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The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the United States' "alliance of nonprofit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays." [1] . It was founded in 1998 by David Goldman [2] .
NNPN's flagship program, the Rolling World Premiere program is a unique model of developing and producing new plays across the country. Each RWP supports three or more theaters that choose to mount the same new play within a 12-month period, allowing the playwright to develop a new work with multiple creative teams in multiple communities. The playwright is part of the process, working on the script and making adjustments based on what is learned from each production and from each city. To-date, NNPN has produced over 85 Rolling World Premieres, totaling over 275 productions.
The New Play Exchange is the world's largest database of plays by living writers. Launched in 2015, [3] the database has grown to include more than 24,000 scripts by more than 6,00 authors.
In 2011, NNPN established its Producers in Residence program to support season-long residencies at NNPN Core Member theaters for individuals who wish dedicate their careers (or the next phase of their careers) to the creation and production of new work. Selected producers are given a home within a professional theater in which they can supplement their skills, increase their knowledge of the day to day operations of a company focused on new work, and be introduced as theater-makers to a community.
Established in 2002, The National Showcase of New Plays is an annual 3-day event that showcases unproduced plays from across the country. Artistic leaders, literary managers, and other staff from Member Theaters, as well as literary agents, publishers, and independent producers are invited to attend.
NNPN annually gives two major commissions.
The Annual Commission is a $10,000 award given to at least one proposal each year. Core Members nominate proposals for consideration, and the winning Member Theater is responsible for the administration and development of the commissioned play.
The NNPN Smith Prize for American Theatre is a $5,000 award nominated by a Member Theater and given to an early-career playwright who has been a participant in other NNPN programs to write a play examining the American body politic. The Member Theater who submits the nomination earns up to $2,500 for a developmental workshop of the play. Additionally, the first theater to full produce the commissioned play is awarded an additional $2,500.
| Core Members [4] | Associate Members |
|---|---|
| 16th Street Theater | 59E59 Theaters |
| Actor’s Express | A Contemporary Theatre |
| Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte | Amphibian Stage Productions |
| B Street Theatre | Artists Repertory Theatre |
| City Theatre Company | Azuka Theatre |
| Cleveland Public Theatre | Baltimore Center Stage |
| Company One Theatre | Bloomington Playwrights Project |
| Contemporary American Theater Festival | BLUEBARN Theatre |
| Curious Theatre Company | Boston Court Pasadena |
| Florida Studio Theatre | Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company |
| Fountain Theatre | Capital Stage Company |
| Horizon Theatre Company | Centenary Stage Company |
| InterAct Theatre Company | CenterStage at the JCC |
| Kitchen Dog Theater | Central Works Theater Company |
| Magic Theatre | Children's Theatre Company |
| Marin Theatre Company | City Theatre |
| Milagro | Creede Repertory Theatre |
| Mixed Blood Theater | Cumberland County Playhouse |
| New Jersey Repertory Company | DCPA Theatre Company |
| New Repertory Theatre | Diversionary Theatre |
| Orlando Shakespeare Theater | Everyman Theatre |
| Perseverance Theatre | Florida Repertory Theatre |
| Phoenix Theatre | Flying V Theatre |
| PROP Thtr | Geva Theatre Center |
| Riverside Theatre | Greenway Court Theatre |
| Salt Lake Acting Company | Gulfshore Playhouse |
| San Diego REPertory Theatre | Halcyon Theatre |
| Silk Road Rising | History Theatre |
| Southern Rep Theatre | IAMA Theatre Company |
| Unicorn Theatre | Island City Stage |
| Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company | Know Theatre of Cincinnati |
| Writers Theatre of New Jersey | LOCAL Theater Company |
| Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble | |
| Milwaukee Repertory Theater | |
| Minnesota Jewish Theater Company | |
| Montana Repertory Theatre | |
| Moving Arts | |
| Moxie Theatre | |
| Native Voices at the Autry | |
| New Conservatory Theatre Center | |
| New Light Theater Project | |
| NewYorkRep | |
| Olney Theatre Center | |
| Oregon Contemporary Theatre | |
| Out of Hand Theater | |
| Pacific Resident Theatre | |
| Palm Beach Dramaworks | |
| People's Light | |
| Phoenix Arts Association Theatre | |
| Plan-B Theatre Company | |
| PlayGround | |
| PlayMakers Repertory Company | |
| Portland Center Stage | |
| PYGmalion Theatre Company | |
| Redtwist Theatre | |
| Renaissance Theaterworks | |
| Rep Stage | |
| Rivendell Theater Ensemble | |
| Road Less Traveled Productions | |
| Rogue Machine Theatre | |
| Rorschach Theatre | |
| Round House Theatre | |
| San Francisco Playhouse | |
| Shadowland Stages | |
| Shrewd Productions | |
| Simpatico Theatre | |
| Skylight Theatre Company | |
| South Coast Repertory | |
| Stageworks | |
| Su Teatro | |
| Taproot Theatre Company | |
| Teatro Vista | |
| The Custom Made Theatre Company | |
| The NOLA Project | |
| The Wilbury Theatre Group | |
| Theater Alliance | |
| Theater J | |
| Theatre 3 | |
| Theatre Exile | |
| Theatre NOVA | |
| Thrown Stone Theatre Company | |
| Trinity Rep | |
| Vermont Stage Company | |
| Virginia Repertory Theatre | |
| Vortex Repertory Company | |
| Weston Playhouse Theatre Company | |
| Williamston Theatre | |
| Zoetic Stage |
Earplay was the longest-running of the formal series of radio drama anthologies on National Public Radio, produced by WHA in Madison, Wisconsin and heard from 1972 into the 1990s. It approached radio drama as an art form with scripts written by such leading playwrights as Edward Albee, Arthur Kopit, Archibald MacLeish and David Mamet.
Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square where it has been based since 2011.
Carolyn Gage is an American playwright, actor, theatrical director and author. She has written nine books on lesbian theater and sixty-five plays, musicals, and one-woman shows. A lesbian feminist, her work emphasizes non-traditional roles for women and lesbian characters.
Steven Dietz is an American playwright, theatre director, and teacher. Called "the most ubiquitous American playwright whose name you may never have heard", Dietz has long been one of America's most prolific and widely produced playwrights. In 2019, Dietz was again named one of the 20 most-produced playwrights in America.
John Lawrence "Jack" Canfora is an American playwright, actor, musician and teacher whose works include Place Setting,Jericho and Poetic License.
Boston Playwrights' Theatre (BPT) is a small professional theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. Led by Artistic Director Kate Snodgrass. Boston Playwrights' Theatre is the home of the Graduate Playwriting Program at Boston University. As a venue, BPT rents its space to host other New England theatre companies who are producing new plays.
The Playwrights' Center is a non-profit theatre organization focused on both supporting playwrights and promoting new plays to production at theaters across the country. It is located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In October of 2020, the organization announced plans to move to a larger space in St. Paul.
The Marin Theatre Company (MTC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and professional LORT D regional theater located in Mill Valley, California. Jasson Minadakis is the company's Artistic Director and Meredith Suttles its Managing Director / CEO.
The Fountain Theatre is a theatre in Los Angeles. Along with its programming of live theatre, it's also the foremost producer of flamenco on the West Coast.
Casey Childs is the Founder of Primary Stages (www.primarystages.org)],[1] a New York State non-profit, Off-Broadway theater company in New York City. Since 1984 they have produced over 175 productions of new plays, many of them world premieres and all of them New York City premieres, by such writers as Sharon Washington, David Ives, Horton Foote, Charlayne Woodard, Melissa Manchester, Jeffrey Sweet, Donald Margulies, Terrence McNally, A.R. Gurney, John Patrick Shanley, Ike Holter, Tina Howe, Charles Busch, John Henry Redwood, Romulus Linney, Lee Blessing, Michael Cristofer, Mac Wellman, Lynne Alvarez, Willie Holtzman, Athol Fugard, Theresa Rebeck, Michael Hollinger and Julia Jordan. He produced the commercial moves of David Ives’ All in the Timing and Mere Mortals and oversaw the commercial moves of Charles Busch's You Should Be So Lucky and Colin Martin's Virgins and Other Myths. He also oversaw the transfer of Horton Foote's Dividing the Estate, which moved to the Booth Theatre on Broadway in association with Lincoln Center Theater. In 2013 in partnership with the New York Yankees, Primary Stages developed Bronx Bombers which played on Broadway at Circle in the Square. Primary Stages was the first theater to produce Conor McPherson work in the United States with St. Nicholas starring Brian Cox. He conceived, commissioned and directed the commercial Off-Broadway show Woman Before a Glass by Lanie Robertson about Peggy Guggenheim with Mercedes Ruehl which ran for seven months at the Promenade Theatre. Other plays he directed for Primary Stages include The Morini Strad by Willie Holtzman, Barefoot Boy With Shoes On by Edwin Sanchez, Bargains by Jack Heifner, Brutality of Fact by Keith Reddin, The Preservation Society by William S. Leavengood, Elsa/Edgar by Bob Kingdom, The Dolphin Position by Percy Granger, Lusting After Pipino's Wife by Sam Henry Kass, The Secret Sits in the Middle by Lisa-Maria Radano, Algerian Romance by Kres Mersky, Madam Zelena Finally Comes Clean by Ron Carlsen, Stopping the Desert by Glen Merzer, In September Woods by David Hill and Nasty Little Secrets by Lanie Robertson. Plays produced by Primary Stages have received many nominations and awards from the Obies, the Drama Desk, the Outer Critics Circle and the Audelco Awards for Excellence in Afro-American Theatre. Plays that began at Primary Stages have received multiple nominations for Tony Awards. In 2008, Primary Stages was honored for its Outstanding Body of Work by the Lucille Lortel Awards. Carnegie-Mellon University awarded Casey their Commitment to Playwrights Award in 1995. From 1982 until 1985 Casey was the Artistic Programs Director for the New Dramatists, America's oldest playwrights’ organization, where he conducted the workshops for over 75 new playwrights in developing over 300 new works. He oversaw the development of new plays by many new playwrights including August Wilson, Wendy Kesselman, John Ford Noonan, Thomas Keneally, Emily Mann, John Pielmeier, Steve Carter, Oyamo, James Yoshimora and Pedro Juan Pietre. Works developed during that time have received productions on and off Broadway and in many American regional theatres garnering Pulitzer Prizes, Tony Awards and other honors.
Tarell Alvin McCraney is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He is the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Ensemble.
William Missouri Downs is an American comedy writer, playwright, screenwriter, stage director, and author
WP Theater is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater based in New York City. It is the nation’s oldest and largest theater company dedicated to developing, producing and promoting the work of female-identified theater artists at every stage in their careers. Currently, Lisa McNulty serves as the Producing Artistic Director and Michael Sag serves as the Managing Director.
Ars Nova is an Off-Broadway, non-profit theater in New York City's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Ars Nova develops and produces theater, comedy and music created by artists in the early stages of their careers.
In the Fall of 2015, the Washington, D.C. region’s professional theaters combined to produce the Women’s Voices Theater Festival. The festival consists of over 50 companies each presenting a world premiere production of a work by one or more female playwrights. The festival is claimed to be "the largest collaboration of theater companies working simultaneously to produce original works by female writers in history". The Coordinating Producers of the Women's Voices Theater Festival are Nan Barnett of the National New Play Network - (NNPN) and former NNPN General Manager Jojo Ruf. The honorary committee supporting the festival is chaired by first lady Michelle Obama and includes actors Allison Janney and Tea Leoni and playwrights Beth Henley, Quiara Alegria Hudes and Lynn Nottage.
The Kilroys' List is a gender parity initiative to end the "systematic underrepresentation of female and trans playwrights" in the American theater industry. Gender disparity is defined as the gap of unproduced playwrights' whose plays are being discriminated against based on the writer's gender identification and intersectional identities of race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, age, and ability. Recent statistical research released in November 2015, entitled The Count, gathered that 22% of total surveyed professional productions from 2011-2013 annual seasons were written by women playwrights, 3.8% of the total were written by women playwrights of color, and 0.4% of the total were written by foreign women playwrights of color. 78% of total surveyed professional productions were written by men playwrights.
Cándido Tirado is a Puerto Rican playwright who moved to the Bronx from Puerto Rico at age 11. Tirado is currently a resident playwright for Teatro Vista in New York City. In the United States his works have been produced by theater companies such as Teatro Vista, Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre, and the Goodman Theatre. His works have also been produced outside of the United States, in places such as the Dominican Republic and the Canary Islands. Tirado has taken part in directing and writing for INTAR theater's annual one-minute play festival.
Hilary Bettis is a playwright, a producer, and a writer.
Aditi Brennan Kapil is an American playwright.
Ike Holter is an American playwright. He won a Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for drama in 2017. Holter is a resident playwright at Victory Gardens Theater, and has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, South Coast Repertory and The Playwrights' Center.