Community Bake-Off

10th Annual Community Bake-Off
November 15 and 16, 2025

Our 2025 Bake-Off Plays

Google Takes a Holiday by David Lawter

My Chart by James O’Neill

Incompatible Systems by Loretta Oleck

Analog Heart by Maya Jordan

Too Cold Out by Rose Hollander

Eye of the Beholder by Lila Louise Nawrocki

ABOUT BAKE-OFF
For nearly a decade, HVS has been a welcoming home for new playwrights, with a commitment to supporting fresh voices in theater. Our 10th annual Community Bake-Off will hold performances on November 15 and 16.

For the 10th Anniversary Hudson Valley Shakespeare Community Bake-Off theme is Wired for Connection. The ingredients were selected by award-winning playwright Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) and inspired by his show Octet that explores digital life, spiritual yearning, and communal ritual—an ideal thematic framework for this milestone year.  

WHAT IS THE BAKE-OFF, ANYWAY?
Created by the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel, the Bake-Off is a communal writing event in which writers are given a random list of “ingredients” to incorporate into a play (for example: a kitchen sink, a front porch, and a withheld secret) to help inspire creativity and give writers permission to play.

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED
In preparation, Hudson Valley Shakespeare offered a series of free play-writing workshops led by Acting Director of the MFA playwriting program at Hunter College, Christine Scarfuto. All workshop participants were then eligible to submit a ten-minute short plays to be considered. Six of these plays were selected and will be read by professional actors as part of the Community Bake-Off hosted by HVS live and in-person on November 15 & 16.

2025 INGREDIENTS selected by playwright Dave Malloy
(At least THREE of these had to be incorporated into the plays submitted for consideration)

Mirages
Mind Meld
Incompatible Operating Systems
Gods
Beauty of Maps!
A crystal ball
A cracked screen
Hiding
Umbrellas
Mischief