Natural History
by Collin Van Son
presented by Mosaic Theater Company at the 2026 Colorado New Play Festival
About the Play
The year is 2169. As wildfires rage across the West, environmental activists and partners-in-crime Jane and Clyde embark on a daring caper to steal a taxidermied bison from the American Museum of Natural History. Only problem? It’s already gone. This darkly comedic reckoning with American mythology explores the tensions between history and nostalgia, personal and public responsibility, and art and activism. Natural History is a eulogy from the future about loss, legacy, and what is worth saving when the past disappears and the record is up for grabs.
2026 Festival Reading
June 13th - 4:00pm MT
Library Hall - Bud Werner Memorial Library
Festival Creative Team
Collin Van Son
Playwright
Collin Van Son is a Denver-based playwright, poet, and essayist. His full-length plays include Natural History, which was featured at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s 2023 National Playwrights Conference and was a 2025 Princess Grace Award semifinalist; Two-Man Rule, which was featured at New Art City Theatre’s Festival ’25 and was a 2021 O’Neill finalist; Political Animals, currently a 2026 O’Neill semifinalist; and TARVA, whose world premiere he directed at Penn State University in 2018. His one-act play Disavow was featured at the 2024 Southeast Texas Festival of New Plays, and his one-act children’s show Moreland & Halifax: Well-Read Detectives has received student productions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. His poetry chapbook How to Draw a Blank was published by Cathexis Northwest Press in 2020. His poetry has also appeared in San Pedro River Review, The Normal School, antilang., and elsewhere. More on his work at www.collinvanson.com.
About Mosaic Theater Company (Washington D.C.)
Mosaic Theater Company of DC produces bold, culturally diverse theater that illuminates critical issues, elevates fresh voices, and sparks connection among communities throughout our region and beyond. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Reginald L. Douglas and Managing Director Serge Seiden, Mosaicproduces plays that both entertain and enlighten, using art to build empathy amongst diverse people united by the magic of theater, and hopes to build community by reflecting the many cultures that call DC home.Learn more at https://mosaictheater.org.