While national play development houses are shuttering their doors and retreating into “safe” programming, St. Petersburg is doing what it does best: leaning into the grit. We aren’t just a destination for polished, final products—we are becoming the laboratory where the work actually happens.
The inaugural St. Pete New Works Festival is a two-week “living laboratory” that proves our “City of the Arts” title isn’t just a marketing slogan; it’s a commitment to the process. From March 25 through April 4, 2027, four of our local heavyweights—Story Keepers, freeFall Theatre, The Studio@620, and Off-Central Players—are teaming up to turn the city into a sanctuary for new stories.
A defiant statement of community
This festival arrives as a sharp response to a changing national landscape. As traditional incubators for new plays face closures, St. Pete’s arts leaders are doubling down on sustainability through collaboration.
The sentiment across the board is clear: we aren’t waiting for permission from the national scene to create.
“The St. Pete New Works Festival is a necessity for the growth of the arts here in St. Pete,” says Alan Mohney Jr., Managing Director of Off-Central Players. “We are thrilled to collaborate… to bring this festival to life and bring new stories to our community”.
The festival will activate diverse spaces across the city, utilizing the unique vibes of The Studio@620, freeFall Theatre, and The Off-Central Players to host both local talent and national creators.
Breaking the fourth wall
The St. Pete New Works Festival focuses on the developmental journey. It’s about the “Yes”—the radical act of giving an artist the space to fail, pivot, and eventually, soar.
Erica Sutherlin, Artistic Executive Director of The Studio@620, emphasizes this culture of radical imagination:
“At The Studio@620, our mission has always been to say ‘Yes’ to the artist. By partnering with our peers for this festival, we are amplifying that ‘Yes’ and ensuring that St. Petersburg remains a beacon for diversity, innovation, and the next generation of great American stories”.
Eric Davis, Artistic Director of freeFall Theatre, notes that the festival’s open format allows organizations to showcase work based on artistic merit rather than rigid thematic constraints:
“We are thrilled to participate in this project which creates an open format for organizations to show work that simply needs to be new. This allows us to bring one of our major season projects into the festival… It should be a fun and varied mix of events”.
The pulse of the festival
- The goal: To show that St. Pete is a collective home for artists at every stage of the developmental journey.
- The content: A dense schedule featuring world premieres, Florida premieres, staged readings, and professional networking.
- The dates: March 25 – April 4, 2027.
How to get involved
The festival is currently in its “Save the Date” phase, here is how to stay in the loop:
- Sign up: Visit Storykeepers.org to join the mailing list for first-access alerts on ticket sales and workshop applications.
- Support: As a grassroots collaborative effort, the festival is seeking sponsors and partners interested in investing in the future of St. Pete’s creative pulse.
A note from the author: I’m taking off my journalist hat for a moment to share that I am deeply embedded in this project as the founder of Story Keepers and a festival organizer. Story Keeper’s mission is to ensure our local arts ecosystem remains as vibrant and defiant as the people who live here.
This post first appeared at TB Arts Passport, which is part of the Tampa Bay Journalism Project (TBJP), a nascent Creative Loafing Tampa Bay effort supported by grants and a coalition of donors who make specific contributions via the Alternative Newsweekly Foundation. If you are a non-paywalled Bay area publication interested in TBJP, please email rroa@ctampa.com. Support TB Arts Passport by subscribing to its free newsletter or becoming a paying Arts Passport Member.
This article appears in Apr. 23 – 29, 2026.