October 7, 2025 CSA, Press Releases

New Hazlett Theater Announces 13th Season of Community Supported Art

(Pittsburgh, PA) October 7, 2025— The New Hazlett Theater is excited to announce its 13th Season of Community Supported Art (CSA), featuring three premiere performances by Pittsburgh-based artists. Running from November 2025 to April 2026, CSA Season 13 offers a diverse array of meaningful performances, including a dramedy about race, relations, and Homewood, a humorous musical about making it big on Broadway, and an otherworldly dance performance about love, labor, and time.

This season’s CSA performances explore how we connect—with ourselves, family, and the world. Through bold storytelling, visuals, and originality, these works reveal emotional landscapes shaping relationships,” says Melissa Linton. “From hidden truths to joyful celebrations, they remind us that connection, discovery, and transformation are universal.” 

Each year, the CSA Performance Series supports emerging Pittsburgh artists as they develop a new work for the New Hazlett stage. The artists selected for the 2025/2026 season share a theme of a new perspective on the worlds we live in and the places we call home.

This season also introduces three staged readings as part of the launch of CSA: Off the Page. This series highlights the compelling voices just outside the main CSA stage. The three-part reading series features works by runner-up artists, whose stories, scripts, and ideas reflect the same bold creativity that defines the Community Supported Art Performance Series.

______________________

2025/2026 Season Lineup: 

Birthday at Tiffany’s
A dramedy by Christine CMC Bethea
November 20–21, 2025

1980s Homewood: A middle-class couple will do anything to keep their 7-year-old’s birthday on track—even if it means playing nice with the impossible.

Agnus Teaches Acting
A musical comedy by Zanny Laird, Lucas Fedele and Treasure Treasure
Feb 5-6, 2026

Agnus Stephenson: acting teacher, self-proclaimed star, and cabaret disaster—class is in session whether students like it or not.

Grappling
A theatrical dance journey by Erin Koewe
April 24–25, 2026

A queer, zero-gravity world of dance, family, and pop, exploring love, labor, and time with humor, joy, and cosmic imagination.

______________________

2025/2026 Off the Page Staged Reading Lineup: 

There Goes The Bride
by Noah Van Ess & Catcher Sanchez
Jan 12, 2026

There Goes the Bride is a musical comedy about a caterer who gets stuck working at his ex-girlfriend’s wedding. What follows is a whirlwind of wedding chaos, emotional twists, and show-stopping songs. It’s a heartfelt story about letting go of the past, breaking free from who we thought we had to be, and embracing the unknown.

Cosmic Microwave
by Julia Fraser
March 23, 2026

Rita, a former translator of Italian poetry, and her husband leave New York for remote serenity in New Mexico. There is an odd, persistent buzz that envelops the landscape and pierces her fresh start. When her tech-optimist neighbor echoes her concern, they set off to discover the elusive sound and restore silence before it explodes her marriage and sanity.

Gloria, Jean, and the Sexy Ghost Show
by Matt Henderson
April 20, 2026

A surreal journey through a lockdown world, exploring the fundamental need for human connection and the indelible power of trash TV.

_____________________

 

 

“As an artist, the CSA feels like a launching pad, not just for this show but for the development of the next stage of my artistic career. I’m able to fully explore every avenue of my creative work with the support of a dedicated team — that kind of robust creative process is necessary for innovation,” says CSA 13 Lead Artist Erin Kouwe.

Past CSA contributors include playwright Monteze Freeland, choreographer Teena Marie Custer, and composer Ramin Akhavijou. The New Hazlett Theater’s CSA program connects diverse artists and audiences, shaping the future of Pittsburgh’s arts with innovative live performances.

Subscriptions are available for purchase on the New Hazlett website.

______________________

Accessible seating and assistive listening devices are available for all CSA Season 13 productions.

The New Hazlett Theater is also eager to invite student groups to the theater, including talkbacks with the artists.

Please email Nathan Wagner with any questions.

______________________

 Meet the Artist

Christine CMC Bethea (she/her) Traveling world wide as a member of a military family, Christine CMC Bethea credits the Midwest and the Far East for a multidisciplinary aesthetic that includes visual art, digital content, and journalism. CMC Bethea’s work as a creative has been archived in the Library of Congress, and has received several prestigious awards for arts collaboration and administration. She currently serves as a City of Pittsburgh Art Commissioner and wrote her first play, Birthday at Tiffany’s, as a Community Artist Scholar Awardee with the August Wilson Archives.

 

May be an image of one or more people

Treasure Treasure (she/her) is a performing artist, comic, composer, filmmaker and multi instrumentalist whose stage career has spanned three decades. Her debut EP, HYPNEROTOMACHIA, is available on all platforms and can be heard in rotation on 91.3 WYEP in Pittsburgh. Treasure’s short film which examines trans identity & school portraiture was recently in exhibition at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center and received honorable mention in the 2nd Annual “Envisioning a Just Pittsburgh” Award presented by the University of Pittsburgh and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Erin Kouwe (she/they) is a creator, dance artist, and educator. Her choreography has been presented by Nashville Ballet, the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought, Tennessee Women’s Theater Project, and multiple universities, amongst others. Kouwe has danced with New Dialect, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Luna Negra Dance Theater. She is a certified Countertechnique Teacher and an Assistant Professor of Dance at Slippery Rock University. Kouwe holds an MFA from Smith College and a BA from Point Park University.

______________________

About Community Support Art (CSA)
Since 2013, the New Hazlett Theater’s CSA Performance Series has brought emerging and mid-career performing artists to the stage. We’re passionate about providing a space for Pittsburgh’s amazing pool of creative talent to develop, collaborate, grow, and flourish. From dance to music and original plays to experimental animation, our CSA pushes the boundaries of performance at every show. For more information, visit https://newhazletttheater.org/csa 

 

About The New Hazlett Theater
The New Hazlett Theater is more than a beautifully restored historic building.  We’re a nonprofit organization working to nurture and promote art in Pittsburgh through innovation and collaboration. As a creative hub for a diverse range of artists, audiences, and performances, we provide vital resources to creators to enrich our cultural community. For more information on who we are and what we do, please visit www.newhazletttheater.org