Writopia Lab’s
Worldwide Plays Festival

Founded in 2010, Writopia Lab’s Worldwide Plays Festival is an annual Off-Broadway festival of one-act plays written by playwrights ages 6 to 18 and produced, designed, directed, and acted by New York City theater professionals.

Since its inception, the festival has produced live theatrical productions of plays written in workshops at Writopia’s labs across the country and plays submitted to our competition from playwrights around the world! Comedies, musicals, monologues, historical dramas, tear-jerkers, and thought pieces—all written by the talented young playwrights of tomorrow.

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from hosting live gatherings, Writopia Lab released the plays as 40 short podcasts. For 2021 and 2022, we continued to meet the moment with both virtual performances and socially-distanced outdoor readings of plays in Central Park, Riverside Park, and Bryant Park. This allowed us all the communal experience of theater, while keeping our playwrights, artists, and audiences safe. Since 2023, we have returned to the stage!

See the details for the 2025 competition!