Carlee WrightSalem’s Theatre 33 isn’t just staging plays—it’s reshaping the future of American theater.
In a world that often bets safe, Theatre 33 is asking you to take a chance.
Take a chance on a play you’ve never heard of.
…On a playwright you’ve never seen.
…On a nonprofit theater company rewriting the script on new play development.
From July 29 through August 10, this Salem-based company is packing what would typically be a full summer season into two jam-packed weeks—three fully produced new plays, three staged readings, and an entire creative process built around development, not just presentation.
“We’ve condensed three months of theater into two weeks,” said Executive Director Thomas Nabhan. “And no one else in the region is doing what we’re doing—fully producing plays still in development.”
Theatre 33 isn’t chasing commercial titles or revivals. It’s betting on new voices from the Pacific Northwest. That means taking risks, and it invites its audience to do the same.
This year, Theatre 33’s festival showcases three mainstage productions performed in rotating repertory. Each is a full experience: blocked, designed, and performed with scripts in hand—part workshop, part premiere.
Each playwright is paired with a dedicated dramaturg for the full development cycle—before rehearsals even begin. That relationship continues through rewrites, audience feedback, and final adjustments. Theatre 33 even houses its out-of-town writers, keeping them close to the process and the people bringing their work to life.
Beyond the mainstage, three additional works will be presented as staged readings—each with the potential to be the next fully produced premiere.
And while the stories are new, the roots run deep. Founded in Salem and named for Oregon’s place as the 33rd state in the Union, Theatre 33 has developed 44 plays by 34 playwrights. Twelve of those plays have gone on to full productions in other cities around the country.
So take a chance. On a new play. And a new voice. Because at Theatre 33, the future of theater isn’t coming—it’s already here, and the next great American play might just be born in Oregon.
MAINSTAGE PRODUCTIONS
The City and The Sea by Paul Lewis
A noir-tinged musical set in 1940s Astoria, where a daughter and her long-lost father search for truth on the treacherous Columbia Bar. By Paul Lewis — 7 p.m. Jul 29 | 2 p.m. Aug 3 | 7 p.m. Aug 7 | 7 p.m. Aug 9
Confabulous by Susan Faust
A comedic drama about dementia, sisterhood, and what it really means to be a caregiver. By Susan Faust — 7 p.m. Jul 30 | 7 p.m. Aug 1 | 7 p.m. Aug 6 | 2 p.m. Aug 10
WAGMI by AR Nicholas
A conspiracy thriller that taps into surveillance culture, science, and the collapse of trust in a tech-dominated world. By AR Nicholas. — 7 p.m. Jul 31 | 7 p.m. Aug 2 | 7 p.m. Aug 5 | 7 p.m. Aug 8
STAGED READINGS
I Want You. A quiet exploration of race and marriage by Kathleen Cahill — 7 p.m. Aug 3 | 2 p.m. Aug 9
Proper, A Steampunk Comedy of Manners. A melodramatic period adventure comedy by Angela Gyurko — 7 p.m. Aug 1 | 2 p.m. Aug 10
Coal is King. A portrait of gender, labor, and survival in 1970s Appalachia by Kiwk Jones — 2 p.m. Aug 2 | 7 p.m. Aug 8
Plays and staged readings take place at Willamette University. Click here to reserve your tickets.
This story originally ran in Press Play Salem issue 24 ( Summer 2025)
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Author: Carlee Wright
Carlee Wright is a community instigator with a grand love for Salem and notably fashionable shoes (Hello, John Fluevog!) who turns waste into wearable art in her "spare" time.
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