Playwright
New Works Festival ∙ June 2—June 13, 2025
Title Wave: The New Works Festival
The annual New Works Festival provides a platform for unpublished works to see that stage and for attendees to be on the cutting edge of theater.
Monday, June 2 at 7:00pm: Mister Halston by Raffaele Pacitti
Saturday, June 7 at 2:00pm: CURVY WIDOW: Owning It by Bobby Goldman, Music and Lyrics by Drew Brody
Monday, June 9 at 7:00pm: Ajax by Habib Yazdi
Friday, June 13 at 3:00pm: U.X. by Jason Gray Platt
Mister Halston
Mister Halston is a one-person play exploring the life and times of famed American fashion designer, Halston. It traces his meteoric rise, stunning fame and ultimate fall set against a tumultuous, thrilling time in New York history.
CURVY WIDOW: Owning It
In this new vision of the hilarious sex-comedy musical, middle-aged Bobby finds herself alone in a penthouse she didn’t choose, living a life she didn’t choose. With the encouragement of her best friend, she throws caution to the wind to brave the internet and New York dating scenes in search of a new beginning and new version of herself.
Ajax
It’s a hot summer in August, 1953, when a clean-cut American arrives at a peaceful villa in North Tehran. Kambiz, the villa’s gardener and pool boy, wonders if the new guest may be his ticket to a better life. As their friendship deepens, Kambiz finds himself entangled with the Shah of Iran and the country’s elected prime minister. How will it end? Only the pool knows…
U.X.
A social media giant designs a virtual reality experience for racial sensitivity training with (obviously!) only the purest of intentions. The project quickly and hilariously gets out of hand, pitting the programmer against his own creation. When technological Utopianism meets the realities of race in America, what could possibly go wrong? Nothing, right?
View Bios
Raffaele Pacitti
Playwright, Mister Halston
Raffaele Pacitti is a playwright, musician and producer whose plays have received stagings and readings in both New York and Canada. His latest play, Mister Halston, explores the life and times of famed American fashion designer, Halston, set against the vibrant, tumultuous New York of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Mister Halston has received awards for Outstanding Script, Outstanding Actor, and the Audience Award at New York's United Solo Festival.
Select Theatre/Concerts: The Tempest (Mill Mountain Stage), The Heiress (Shadow Lawn Stage), A Casual Gathering (Theatre for a New Audience), Pterodactyls (Mercury Theatre), Digging for Fire (Factory Theatre), Hamlet (Canadian Stage), Count Dracula (Rainbow Theatre); Bright Lights, Big City (Greenroom 42); Body and Soul (54 Below).
Raffaele holds a BFA in theatre from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson Theatre School) and has studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Bobby Goldman
Playwright, CURVY WIDOW: Owning It
Drew Brody
Music and Lyrics, CURVY WIDOW: Owning It
Drew Brody is a New York City-based songwriter with a background in rock, pop, and folk music, which informs his work in musical theater. His songs have been performed by a range of Broadway artists, and his writing credits include Curvy Widow, Cutman: A Boxing Musical, and Derma, among others. He's also contributed music to Oh, Hello on Broadway and several independent films. Outside of theater, Drew has released solo albums, toured with the band M-LAB, and produced records for other artists. In 2022, he founded Songbyrd, a non-profit supporting emerging musical theater writers.
Hibib Yazdi
Playwright, Ajax
Habib Yazdi is an Iranian-American playwright and filmmaker. He produced and directed the PBS series United States of Comedy. A Sundance x ISF Building Bridges Fellow, Habib has participated in Gotham Week, the Warner Bros. Discovery Access Directors Program, and the Mentorship Matters writing lab. His short films have screened at festivals worldwide—including St. Louis, Brisbane, Brooklyn, Vail, and Pan African—and at venues like the Barbican Centre, the de Young Museum, and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Habib earned his MFA from NYU Tisch, where he received the Oliver Stone Screenwriting Award and the Goldberg Play Prize. His comedic play about the 1953 American coup in Iran, Ajax, will premiere at Boise Contemporary Theater in 2026.
Jason Gray Platt
Playwright, U.X.
Jason Gray Platt’s work has been produced and developed around the country by Actors Theatre of Louisville, Denver Center Theatre Company, Round House Theater, TheatreWorks, The Playwrights Realm, Page 73, and Red Bull Theater among others. He has been a fellow at MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Folger Library as well as a core writer at the Playwrights’ Center. He received the 2019 James Stevenson Award from Playing on Air. Originally from Arizona, Jason now lives in Denver. BA: Vassar; MFA: Columbia
Featured Playwrights
Bobby Goldman
Drew Brody
Hibib Yazdi
Jason Gray Platt
