JAW New Play Festival

Pearl District

Editor's Pick

When

July 24–26, 2026

Daily

Where

Portland Center Stage at The Armory

128 NW 11th Ave
Portland, OR 97209

JAW New Play Festival is Portland Center Stage’s annual summer camp for writers. The three-day event has a clear mission: to do whatever it takes to help writers improve their plays. Each year, the company painstakingly chooses plays (usually four) from hundreds of submissions by well-established and emerging writers. Each writer brings a play in progress and works for a week with a director, a dramaturge and actors. Along the way, they revise and refine the words on the page to better tell the story on stage.

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Since its inception in 1999, JAW (originally called “Just Add Water”) has helped develop over 95 plays with 92 writers. These have resulted in fully staged productions at more than 100 professional theaters across the country, including more than a dozen world premieres at Portland Center Stage. Among the many notable successes has been Dan O’Brien’s “The Body of an American,” about the Pulitzer-winning war photographer Paul Watson. The play had an acclaimed off-Broadway run and won the prestigious Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

In addition to new play readings, Portland Center Stage presents Press Play events during the JAW festival weekend. Offering pre-show performances and workshops, featuring dynamic local artists to welcome people into the space. These events include an ever-changing lineup of dance exhibitions of all genres, live music, visual art, choreographed movement showcases, interactive installations, and artist labs. All JAW events are free to the public and help introduce new audiences and community members to the breadth of talent in the city and beyond.