Kristen Nevarez Schweizer

March 25, 2026

Full disclosure: I have a soft spot for MOXIE Theatre because they truly have moxie.

For over twenty years, this brassy company on El Cajon Boulevard has produced resourceful theatre, focusing on women+ playwrights with something to prove. No safe bets, and several home runs.

This weekend, that mission gets its most generous public expression: the Lamoise New Works Festival, returning March 28–29 for its second edition. The Festival is free. Free! As in, zero dollars, no subscriptions, no parking-validated-with-purchase-of-drink minimums.

Over 400 scripts were submitted, and volunteers read every single one. The best were selected, workshopped for a week, and this weekend, they get their moment: staged readings, still rough around the edges, still breathing hard from the revision process.

As a critic, the press release reminded me: “The works presented at the Festival are still in development and are not to be reviewed. Thank you.”

Because during this special festival, audiences are invited to sit in on the moment when manuscripts become theatre. If you’ve never experienced that, you’ll realize the magic layered into every step of the process. This is more than a patron’s peek behind the curtain; it’s permission to sit beside the playwright’s typewriter.

LAMOISE NEW WORKS FESTIVAL 2026 Performance Schedule:

Saturday, March 28

12 pm – 5 Short Plays

Crush by Quinn Warren

Hilltop by Nora Vitz Harrison

On Her Own Terms by Allie Costa

Scorned Women’s Salon by Melissa Maney

The Shot by Allyson Morgon

2 pm – i never asked for a go fund me by Jayne Deely

Sunday, March 29

1 pm – Lumin by Emma Gibson

3 pm – Netta & Rue by Lisa Langford

MOXIE Theatre

WHERE: 6663 El Cajon Blvd, Ste N, San Diego, CA 92115

ADMISSIONS: Free and open to the public

CONTACT: (858) 598-7620, [email protected]