Peter Sham (playwright, The Franklin Event) is the author of over 25 plays and musicals, perhaps best known for his work as bookwriter/lyricist for Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical (with Brad Carroll, composer). Lend Me A Tenor: The Musical was nominated for a 2011 Olivier Award, received 13 BroadwayWorld.com West End Award nominations, including “Best Musical,” and was the winner of The Critic’s Choice Award for “Best Theatrical Event.” Peter is currently at work (with award-winning composer, Kevin Purcell) on To Catch A Thief: The Musical, based on the David Dodge bestseller which was made into an Academy Award-winning, classic film by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly; and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, based on the novel by Josephine Leslie (aka R.A. Dick), which was also made into a classic film starring Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison, and directed by Joseph Mankewicz. Both musicals are planning West End, London openings in 2027-2028.

Peter is the author of the musicals Sherlock Holmes and the Great Royal Goose Chase, One Night Only, Toyland, and It’s a Dog’s Life: Man’s Best Musical; the plays, A Christmas Carol: On the Air (a Southern Utah holiday favorite for 11 years), its sequel, Frankenstein: On the Air, Shakespeare’s Moby Dick (a classical adaptation of Herman Melville’s American novel), and Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane, written with William Peter Blatty (author of The Exorcist), adapted from Mr. Blatty’s Golden Globe Award-winning “Best Screenplay.” Peter has also written the screenplays, Somewhere, The Playhouse, and Hag. He wrote and directed the feature horror film, Far Remote, which garnered an Honorable Mention at the prestigious HorrorFest International Film Festival in 2021. Peter is now in development on A Penny Urned, a 9-episode television streaming series, created and written with Roger Bean, author of The Marvelous Wonderettes series, Life Could Be A Dream, and more.

Now in its fourth year, the Kayenta New Play Lab is where bold new voices in American theater come to life. Over three weeks, six visionary playwrights—chosen by a panel of esteemed local and national theatermakers—dive into an intensive creative residency, shaping fresh, original works for the stage.

Audiences are invited to witness the magic unfold through staged readings of these brand-new plays—raw, real, and alive with possibility. Stay after each reading for an engaging dialogue with the artists, where your feedback helps shape the evolution of each piece.