Our treasured anthology series returns for its seventh installment. Footholds is a collaborative journey between The Impostors Theatre Co. and local artists.

Each year, we challenge writers to submit a short play for us to produce. By introducing a single, ambiguous constraint–a thread that runs through each accepted piece–we ask our writers and collaborators to start with the same limitation and branch off wherever their imaginations take them.

Our past volumes have showcased versatile properties (a pile of red construction paper, a jar half-filled with earth, a skeleton key) as well as locations rife with possibility (a trolley car stationed between two stops, an attic full of forgotten favorites, a lamp-lit alleyway). Each collection has celebrated the spectrum of dramatic storytelling, from satire to horror to romance to movement pieces. The cross-collaboration of multiple playwrights, directors, designers, and performers alike elevate this “grand experiment” to a true testament of creative community building.

This year's foothold: A narrow, weathered bridge (not safe for driving) where visitors must pay tolls–symbolic or literal–for passage. Engraving its aged wood are initials and messages, evidence of visitors past.

Selected playwrights may be asked to collaborate on shared characters across their plays.

Dive headfirst into The Impostors’ mission of embracing the art of pretend, and seize the opportunity to tell a new story with us. Submissions due January 30, 2026..