Curatorial Statement 2026

Our curatorial process this year started with something simple: checking in and having an initial conversation. We recognized that each of us carries different experiences, different responsibilities, and different communities we hope to uplift. When a piece connected deeply to one person’s lived experience, the rest of us listened. That practice of checking in, making room, and trusting one another became the way we worked.

Reading more than 200 applications, we were struck by how many artists are stepping into their power. We saw stories rooted in self-empowerment, futuristic plot settings and storylines, experimental form, and inventive uses of materials that stretch what theatre can be. The submissions were ambitious, curious, and unafraid. As a panel, we spent many hours with them, reflecting not only on what moved us, but on what kind of festival we could realistically build with the resources we have.

We were also intentional about centering artists and projects rooted in communities that experience marginalization. We recognize that access to space, visibility, and support is not equal across the field, and we felt a responsibility to use this platform to help address that imbalance. This meant paying close attention to whose voices are often unheard, whose stories are frequently under-resourced, and whose creative work carries the weight of lived realities that deserve to be witnessed. Alongside this, we found ourselves returning often to the “why” behind each project; the reason the work needs to exist now, for the artist and for the community it speaks to. Prioritizing these artists and these intentions was not a separate consideration from our curatorial process; it was woven into how we listened, how we discussed, and how we made decisions together.

Throughout it all, Upintheair Theatre’s values stayed close to us: integrity, hospitality, opportunity, relevance, collaboration, and fun. We try to practice these every day by staying open to criticism, by letting feedback shift us, and by remembering that everyone deserves agency, respect, voice, and recognition. For us, success means that the people we work with would gladly return to work with us again. When that is not the case, we know we have work to do.

We also want to be honest about the context in which this festival is happening. Financial resources are tighter this year, and that reality asked us to think carefully and creatively. By focusing performances at C-lab and the Greenhouse, we can welcome more artists into the program while still providing meaningful support and visibility.

This year’s festival invites you to engage with ideas as much as with performance. From explorations of self empowerment to reflections on post human futures, these works challenge assumptions, expand possibilities, and ask what it means to exist, create, and act in the world today. We invite you to witness, consider, and enter into the conversations these artists are opening. The stage is not only a space for performance but a space for inquiry, connection, and discovery.

Argel, Sarah, and Dave (the rEvolver Festival Curatorial team)