Momentum Festival 2025
Join us for a weekend of new works made in and about Pittsburgh!
Launched in 2003, the Momentum Festival: New Plays at Different Stages is at the heart of City Theatre’s mission to lead the new play development conversation on both a national and local level. It celebrates some of the most exciting playwrights in the country through a weekend of workshops, readings, and artist panels. This year, in collaboration with the CMU Center for New Work Development, the festival returns to share four new works from both the City Theatre and CMU artistic communities.
This year’s festival will feature a new musical set on Pittsburgh’s southside with songs by houserocker and frequent Bruce Springsteen collaborator, Joe Grushecky, the return of Chris Rivas with a new solo show directed by Pittsburgh based director and CMU alumni Adil Mansoor (who is also directing City Theatre’s production of Eureka Day this season), as well as two brand new plays from Carnegie Mellon’s renowned MFA in Dramatic Writing program. The reimagined Momentum Festival revives an important facet of Pittsburgh’s new play development work and creates collaboration between producing and academic organizations to not only deepen students’ education, but to ensure a bright artistic future for the city of Pittsburgh. Each team is a mix of professionals and students, sparking connections between artists at varying stages of development to build and fortify community across our industry.
Prepare and propel works to world premieres here in Pittsburgh and around the country. Come be a part of the new play process and witness these works while they’re still in development.
The return of the Momentum Festival is made possible by the newly minted Center for New Work Development at Carnegie Mellon University.
CENTER FOR NEW WORK DEVELOPMENT
The Center for New Work Development is a brand new initiative that connects the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama and Pittsburgh’s established theaters to generate new work initiatives, creating a collaborative hub between higher education and regional theaters to sustain new live theatrical performance. Whether it be readings, masterclasses, workshops, or developmental productions, the Center provides students for-credit learning opportunities to engage with leading theatremakers as they develop their latest creations. Partners for the inaugural year are City Theatre Company, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Pittsburgh CLO, Pittsburgh Public Theater, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and Play On Shakespeare.
CITY THEATRE COMPANY
Founded in 1975, City Theatre is in its 51st season as Pittsburgh’s home for bold new plays. Located in the historic South Side on its four-building cultural campus, the company produces a season of regional and world premieres; its renowned Young Playwrights Festival, now in its 26th year; a season-long reading series of new works in progress; and the annual Momentum Festival. City Theatre’s mission is to provide an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays that engage and challenge a diverse audience. Its vision is to be the best mid-sized theater in America. Organizational core values are: Community; Collaboration; Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility; and Creativity. With an annual average operating budget of over $3.3M, City Theatre is the largest performing arts organization not located in Pittsburgh’s downtown Cultural District and is a constituent and core member of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT), Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and the National New Play Network (NNPN). Clare Drobot serves as Artistic Director alongside Managing Director James McNeel. The current full-time staff numbers 24 with over 125 additional part-time, artist, and contractor staff employed each season. City Theatre is governed by a board of 21 community volunteers (Barbara Rudiak, board president). Major support for the 2025-2026 season is provided by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Shubert Foundation, the Arthur J. and Betty F. Diskin Cultural Endowment Fund of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and major donors supporting City Theatre’s ‘Next Act’ 50th Anniversary Campaign. Learn more at CityTheatreCompany.org.