23rd Anniversary Celebration: Petra Theatre Staging Readings of Four New Works

HARIAN DISWAY - Petra Theatre will hold a staged reading performance on Saturday, November 29, 2025. The show will present four new plays as part of the celebration of its 23rd anniversary.

The scripts of four original plays will be presented to the audience for feedback.

The performance is the final product of the New Play Development (NPD) program, an initiative established in 2013. At which, Petra Theatre (then known as Petra Little Theatre/PLT) recognized the need to encourage aspiring playwrights, both student and non-student, to create new, original plays that explore relevant social issues.

Driven by the commitment of co-creators and mentors, Meilinda and Stefanny Irawan, the NPD facilitates development sessions with its resident playwrights, which include both alumni and students.

The theatre even launched the New Play Development Program Series and so far has published four of the NPD works.

Petra Theatre, yang dulu bernama Petra Little Theatre, kini hadir dengan identitas baru: lebih matang secara artistik, lebih luas dalam jangkauan, dan lebih terstruktur dalam nilai-nilai institusional.--

The November 29th staged reading serves to test the quality of the scripts and collect immediate audience feedback. This process is critical for assessing the scripts’ potential for development into a full production.

The performance itself is open to the public and free of charge for audiences who make a reservation via petra.id/TheReading2025. Reservations will be available starting October 30, 2025, until all seats are booked.

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“The selected actors will perform the scripts with minimal rehearsal—only one or two sessions—primarily focused on stage blocking and lighting, while still keeping the script in their hands to read,” said Petra Theatre Laboratory Assistant Saranietha Kadang on Tuesday, October 21, 2025.

When asked why the program was suddenly being revived, Sara explained that a theater can’t run if there are no scripts, and they can’t just rely on the old scripts that already exist at Petra Theatre.

She elaborated that ever since PLT transformed into Petra Theatre, they had only focused on productions. While the students have been trained in organizational work during that time, she stressed that they also need new writing talent: the playwrights.

The launch of these four new plays is expected to strengthen Petra Theatre’s position as an educational institution that produces professional writers and performers from ECI study program.

The long-term goal is “to make ECI the face of performing arts in Surabaya,” said Sara.

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