Winding Road Theater is pleased to announce
​our return to production for the 2025-2026 Season

November 2025
The Odyssey Lab
A new works development program

The Odyssey Lab is a collaborative development process that unfolds over several months, and ultimately leads to a final draft with a full-scale production.

The Spark
We begin with an intimate reading of the play’s current draft, followed by a community talkback—because we believe early feedback (from the people we’re making it for) is powerful. A post-show Salon with food and drinks continues the conversation, giving audiences, artists, and thinkers space to reflect, connect, and imagine.

The Workshop
The playwright returns to the table with a team of creative collaborators: a director, dramaturg, and selected performers. Through targeted development sessions, we dig into character arcs, structural shifts, and thematic clarity. After revisions, we share the next version through a lightly staged public reading, again paired with a talkback to gather further insight.

The Deep Dive
​With feedback in hand, the playwright goes through another round of revisions supported by the creative team. This is where the play sharpens, expands, and settles into its final shape. At the end of this phase, the final production draft is delivered.

The Production
Finally, the play takes its fully staged form—costumes, sets, lights, actors, audience. The Odyssey Lab culminates in a full-scale production as part of Winding Road’s season, giving the new work the platform it deserves.

January 2026
Eight 10s in Tucson
The return of Winding Road's Ten-minute Play Festival

“Eight 10s in Tucson” is a short-play festival consisting of eight 10-minute plays, selected from scripts solicited nationwide through a “blind” selection process. All 8 selected plays are produced and staged to appear in a single evening’s performance each night of the festival’s production run.

​This is a great opportunity for Tucson actors. We're looking for artists who can perform multiple roles and directors who can take on a few scripts each. Our hope is to find an exciting mix of seasoned and newer talent to expand the richness of the production.

“I fell in love with the 10-minute play format through the “8 10s at Eight” festival in Santa Cruz, California. It offers great variety to audience members, sort of like live action Tik Tok videos - a little something for every taste. A 10-minute play is also good for playwrights, forcing them to find the most concise way possible to tell their story. When I arrived in Tucson, I just knew this community would respond well to this festival, and I’m extremely happy to see its return." - Chad Davies, Member Emeritus, 2025

This production is currently slated for a  January/February run. Exact dates and venue TBD. Final cast and director selection to be completed in September, 2025.

Interested in other areas of the production besides performing? Let us know! We are looking for fresh voices and visions in all areas of production including design, construction, and management. Send an email to [email protected] to connect directly with production on this project. 

May 2026
"Mathew 33:6"
A full scale production, culmination of The Odyssey Lab

Story Synopsis:
​
​He died. He came back. Now he has to host Thanksgiving... 

​After falling off a roof while cleaning gutters, Mathew Drake is rushed to the hospital with a concussion. The next day, he unexpectedly dies. But three days later—while awaiting embalming at the funeral home—he mysteriously comes back to life, completely unscarred, witnessed only by his boyfriend Simon (who promptly faints). Under constant medical observation and facing the bewildering aftermath of his resurrection, Mathew tries to hold on to his relationship, reconnect with his estranged pastor father and Bible-college professor aunt, and rebuild his sense of self. As Thanksgiving approaches, Mathew and Simon attempt to bring everyone together for a holiday dinner that becomes a vulnerable, sometimes hilarious, and deeply human conversation about mortality, belief, and what it means to be alive—again.

Character Breakdown:

• Mathew Drake, 33
  sort of Catholic
• Simon Taub
  his boyfriend, kind of Jewish
• Judith Valere
  his psychologist, closet atheist
• Claire Essex
  his doctor, closet atheist
• Brian Haylee
  hiss father, a minister, believes in God
• Ruth Prescott
  hiss Aunt, a professor, ​believes in The Bible

 Why This Season Matters
At Winding Road, we believe great theater—like great humans—doesn’t show up fully formed. It grows. It stumbles. It gets challenged, rewritten, reconsidered. It listens, and it learns.

That’s why this season isn’t just about presenting plays. It’s about creating space for transformation—for the artists, for the work, and for the people who come to witness it.

Whether we’re nurturing a full-length world premiere through The Odyssey Lab, amplifying bold short plays in Eight 10s in Tucson, or offering a deeply personal story like Mathew 33:6 the time and care it needs to emerge—we are committed to process-driven storytelling. Work that takes risks. Work that speaks to where we are and where we’re going. Work that reflects the complexity of being human right now.

We believe that stories are how we navigate the winding road of this world. And in a time when it feels like everything is moving faster than we can keep up, we’re choosing to slow down. To listen. To build. To create with intention.

This season is an invitation:
To witness new voices in the making
To engage in conversation, not just consumption
To say, “I was there when this story found its feet”

It’s not just a play. It’s not just a lab.
It’s not just a festival.
It’s a journey.

And we hope you’ll walk it with us—whether you're a curious audience member, a longtime supporter, a new collaborator, or someone simply hungry for stories that matter.

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