August 20th, 2026
By ERIC SIMONSON, Executive Director of the Door Kinetic Arts Festival
Door County Pulse, Peninsula Pulse

DKAF has a new slogan: “Where new work goes to grow!”

Most arts festivals present work that has already been completed, reviewed and polished. Door Kinetic Arts Festival (DKAF) offers something different: the opportunity to experience new work while it is still being discovered – and perhaps to see it years before the rest of the world does.

That idea has been at the heart of DKAF since we began 10 years ago. We invite writers, directors, actors, musicians, dancers and other artists to Door County, let them get inspired by the surroundings, and give them time and space to experiment. Then invite audiences into the process. What happens during that week cannot be replicated. There may be changes, surprises and even moments of uncertainty – but that is precisely what makes the experience exciting.

This year, audiences can see the results in a very tangible way. Brian James Polak’s play The Call List, previously developed at DKAF, will receive its world premiere at Third Avenue PlayWorks during the festival. A play that once existed primarily as words on a page has grown into a fully produced work – and Door County has been part of that journey.

Jennifer Vosters will perform her one-person show, Music Without Words, before it receives a full production as part of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s 2026–27 season. In other words, DKAF audiences will have the opportunity to see it first.

Sometimes the most important thing DKAF does is place artists in the same room and let the unexpected happen. Chicago tap dancing sensation Jumaane Taylor and composer Michelle McQuade Dewhirst, music director of the Weidner Philharmonic, met at a DKAF event and began talking. That encounter led to a collaboration called Thoughts – Deeds – Vibrations, which will premiere at the Weidner on September 10th.

Meanwhile, in just a little while, a new group of artists will arrive with projects at their own pivotal stages.

Manual Cinema, the internationally acclaimed performance collective, will spend the week developing The Daemon, a new work combining handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, sound and live performance. 

Door County singer-songwriter Katie Dahl will develop her musical The Northeast Corner about the relationship between Eleanor Roosevelt and Journalist (and Lawrence University alum) Lorena Hickok.

Journalist Terry Moran will participate in “The Art of Journalism,” a conversation about the challenges facing journalism today, and will also develop his play The Baghdad Gentlemen’s Club. 

Choreographer Sophie Minouche Allen will bring a new dance work, This Is Not a Lifesaving Device, to the festival.

That kind of artistic celebration is central to DKAF. We bring together talent from across the country, mix them up with extraordinary artists who call Wisconsin and Door County home, and create something out of nothing. Everyone leaves carrying something new into the world.

The results can be remarkable. Over the years, DKAF has helped develop three dance works by Chicago’s acclaimed Lucky Plush Productions. Catherine Trieschmann’s play One House Over was developed at DKAF before receiving its world premiere at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Lydia Diamond’s Toni Stone continued its journey from DKAF, past NY, and to major theater companies across the country. 

The list goes on. 

Over the past decade, we have learned that Door County audiences are unusually receptive to this kind of experience. They are thoughtful and willing to engage with work that does not yet come with reviews. Their presence gives artists the confidence to take chances—and to occasionally fail, rethink and find something better.

A DKAF festival pass, then, is more than admission to an eclectic collection of events. It is an invitation to spend a week in the company of unusually adventurous artists. And to watch artistic creation as it happens.

Years from now, you may see one of these works on a major stage, or you may read about an artistic partnership that began at DKAF.

Come this September, you have the chance to say “I saw it here first.”

Learn more at doorkinetic.com