Forty-nine original short plays, each running 10 minutes or less, will take over the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica starting Saturday, August 22, as Brisk Festival LA returns for its sixth edition. Thirty of the plays will be performed in English and 19 in Spanish, continuing the festival's push to encourage bilingual and Spanish-language theater submissions from across the region.
The festival, described as an international showcase of live performances lasting 10 minutes or less, runs through September 13 with shows on Saturdays and Sundays at 5:45 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., according to the Santa Monica Daily Press. Founder Christian Rodrigo, who serves as the festival's director and executive producer, said Los Angeles is inherently multilingual and that the festival should reflect the city it calls home. He described Brisk Festival as a celebration of the immediacy and emotional power of live theater, per the same account.
A Sixth Year Rooted in Santa Monica's Historic Stage
The Morgan-Wixson Theatre, operated by the Santa Monica Theatre Guild on Pico Boulevard, seats just 201 people, according to Backstage. That intimate scale has become the festival's Santa Monica home since 2022, after Brisk Festival first launched in 2019 at the Broadwater Main Stage Theater in Hollywood, per Full Emotions, the production company that has financed the festival since its inception. Full Emotions Inc. has funded Brisk Festival LA entirely, Rodrigo has said, and brings more than 12 years of experience in film, television and theater to the project.
Rodrigo has said the festival's bilingual programming is the product of both intentional cultivation and organic growth, per the Santa Monica Daily Press's reporting. Brisk Festival curates its lineup based primarily on the strongest submitted work, and organizers say the event has given more than 1,200 artists opportunities to share their work and connect with local audiences.
Fuegos and Instituto Cervantes Round Out the Bill
This year's performances will be paired with food from Fuegos, which organizers describe as one of California's most celebrated Argentine restaurants. The festival also continues its partnership with Instituto Cervantes of Los Angeles, part of Spain's official international cultural agency, which helps promote writers, directors and actors creating and performing in Spanish. Instituto Cervantes was formally inaugurated in Los Angeles by Queen Letizia of Spain in December 2022, according to the Consulate of Spain in Los Angeles, and operates across more than 90 centers worldwide promoting Spanish language and Hispanic culture.
The bilingual focus lands in a county where language diversity is already part of daily life. Roughly 38% of Los Angeles County residents age 5 and older, or somewhere between 3.5 and 3.7 million people, speak Spanish at home, according to Census Bureau data cited by ArcGIS StoryMaps. In Santa Monica itself, 27.8% of residents age 5 and older speak a language other than English at home, per U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts.
From Santa Monica Stages to Buenos Aires and Beyond
Brisk Festival's ambitions have already stretched well past the Morgan-Wixson's 201 seats. The festival traveled to Buenos Aires for an international edition, which Rodrigo called an incredible success, with most performances selling out. Organizers have said the festival plans to expand its model to Mexico City, Miami, New York, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome across 2026 and 2027, according to the Roaring Fork Agency.
Rodrigo hopes to draw backing from public cultural programs and private sponsors as the festival grows, and he expects support from both Los Angeles and Santa Monica cultural programs, grants and private sponsors going forward. Organizers say Brisk Festival has already led to some plays receiving full productions and others being converted into films, positioning the event as a launching pad for artists rather than a one-off showcase.
Beyond the numbers, organizers describe the festival as something closer to a creative community, one that has enabled artists to form lasting collaborations and cultivated relationships within bilingual and Spanish-language artistic circles. Santa Monica audiences have embraced the festival's experimental spirit, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press, and Rodrigo says Brisk Festival will continue expanding its bilingual, inclusive and international theater mission in Los Angeles. Tickets for the 2026 edition are available at briskfestival.com/tickets.
