Southern Fried Bake-Off

The Southern Fried Bake-Off is back January 2 and 3, 2026! Start your year off right by having fun with folks from across our community, doing what we do best: making theater together.

Essential Theatre's Southern Fried Bake-Off 24 hour play festival returns to 7Stages to kick off 2026 with everything we love most and wish to infuse into the new year: creativity, community, joy, challenge, collaboration, affirmation, support. What do you want to surround yourself with as you usher in the new year? Whether you're a playwright, a performer, a director, or an audience member, we invite you to join us and immerse yourself!

About the Bake-Off: Using the Paula Vogel Bake-Off model, a group of playwrights will come together on the evening of January 2 and write individual plays that are inspired from a central piece of art/theme and a list of "ingredients" that must be present in their plays in some way. Pieces are written and produced in a workshop-production style within 24 hours, to be performed in front of a live audience at 7pm on Saturday January 3!