson
· “Shutdown R-3917” by Nora Vitz Harrison
· “Tech” by Miranda Ray
· “The Clarendon Clown Collective” by Jessica Khailo
· “The Lady and the Cook” by Jeffrey Brown
· “The Visit” by Leslie Rothbaum
· “Through Plague We Are Saved” by Rabiya Usman
These works explore everything from the human—and inhuman—experience, unexpected relationships and situations that inspire belly laughs, reflection and wonder.
All ten plays will be fully staged in our three-day festival of live performances August 20-22, 2026 at The Buxton Center, Bainbridge Performing Arts, and casting is now in progress.
Shows are 7:00 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
Through our commitment to “keeping it local,” all the plays were written and will be directed and performed exclusively by Kitsap County artists.
Plays contain adult situations and language suitable for ages fourteen and up.
The Ten-Minute Play Festival is Island Theatre’s annual showcase of local Kitsap playwrights, actors and directors. From approximately 70 submissions, we select ten plays to create a diverse program of comedies, dramas and everything in between. As we like to say, there’s truly something for everyone, and if you don’t like the play you’re watching, well, there will be a new one in less than ten minutes!
