Event Location:

MAY 28 Thursday at 8:00 pm "I Was A Really Great Kisser:
MAY 29 Friday at 8:00 pm "Washing Garbage"
MAY 30 Saturday at 2:00 pm "The Hater"
MAY 30 Saturday at 8:00 pm "Neil Simon’s Last Hit"
MAY 31 Sunday at 2:00 pm "I Was A Really Great Kisser"
JUN 02 Tuesday at 8:00 pm "Washing Garbage"
JUN 03 Wednesday at 8:00 pm "The Hater"
JUN 04 Thursday at 8:00 pm "Neil Simon’s Last Hit"
JUN 05 Friday at 8:00 pm "I Was A Really Great Kisser"
JUN 06 Saturday at 2:00 pm "Neil Simon’s Last Hit"
JUN 06 Saturday at 8:00 pm "The Hater"
JUN 07 Sunday at 8:00 pm "I Was A Really Great Kisser"
JUN 07 Sunday at 2:00 pm "Washing Garbage"
JUN 09 Tuesday at 8:00 pm "Washing Garbage"
JUN 10 Wednesday at 8:00 pm "The Hater"
JUN 11 Thursday at 8:00 pm "Neil Simon’s Last Hit"
JUN 12 Friday at 8:00 pm "I Was A Really Great Kisser"
JUN 13 Saturday at 2:00 pm "Washing Garbage"
JUN 13 Saturday at 8:00 pm "The Hater"
JUN 14 Sunday at 2:00 pm "Neil Simon’s Last Hit"

Addison Performing Arts Centre
Studio Theater
15650 Addison Rd.
Addison, TX 75001

Tickets are $18.00 per show

Event Description:

The Circle of Laughter 2026,
Simply staged. Seriously funny.
May 29 - June 14, 2026

Presented at The Addison Performing Arts Centre 15650 Addison Rd, Addison, TX 75001

As we continue our mission to produce new and original comedies in a professional setting, highlighting the talents of theatre artists, we are pleased to announce our new and improved (and seriously rebranded) annual new play reading festival, The Circle of Laughter, at The Addison Performing Arts Centre in the Studio Theatre. This year, we have four plays by playwrights from around the world. From Dallas to New Zealand, we have gathered four gems that can’t be missed!

All plays selected for the festival were juried by the Pegasus Theatre Artistic Director, as well as Pegasus Theatre veterans.


I Was A Really Great Kisser by Romney Humphrey
Directed by Savannah Lloyd
Three lifelong friends stumble and sass their way through the chaos of aging through jokes, wine, and the occasional edible. In the face of changing bodies and looming mortality, their friendship is the glue that holds everything together and proves that getting older just means the punchlines get sharper.

Presented May 28 & 31 and June 5, 7, & 12

Washing Garbage by Stephen Cole
Directed by Efren Paredes

When eccentric (and ancient) producer Maurice Zane meets young Scott Kenton at a party and finds out he is a fledgling and hungry writer, he invites him to his cramped office in the Sardi Building to discuss "polishing" his unproduced masterpiece "The Death of Lila Hunter". Scott finds the five acts (with four intermissions) play impossible but tries to fix it. He learns the old theatrical adage "when you wash garbage, it only comes out as clean garbage." In the course of their relationship, Scott starts to suspect that perhaps Maurices career wasn't the only thing that he murdered.

Presented May 29 and June 2, 7, 9, & 13

Neil Simon’s Last Hit by Jack Feldstein
Directed by Liv Murphy

Neil Simon (yes THE Neil Simon) takes a young comic under his wing. Art imitates life (or perhaps life imitates art) in this hilarious and heartwarming nod to one of America’s greatest playwrights.

Presented May 30 and June 4, 6, 11, & 14


The Hater by Matt Lyle
Directed by Leslie Patrick

A modern (postmodern?) adaptation (bastardization?) of Molière’s THE MISANTHROPE set on a current-day liberal arts college campus. Contemporary foibles and trigger warnings abound as Al, a professor of history, takes dead aim at the right, the left, and every irrational and annoying thing in between (except himself, of course!). It’s a timely, cathartic, and hilarious retelling of the Molière classic.

Presented May 30 and June 3, 6, 10, & 13

Tickets will be available at will-call.

All orders must be made before: 11 AM on Saturday

All Sales are final!!