Playwright Stacey Isom Campbell’s new play “The Longest Walk” will get two staged readings in Urbanite’s Modern Works Festival.
Urbanite Theatre, the intimate Sarasota, FL, company devoted to contemporary voices, will develop new plays by Stacey Isom Campbell, Mantra Radhakrishnan and Joz Vammer in its 2026 Modern Works Festival Sept. 17-27. The festival includes a separate full staging of the solo work Tea TIME by Erika MacDonald and culminates in staged readings and author talkbacks Sept. 25-27.
This is the Modern Works Festival’s seventh year. It’s billed as a “celebration of new play development and women in theatre.” With a festival pass, theatergoers gain “all-access entry to works in progress, including staged readings of finalist plays, a kickoff party, guest speaker events, artist performances, and post show conversations that bring audiences and creators into direct dialogue.”
Playwright, dramaturg, librettist and poet Jacqueline Goldfinger (whose book “Playwriting with Purpose: A Guide and Workbook for Playwrights” is popular in the industry) is the festival guest speaker.
Here’s a look at the three plays getting readings in Urbanite’s 2026 Modern Works Festival:
The Longest Walk by Stacey Isom Campbell
Sept. 25 at 2 PM, Sept. 26 at 5 PM
“Ten years after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, former Marines Mags and Fee are still fighting a war no one else can see. As memories of combat collide with the realities of civilian life, their friendship becomes both a refuge and a reckoning. The Longest Walk is a powerful, deeply human exploration of PTSD, survival, and the invisible scars carried by those who serve.”
Playwright Mantra Radhakrishnan
Conversations by the Beach by Mantra Radhakrishnan
Sept. 25 at 5 PM, Sept. 26 at 7:30 PM
“Three women. Twenty years. Five beaches. Mona and her two daughters, Meenu and Mariam, experience both grief and freedom after the death of the family patriarch. A dramedy that is infused with Bharathnatyam movement pieces, Conversations by the Beach is a dance-play that navigates the complexity of grief, growing up, and nontraditional family.”
Spectres by Joz Vammer
Sept. 26 at 2 PM, Sept. 27 at 2 PM
“When college freshmen and lifelong best friends Gracie and Roxi venture into a cave to investigate the legend of the mysterious Woman in White, what begins as a ghost hunt quickly becomes something far more unsettling. As eerie encounters blur the line between the supernatural and the deeply personal, the two friends are forced to confront the fears, grief, and unspoken truths haunting them both. Spectres asks what it really means to confront the things that refuse to let us go.”
Playwright Joz Vammer
The upcoming 13th mainstage season at Urbanite’s black box home will feature Ahoy-Hoy by Jenny Stafford, The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle (check out my recent chat with Lindsay, about her new play Dalloway: First Love), 1999 by Stacy Isom Campbell and Black Bastard by Jon Gentry.
I previously interviewed Stacey Campbell about 1999, her play about a reckoning with the films of 1999 and the culture that created them.
Learn more about Urbanite’s 2026-27 season here.
Mission-wise, Urbanite Theatre “is committed to creating visceral, shared experiences by fearlessly lifting up the boldest new voices in theatre. We believe in inclusive, artist-first storytelling, daring honesty, and the powerful connectivity of an intimate space.” Summer Dawn Wallace is artistic director of Urbanite Theatre.
Urbanite’s home in Sarasota, FL.
