Br!nk
At the Br!NK New Play Festival we celebrate & develop the work of Midwestern women playwrights.
Join us for the 11th Annual Br!NK New Play Festival
May 17 & 18, 2025
The Baumgartner Center for Dance
Featuring NAKED TUESDAYS by Maria Pretzl & GREAT WHITE THRONE by Cara Johnston
Next Submission window for Br!NK 2026: May 1st - June 30th
Naked Tuesdays
By Maria Pretzl
May 17 at 7:00pm
The lives of a pretentious writer, a heartbroken actor and a naive writer’s assistant collide when they’re forced to share a New York City Apartment.
Maria Pretzl is an Emmy-nominated writer, director, producer and sometimes marketing manager. Select writing credits include JUNIPER FLIES (RTW Br!NK Br!EFS), THE WORLD’S GREATEST DETECTIVE (UW-Milwaukee) and FANCY PEOPLE LIKE FONDUE, which can be purchased on Stage Partners’s website. Her award winning short film, Super Dad!, can be found on Vimeo. She is also half of Traveling Lemur Productions, an LLC that produces video and photo content for many theatre companies around Milwaukee. She earned her Regional Emmy nomination for a collaboration with First Stage on the film Christmastown Comes to First Stage in 2021. When she isn’t writing, you can find her ambushing your favorite local actors on the sidewalk and asking them important questions, like “which Muppet do you identify with?”
Great White Throne
By Cara Johnston
May 18 at 7:00pm
In her darkest hour, a pastor’s wife receives an unexpected visit from the person she least wants to see, only to discover this encounter might just hold the key to her salvation.
Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Cara Johnston now proudly calls Milwaukee her home. Fans of RTW will remember Cara's unforgettable turns as an actor in our mainstage seasons, THE VIOLET HOUR (2017) and L'APPARTEMENT (2024), as well as performing in almost every Br!NK festival since its inception. Her debut play, The Little Glass Slipper as Performed by the Queen of France and her Friends was televised on PBS stations across her home state of Texas. In 2023, Cara performed her original one-person play, The Madwoman, at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, where she received five stars and an Offies nomination.
Br!NK Br!EFS
The Br!NK New Play Festival weekend also includes performances of Br!NK Br!EFS — a collection of fully staged ten-minute plays. The themes for this year's Br!NK Br!EFS are "A Day Out of the Ordinary" and "Under the Surface".
The Br!NK Br!EFS will be performed on May 17 & 18 at 2:00pm.
This year's Br!NK Br!EFS
The Paper Girl by Maria Burnhman
Grow With Me Gretel by Rachel Bykowski
Little Women by Nina Dellaria
Flaco by Kristen Field
Search For An Ending by Karissa Murrell Myers
What is Br!NK?
Each year, Renaissance Theaterworks puts a call out to Midwestern women playwrights to submit their work.
- Two playwrights are selected to receive the Br!NK Playwright Residency — the opportunity to develop and advance their scripts during a week-long workshop with a director, cast and dramaturg.
- This dedicated team partners with the Br!NK Resident Playwrights, researching and pondering the script from every angle.
- Following the workshop week, the plays are presented as staged-readings for the public at the week-long Br!NK New Play Festival in May!
The Br!NK New Play Festival is unlike a traditional theatrical evening. These staged-readings are focused on the playwright’s work and audience members are encouraged to provide feedback during guided talk-back sessions. Playwrights have the opportunity to meet the actors and directors and mingle with a community passionate about creating and enjoying theatrical works.
Br!NK New Play Festival weekend includes performances of Br!NK Br!efs — a collection of fully-staged ten-minute plays.
Br!NK 2025 is Supported by
