2026 Keen Teens Festival of New Work
Featuring world premiere one-acts by Will Eno, Monet Hurst-Mendoza, and Nelson Diaz-Marcano
Directed by Zoë Lillis, Mayah Lourdes Burke, and Kevaughn Harvey
With an all-star cast of New York City High Schoolers
May 15—17, 2026
Join us for the 20th annual Keen Teens Festival of New Work, featuring 3 world premiere one acts written specifically for today’s high schoolers, and starring nearly 40 NYC teens!
Keen Teens is a unique educational program from the award-winning Off-Broadway theater, Keen Company. This free program for teens provides invaluable mentorship opportunities: working alongside professional writers, directors, and designers to rehearse and premiere new plays. By commissioning one-acts specifically designed for the high school stage, Keen Teens creates work that speaks to teens on their level, presenting a perspective which is as complex and multilayered as the students themselves. The 12-week program culminates in the Off-Broadway premiere of each new piece during the Keen Teens Festival of New Work and the subsequent publishing and licensing by Concord Theatricals.
Be the first to see the Off-Broadway debut of these young actors, and the premiere of work which will soon be produced on high school stages around the world!
Keen Teens is made possible through the generous support Keen Teens Ambassadors like you!
Run time is approximately 95 minutes without an intermission. All three festival plays will be presented at every performance.
All Tickets: $20
Performance Venue
Theatre Five in Theatre Row
410 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036
Between 9th & 10th Ave
Content NOTE
The plays in Keen Teens explore contemporary teenage experiences and some include strong language. Additionally, the piece Stay Awake addresses the aftermath of an immigration raid, including themes of family separation.
Show Schedule
Friday May 15th at 8pm
Saturday May 16th at 2pm
Saturday May 16th at 8pm
Sunday May 17th at 2pm
Accessibility
For accessibility requests, please contact Producing Director, Annie Middleton, at annie@keencompany.org
Explore the 2026 Festival Plays
EVERY BOOK IS A YEARBOOK
By Will Eno
Directed by Zoë Lillis
The graduating students on the high school yearbook committee, in the middle of facing their own battles, challenges, and endings, have just found out their school will be closing forever, and consequently are finding it impossible to agree on what is most meaningful and most worth remembering about this time, and so they give up on the idea of a yearbook altogether. But a spooky occurrence allows one of the students to go back into the school’s past, where she sees surprising and beautiful things that may shed a whole new light on the present day and the question of what is most important to preserve.
Starring: Milo Bryant Avila, Jaylene Calo, Amirah Clark, D'Anthony Daniels, Marsul Hoyte, Brandi Idrovo, Serina "Achilles” Jackson, David "Lyle Avery" McRae, Rebekah Summerville, Loretta Wegner, Michelle Zayons
Assistant Director: Alex Church-Gonzales
Stage Manager: Keys Newell
Teen Directors: Ayden Francis, Ruthie Seneviratne
Costume Apprentices: Achilles Jackson, Rebekah Summerville
STAY AWAKE
By Monet Hurst-Mendoza
Directed by Mayah Lourdes Burke
In the midst of a seemingly carefree sleepover, a tight-knit group of teens find themselves delving into the complex dynamics of friendship and young love. But what begins as a night filled with laughter takes a darker turn when they learn that an ICE raid has permeated their friend group. As the night unfolds, the teens must navigate the delicate balance between support and despair, ultimately confronting the harsh realities beyond their makeshift sanctuary.
Starring: Jayden Barrow, Derek Herrera, Noah Iturralde, Jasmine Mclean, Adriana "Bonnie' Melendez, Jayden Nieves, Elani Ruiz, Juanita Webb, Viktoriia Yatsyshyna
Assistant Director: Skylar Fischer
Stage Manager: Rose Tidwell
Teen Directors: Eden Lama, Laila Liggins
Costume Apprentice: Eden Lama
MARQUESINA (Or How To Throw A Party in this Day and Age)
By Nelson Diaz-Marcano
Directed by Kevaughn Harvey
A lonely high school junior decides to change his social fate by hosting one of the legendary party de marquesinas his parents always talked about. There’s just one problem: he has no idea how those parties actually worked. As he scrambles to pull it off in his empty house, the ghosts of his ancestors appear, arguing over the “right” way to throw the perfect party, turning his night of reinvention into a chaotic, heartfelt battle over culture, connection, and growing up.
Starring: Jay Avelutto, Jacob Baboolall, Baldwin Cruz, Lawrence "Mason" Golden, Gioliz Hernandez, Aishwarya Joseph, Lina Liu, Noah Jean Mary, Anecia McKenzie, Aavani Otero, Angel Rodriguez, Malick Seck, Elle Smith, Annais Soto
Assistant Director: Equiano Mosieri
Assistant Stage Manager: Kay Ortega
Teen Director: Lea Sarmiento, Pahul Teg Singh
Costume Apprentices: Aishwarya Joseph, Elle Smith
Learn more about our Keen Teens program and the perks of becoming a Keen Teens Ambassador!
Meet the Artists
Will Eno (Playwright, EVERY BOOK IS A YEARBOOK) lives in Brooklyn and is a Pulitzer Finalist in Drama and winner of the Obie, Lortel, and Drama Desk awards. He wrote the book for the massively successful Skittles Superbowl musical, which starred his frequent collaborator Michael C. Hall. Will teaches playwriting, most recently at Princeton University, and mentors students at Columbia and elsewhere. His play GNIT, an adaptation of Peer Gynt, had its Canadian Premiere at the Shaw Festival in 2025. His daughter Albertine acted in a workshop of her dad’s new play at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 2025. Film director Frederick Wiseman will direct the French premiere of his play THE REALISTIC JONESES in Paris in 2026. Will also writes for television and film.
Monet Hurst-Mendoza (Playwright, STAY AWAKE) is a NYC-based playwright, TV writer, and educator originally from Los Angeles. Alum: Emerging Writers Group (The Public Theater), WP Theater Playwrights Lab, Fresh Ground Pepper Playgroup, The Civilians’ R&D Group, Van Lier Fellowship (New Dramatists), The Watermill Center, Millay Arts, Ucross, La Mama Umbría, MacDowell, Stillwright, and SPACE, where she currently serves on the board. A recipient of the 2025 Helen Merrill Award, Parity Development Award, and NYSCA grant, Monet was also a writer/producer for "Law & Order: SVU" and was a member of The Kilroys (2.0 cohort). She was recently named one of Broadway Women’s Fund’s 2026 “Women to Watch.” monethurstmendoza.com.
![Nelson Diaz-Marcano (Playwright, MARQUESINA [OR HOW TO THROW A PARTY IN THIS DAY AND AGE]) is a Puerto Rican, NYC-based playwright, theater maker, and community leader whose work lives at the intersection of intimacy and spectacle. His plays challeng](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/62ec5b4285e86d106ca49d5e/7f6bef69-e453-4cde-af78-8eddbf91c6fb/nelson.jpeg)
Nelson Diaz-Marcano (Playwright, MARQUESINA [OR HOW TO THROW A PARTY IN THIS DAY AND AGE]) is a Puerto Rican, NYC-based playwright, theater maker, and community leader whose work lives at the intersection of intimacy and spectacle. His plays challenge dominant narratives while centering the lives, contradictions, and resilience of underrepresented communities, and have been produced Off-Broadway and across the country in cities including Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut, and Puerto Rico. Select credits include LAS BORINQUEÑAS (Ensemble Studio Theatre, Francisco Arrivi), WORLD CLASSIC (Bishop Arts Theatre Center & Pa’lante Theater), Y TÚ ABUELA, WHERE IS SHE? PART 1 (Chicago Latino Theater Alliance), PAPER TOWELS (INTAR), and REVOLT! (Vision Latino Theatre Company). He currently serves as Literary Director of the Latinx Playwrights Circle, where he has championed and developed over 100 new plays, helping to cultivate a vital pipeline of Latine voices in American theater.
Scenic & Props Designer: Qingan Zhang
Costume Designer: Marley Boone
Lighting Designer: Hayley Garcia Parnell
Sound Designer: Elliot Yikum
Sound Apprentice: Leora Vainer
Sound Intern: Eliza Pope
Lighting Apprentice: Sky Gomez
Scenic Apprentice: Karga Mehta
Scenic Interns: Aidan Clementson, Rose Tidwell
Production Photographer: Edward T. Morris
Keen Teens Education Director: Carrie Ellman-Larsen
Keen Teens Producing Director: Vernice Miller
Keen Teens Associate Producer/Production Stage Manager: Sloane Fischer
Production Manager: Eric Nightingale
Mental Health Coach: Aaron Profumo, LSWC