Tonight, Thursday, Jan. 29, Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) kicks off Test Flight, marking the 10^th anniversary of its quintessential play development series. Six established and up-and-coming Northeast Ohio playwrights will be featured across three weekends in double bills running through Saturday, Feb. 14.

Tessa Gafney's CPT executive artistic director and CEO Raymond Bobgan says the six productions showcase 10 years of risk-taking and an entrepreneurial spirit in creating new work—marking one of the most exciting seasons yet.

Test Flight, which evolved from CPT's 2001 Big Box initiative, has gone through significant changes over the past decade to better serve both artists and audiences, says Bobgan.

"The challenge was it was hard for the public and for artists to understand,” he explains. “Audiences would come and they'd be like, ‘but this isn't finished yet, what's happening?’" Based on that sort of feedback from the audiences, as well as from the playwrights and producers, Bobgan says the formula for Test Flight began to emerge.

Enhanced artist support
One of the most significant changes to Test Flight has been the requirement that all projects must involve at least two collaborators—a playwright and a director or producer, so one person is not attempting to handle every component of a production.

Test Flight now also includes professional development training that covers components like production skills, fundraising, and marketing.

"On the professional development side, when [participants] first read the application, it's like, ‘oh, my God, now I have to go to five extra meetings,’ and we were feeling that too,” says Bobgan. “But when we did it the first time, we thought we were probably going to hear at the end that it was not a good use of time. But people were enthusiastic."

The 2026 lineup
The 10-year anniversary Test Flight series features three double bills highlighting diverse voices and ambitious projects. Bobgan says the challenge was to showcase everything in a short period.

"We only have three weekends,” he says. “But what's so cool is we ended up having three double bills for a total of six pieces."

The first weekend double bill, starts tonight, Thursday, Jan. 29, and runs through Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. The opening weekend features "Uhauling," written by Tessa Gaffney and directed by Kyra Kelley, and “Parrot Play,” written by Molly McFadden and directed by dramaturg Michael Glavan.

Bobgan says he is particularly excited about Gaffney’s concept in “Uhauling.”

"This is a playwright who would like to make a series,” he explains. “The ultimate idea is to create a season of plays all about the same people, just like television, which I think is really, really interesting, and I'm excited about it."

Additionally, Bobgan says he admires McFadden’s talents in "Parrot Play."

"Her work has a kind of freshness to it,” he says. “She is writing in a way that feels like a young, fresh voice, but with the experience of someone who has lived a very full and complete life."

The double bill for week two, Thursday, Feb. 5 through Saturday, Feb. 7, features “Perigon: A Birth Story,” which was written by Marie McCausland and was inspired by her lived experiences throughout adolescence, birth, and womanhood,  and is directed by Sara Poeta.

“Boxed,” devised and choreographed by Elizabeth Pollert and produced by Julia Dillard, is a witty, incisive dance theatre work that takes a sharp look at what it means to make room for our whole selves in a world that constantly tries to contain and categorize us.

Community ensembles take center stage
During the third weekend of Test Flight, CPT’s Teatro Público de Cleveland, which shares the diversity and perspectives of Cleveland’s Latine community, will stage "The Exit Door," while Masrah Cleveland Al Arabi, which represents Cleveland's Arabic-speaking communities and shares heritage stories that sheds preconceptions and stereotypes, will stage "The Wolf.”

"It's the last weekend, and I'm so excited about this weekend,” says Bobgan, who says these theater companies represent the culmination of years of community building.

Teatro Público de Cleveland presents "When I started at CPT, there were very few Latiné theater artists in Cleveland—none of the larger theaters were doing Latiné theater, and none of them were doing shows by Arab writers,” he recalls. “These two companies have transformed because of the community that has risen up and has transformed the entire field."

Bobgan says the impact has been profound, with CPT now supporting what he says he believes is one of the only Arab speaking theater companies in the United States, as well as fostering a thriving Latino theater community.

"We have audiences and probably 100 Latiné-identified artists in Cleveland now, up from very few, that are making theater,” he says. “Here we are not just doing plays but creating them. And the members of these companies are rising up to be these leaders and these creators."

Personal transformation through art
Bobgan says working with Masrah Cleveland Al Arabi has been particularly meaningful. “Although I don't identify as Arab, I am Middle Eastern, North African,” he says. “So it's been meaningful. But working with and amidst that community has just been so life changing in so many ways."

As Test Flight enters its second decade, the program continues to fulfill CPT's mission of artist development and community building.

“When artists talk about CPT, they say that CPT connected them to someone who dramatically changed the course of their artistic work,” he says.

FreshWater Cleveland will be taking a closer look at some of the Test Flight artists, productions, and projects over the next three weeks.

Tickets to Test Flight’s week one, week two, and week three double billings are on sale now. All tickets are sold on a "Choose What You Pay" basis and are offered online, by calling the box office at (216) 631-2727, ext. 501, and at the CPT Box Office, 6415 Detroit Ave., 44102.

Advanced online e-ticket purchases are recommended to avoid long lines at the box office window the day of the show.