This annual WashU Performing Arts Department Festival begins with a university-wide solicitation of new, unproduced plays. Several plays are selected, through an anonymized screening process, to be developed in a two-week event in September. During those two weeks, each play will be workshopped with a professional dramaturg, a faculty director and a student cast. The Festival culminates in a public staged reading of each play. Assistant Professor Zachariah Ezer will serve as Festival dramaturg in September 2024.

Hotch Fest is generously supported by the WashU Office of the Dean of Arts & Sciences and the Newman’s Own Foundation.

Friday, September 20, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Escape
By Zach Berger
Directed by Jeffery Matthews

Chuck just wants to find love, but when his personal ad draws some unwanted visitors from his past, he must decide whether to run or find “the one” in this comedy of errors.

Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.
Follow the....
By Frauke Thielecke
Directed by Annamaria Pileggi

Mark has unexpectedly turned into a giant white rabbit. Soon, he learns that it is not all about carrots.