ORANGE COUNTY PLAYWRIGHTS ALLIANCE

In the OC, we're the new play people. 

We're the Orange County Playwrights Alliance (OCPA). We bring together nearly 30 professional, successful playwrights who write new works for the stage, informed by their diverse life experiences and inspired by their imaginations. 

In 2025, we celebrated our 30th anniversary. We are playing our role in the future of American theatre - writing plays that speak to the here and now. 

MEMBER/ALUMNI NEWS 

• AJ Layague's new musical Foil had a staged reading Jan. 17 at Circle X Theatre (Los Angeles), dir. Giovanni Ortega. Foil was developed in Circle X's Emerging Playwrights Group.

• Saddleback College's Theatre Department presents a staged reading of Shawn O'Rourke's drama Patriarch in Fine Arts Complex 101 (FA101) on Friday, Jan. 30 @ 3:30pm.

• Newport Theatre Arts Center hosts the staged reading of Lillian Nader's Pandora: The Musical on Sunday, 2/15 @ 2:00pm:  with music by Kian Ash (music) and lyrics contributions from Larry Marino, directed by Karen Wray. Learn about this play and get tickets here.

• Tira Palmquist's The Body's Midnight gets its second production Feb. 6 - Mar. 1 at 100 Lives Rep (Portland, OR), a new theatre company dedicated to championing actors and playwrights older than 40. (The play had its world premiere at Boston Court Pasadena.) Tira's The Way North just had a staged reading in Palm Beach Dramaworks' Perlberg Festival of New Plays (Palm Beach, FL), dir. Marya Mazor. 

• Nicholas Thurkettle's short film Pizza Time Pizza has been selected for the 2026 Idyllwild Film Festival (March) .

Interested in joining us? Submit a script to us. We'll read it and consider you for membership.