The 2025 Ojai Playwrights Conference presents a lineup of new dramatic works about faith, family, and fervor. The five plays, developed at the conference and performed as readings, give unique takes on how a returning family member can trigger a reckoning with the shared trauma of the past. Producing Artistic Director Jeremy Cohen has chosen plays that tell universal truths despite very specific situations, noting the power of “seeing someone else’s version” of a relevant struggle.
Heléne by Lisa D’Amour
Lisa D’Amour’s new play-in-process, called Heléne, follows a woman’s road trip from Louisiana to Brooklyn as she’s urged toward revelation by the ghost of her daughter. On the way, Heléne experiences the varied communities of this diverse country, from right-leaning people of faith to Brooklyn lesbians. The question here, says Cohen, is “How do you do both?”
Stories in Mother Tongues by Deepak Kumar
Deepak Kumar’s Stories in Mother Tongues is about the one-person performance that 79-year-old Paati delivers every night — until things go very wrong. Paati and her grandson team up to defeat demons, restore their family, and save this play within the play. “[Kumar] has put a 79-year-old Tamil woman at the center of his very, very funny play,” says Cohen. “I love plays that focus on people who are rarely at the center of the stage.”
burn for You by Regan Moro
The new play burn for You is about a deeply devout worship community praying for the resurrection of a deceased toddler. The child’s aunt, who absconded from the grasp of the church almost a decade ago, returns to her childhood hometown for the assumed funeral. When she’s faced with mourners unwilling to accept the child’s death, she’s pulled back into the gravitational orbit of the church. “It’s about longing for something she felt, even if it was hard for her, as a kid,” says Cohen. “The story is dark, but it’s so beautifully written.”
The Red Man by JuCoby Johnson
JuCoby Johnson’s play The Red Man asks its characters to face (or escape) their pasts. After a long separation, Jackie turns up unannounced at his sister’s swamp shanty carrying a dangerous secret. The relevant question, says Cohen, is “how do you embrace your past and move forward in a world that’s a little unforgiving?”
Madre de Dios by Marvin González De León
In another play about faith and family in the most difficult of times, Madre de Dios tells the story of a man returning to his family hometown for his sister’s wake. “The world is collapsing in on itself a little bit,” says Cohen of this comedy about demons and unburied resentments at the end of the world. “People are writing about demons right now, and I’m here for it.”
The festival also features other events that enrich the experience for theater enthusiasts, including a discussion panel with the playwrights, moderated by Cohen. Performances are scheduled for July 31 through August 3 at Ojai’s Thatcher School (5025 Thacher Rd., Ojai). Tickets to each individual event are pay-what-you can, making the experience accessible to everyone in the community. See ojaiplays.org.
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