Theatre Salina
The American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) is thrilled to announce that Theatre Salina of Salina, Kansas, has been selected to participate in AACT NewPlayFest 2026 as a Producing Theatre.
Theatre Salina is one of only six theatres in the nation to receive this prestigious honor. Each cycle, hundreds of playwrights submit original scripts for consideration.
Following a rigorous three-tier review process, the Producing Theatres will select one finalist to produce, and the six plays are then announced as AACT NewPlayFest 2026 award winners.
Aligned with AACT's mission of providing support and resources to community theatres, AACT NewPlayFest addresses the critical need for new, high-quality plays for community theatre audiences worldwide. This unique playwriting competition guarantees that each winning play will be produced as a world premiere by an established theatre and published by Dramatic Publishing Company in an AACT NewPlayFest anthology.
Founded in 1960, Theatre Salina is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to enrich the lives of people in Salina and the surrounding region by creating a broad range of quality theatrical programs for their entertainment and education, and to provide people of all ages and backgrounds the opportunity to participate in play production and other theatre activities.
Theatre Salina currently produces 14 productions each season, including their seven-show subscription series, Center for Theatre Arts youth productions, their After Dark series, and original dance productions. Theatre Salina has been the National Winner of AACTFest 2001 with its production of Wit, the recipient of the Governor’s Arts Award for organizational excellence, and the Twink Lynch Award.
Many theatres across the country applied to be a Producing Theatre, and those selected receive the recognition that comes with premiering a national award-winning play, national publicity, the experience of working directly with the playwright, the honor of introducing an award-winning playwright to their community and having a direct impact on the future of the play.
The winning plays will receive a full production by the Producing Theatre between June 2025 and December 2026. In addition to Theatre Salina, the selected Producing Theatres for AACT NewPlayFest 2026 are Waterville Opera House in Waterville, Maine; Westchester Collaborative Theater in Ossining, New York; Players de Noc, Inc. in Escanaba, Michigan; Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Kenai Performers, Inc. in Soldotna, Alaska. Theatre33 in Bellevue, Washington, will serve as an alternate.
AACT NewPlayFest has proven to be a great success, with six original plays being produced as world premieres across the country every two years. Over 40 original scripts have been published, with productions licensed globally and receiving international acclaim. Visit aact.org/newplayfest to see information on past winning plays and their productions. These plays are available to be produced through Dramatic Publishing Company.
The AACT NewPlayFest world premieres are made possible in part by a grant from the Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre Lee Theatre Foundation. Created by the children of Frank Ayre Lee, this foundation honors their father and his cousin Jack, both passionate supporters of community theatre and new works.
AACT's mission is to help theatres thrive by providing them with networking, resources, and support. It represents the interests of thousands of theatres across the United States and its territories, as well as those with the U.S. Military Services overseas.