C.J. Celeiro

THIRD-ROUND ADVANCEMENT (FINAL STATUS PENDING): PLAYWRIGHTS' REVOLUTION, CAPITAL STAGE
FINALIST: SPARKFEST '26, AMPHIBIAN STAGE

"Interesting, ambitious, immersive."
"As a former HS teacher of 10+ years, I deeply related to this play."

Learning Curve unfolds over the course of a single, chaotic day in a moderately well-funded public charter high school where teachers, students, and administrators all try to keep control of their classrooms, their emotions, and their sense of purpose.

When a small classroom incident escalates into a disciplinary crisis involving Conrad, a normally good student exhibiting withdrawn behavior, and Tyler, a combative equalist, the day spirals toward confrontation and consequence. The school day continues to trudge on as teachers and students navigate a myriad of obstacles facing the American education system: understaffing, micromanagement, artificial intelligence, and impossible expectations.

Learning Curve exposes how justice, empathy, and burnout collide inside institutions designed for control rather than care. Combining dark satire, brutal honesty, and audience immersion, Learning Curve serves as a portrait of survival based on real experiences in the American education system.

SELECTION: CIMIENTOS PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, IATI THEATER
FINALIST: NEW PLAY COMPETITION, NEW CAVERN PRODUCTIONS

On the eve of a predicted rapture, teenage siblings Kendra and Tommy bicker, joke, and wrestle with faith, doubt, and the looming apocalypse. As the world around them unravels (first in eerie silence, then in chaotic disappearance), they each encounter others grappling with survival, meaning, and the possibility that something beyond comprehension has occurred. [rapture play] is a darkly comic, surreal meditation on belief, loneliness, and what remains when everything else vanishes.

Cecilia is the choir director.
Constance is in charge.
Cathy Sue is the follower.
Coralee is the guard.
Charity is new.
And Cynthia is missing.

What begins as a typical choir rehearsal with familiar social hierarchy--gossip, power dynamics, and quiet marginalization--transforms into a supernatural confrontation about the cost of control, surrendering, and belonging. The Women's Guild... explores how individuals navigate systems that demand both unity and sacrifice.

SELECTION: FUTUREFEST, LUNA THEATER & PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTISTS

In a distant future where language and music have been lost to time, two teenagers discover a broken piano in a junkyard and, through playful exploration, awaken the forgotten power of sound. Their joy is challenged by a bitter hermit who sees music as dangerous and corrupting, but their creation cannot be silenced. {sonic art} is a wordless, movement-driven play that celebrates rediscovery, rebellion, and the raw beauty of noise born in silence.

When Andi goes into sudden labor at home, her well-meaning but clueless husband and her overbearing mother throw the house into absolute chaos. As panicked misunderstanding, wild advice, and a very ill-timed naked emergency collide, the situation spirals into full-blown farce. In the end, it's the calm, underestimated assistant who brings order to the madness, revealing the messy, hilarious truth about becoming a family.

In a café somewhere between here and home, an elderly Cuban woman and a young Cuban man meet by chance and begin to talk. Reunirse explores how identity is shaped by what we remember and what we forget. through shared memories of love, loss, and migration. Utilizing lyrical language, the play is a tender meditation on belonging, survival, and reunion.

SELECTION: SUMMERWEEN: A RADIO PLAY FESTIVAL, THE SIDEKICK TROUPE

Meet Cute: Trina and Gideon flirt and dance at a classic beach party... but Trina is convinced Gideon is a vampire. She has every reason to; after all, she’s a vampire. But Gideon, who fulfills all the tropes, claims to be just a pale foreigner while Trina, subversive in looks and attitude, blindly trusts this new hottie in hopes of a juicy romance.