Bold Stories. Fresh Perspectives.
At The Rep, we believe that theatre thrives when it reflects the full range of voices in our community. That’s why we’re proud to launch Emerging Voices, a new initiative designed to elevate local talent, amplify underrepresented perspectives, and experiment with bold, artist-driven storytelling.
Emerging Voices is the 1st step to our new Second Stage Series, a curated lineup of intimate, small-scale productions presented between our mainstage season shows. These performances take place on our beloved mainstage but with a different energy: raw, immediate, and intentionally boundary-pushing. This series is an open door for emerging playwrights, directors, and performers to test ideas, take risks, and share work that might not otherwise fit into a traditional theatre season.
Over the past 40+ years, Rochester Rep has built a legacy of intimate, thought-provoking theatre. With Emerging Voices, we take that commitment even further: inviting our community to not just witness the future of theatre in Southeastern Minnesota, but to help shape it.
Join us for a season of discovery, risk, and imagination,
Because great stories don’t always wait their turn!
2026 Emerging Voices Series
A Woman’s War (Staged Reading)
By Patricia Barrier
Inspired by A Woman’s War, Too: Women at Work During World War II by Virginia M. Wright-Peterson
Feb 6th and 7th, 2026 – 7pm
All Tickets $15
In a bold act of defiance against being overlooked by history, a group of women with deep Minnesota roots and various connections to World War II join forces to write, direct, and perform their own story. What unfolds is a powerful mix of laughter, heartbreak, guilt, and raw honesty as these women push each other to confront the past and speak their truth in this moving rallying cry for women everywhere.
Painted Desert (Staged Reading)
By Christopher G. Smith
May 29th and 30th, 2026 at 7pm
All Tickets $15
In the blistering heat of the Painted Desert, three strangers collide. Robby, a runaway heading west, hitches a ride with Devlin, a man with a violent past. When their car breaks down, they take shelter in a remote shack, only to be found by a suspicious Sheriff searching for its missing resident: a reclusive preacher. As tensions rise and the preacher emerges from the shadows, Robby faces a choice between Devlin’s brutal path and the preacher’s quiet resolve.
Stix and Stones: A Drag Odyssey (Fully-Realized Production)
By Philip Wayne-Davis; Directed by Julee Mead
August 7th and 8th, 2026 at 7pm; August 9th, 2026 at 2pm
All Tickets $20
From shattered silence to screaming spotlight, Stix and Stones is the fierce, unapologetic origin story of Bundula Stix, a rock-punk goddess born of glitter, grit, and pure defiance. Blending drag and theatre, this solo spectacle tears through blistering anthems and soul-baring truths. Follow Bundula’s transformation from ember to flame, and meet the soul behind the eyeliner in a show that leaves nothing behind but rhinestones, rage, and revelation.