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New Play Development

New work is the future of theatre, and this is where you’ll find in-depth content about best practices for its development, as well as pieces about specific work. Consider starting with the essay “Rules of Engagement for New Play Development” and Notes to the Note-Givers; or, Embracing the Paradox.” For musings on the power of new work, watch the video of Todd London’s keynote for the 5th Annual ORIGINKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL or read the transcript.

The Latest

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
A Playwriting Masterclass
Monday 20 May 2024
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
A Playwriting Masterclass
Monday 13 May 2024
Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene
Essay
Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene
by Chantal Bilodeau
22 April 2024
To Moscow?
Essay

To Moscow?

4 February 2016

verity healey on what four new Russian plays performed at London’s Frontline Club say about the present and future of theatre in Russia.

Photograph 51 at London’s Noël Coward Theatre
Essay

Photograph 51 at London’s Noël Coward Theatre

2 February 2016

Rhiannon D’Averc on Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51 now playing in London, starring Nicole Kidman.

Lynn Nottage Talks Research, Collaboration, and the Fracturing of America
Essay

Lynn Nottage Talks Research, Collaboration, and the Fracturing of America

28 January 2016

Holly Derr speaks with Lynn Nottage about her new play Sweat, a co-commission of Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Arena Stage, currently playing in Washington, DC.

There Is a Wonder That There Is a Happiness That Morning Is Is
Essay

There Is a Wonder That There Is a Happiness That Morning Is Is

26 January 2016

Andrew Bailes reviews Theater Oobleck’s production of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is by Mickle Maher.

Italian Playwrights Project with Daria Deflorian & Antonio Tagliarini, Fausto Paravidino, and Lucia Calamaro
Video

Italian Playwrights Project with Daria Deflorian & Antonio Tagliarini, Fausto Paravidino, and Lucia Calamaro

Monday 7 December 2015
New York City, NY, United States

The Martin E. Segal Theatre Center in New York City presented the Italian Playwrights Project livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 7 December at 3:30 p.m. PST (San Francisco) / 5:30 p.m. CST (Chicago) / 6:30 p.m. EST (New York). In Twitter, use #howlround to join the conversation.

Maytag Virgin, Quotidian Theatre's Sweet Success
Essay

Maytag Virgin, Quotidian Theatre's Sweet Success

2 December 2015

Patricia Davis on the world premiere production of Audrey Cefaly’s Maytag Virgin at Quotidien Theatre in Washington, DC.

Steel Hammer
Essay

Steel Hammer

A Living Cubist Portrait of John Henry

1 December 2015

David Dudley reflects on Steel Hammer and the John Henry myth, at the Krannert Center in Urbana, Illinois.

Five Artists Discuss Representation
Essay

Five Artists Discuss Representation

22 November 2015

Using the production of Ken Urban’s play A Sense of an Ending to launch the conversation, theatre  artists Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Gregg Mozgala, A. Rey Pamatmat,  Mfoniso Udofia, and Ken Urban talk about representation on stage. 

The New Playwright Problem
Essay

The New Playwright Problem

16 November 2015

Independent producer Natalie Gershtein considers the playwright-producer relationship. Where she once thought that playwrights were waiting and hoping for a first production, she now comes across playwrights who want to hold out for a larger company.

New Partnerships Grow in the Garden State
Essay

New Partnerships Grow in the Garden State

An Experiment in New Play Commissioning

14 November 2015

John McEwen and Andy Donald introduce the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Stage Exchange and talk with the three partnering theatres.

Marcus Gardley on An Issue of Blood and The Gospel of Lovingkindness
Essay

Marcus Gardley on An Issue of Blood and The Gospel of Lovingkindness

11 November 2015

Part interview, part photo essay, part play excerpts, Rebecca Stevens goes in-depth with playwright Marcus Gardley on his two recent productions at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Illinois. 

Women’s Voices Theater Festival
Essay

Women’s Voices Theater Festival

A Weekend in the Emerald City

10 November 2015

Holly L. Derr on Destiny of Desire by Karen Zacarías, Animal by Claire Lizzimore, Queens Girl in the World by Caleen Sinette Jennings, Women Laughing Alone with Salad by Sheila Callaghan, and Uprising by Gabrielle Fulton, all part of the Women’s Voices Theater Festival in Washington, DC.

Black Lives Matter, Ferguson, and Troy Davis
Essay

Black Lives Matter, Ferguson, and Troy Davis

Writing about a Moving Target

6 November 2015

Playwright Lee Nowell talks about the development of Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The Troy Davis Project and speaks with playwrights Gabrielle Fulton and Phillip DePoy about creating work today that deals with race.

Full of Grace, a Catholic Docudrama
Essay

Full of Grace, a Catholic Docudrama

4 November 2015

Henrik Eger reports on the trajectory of the Catholic docudrama Full of Grace from vision of the late Bishop Joseph Sullivan of Brooklyn to the stage in Philadelphia.

Moving From Event to Tradition
Essay

Moving From Event to Tradition

A Report from the Latino/a Play Project at Oregon Shakespeare Festival

3 November 2015

Brian Sonia-Wallace writes about his experience at the Latino/a Play Project at Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Love, Sex, and Death in the Amazon at Paradise Factory
Essay

Love, Sex, and Death in the Amazon at Paradise Factory

3 November 2015

Effy Redman on Love, Sex, and Death in the Amazon by Robert Murphy, the inaugural production of Collider Theater Company, in New York City.

A Home of Their Own
Essay

A Home of Their Own

the Playwrights’ Center

2 November 2015

Ruth Weiner and Meg Swanson, theatre practioners and scholars, talk to playwrights who have come through the Playwrights’ Center about their experiences.

Every 28 Hours
Essay

Every 28 Hours

Creating a Performance for Ferguson

24 October 2015

Actor/playwright Joe Wilson, Jr. discusses his experience and the cultural climate in St. Louis during the Every 28 Hours Project workshops.

This Is Our Year
Essay

This Is Our Year

The Understated Inclusivity of The Golden Drum Year

20 October 2015

Brett Aresco on Radical Evolution’s production of The Golden Drum Year by Beto O’Byrne.

Studio Theatre Stages a Heroic Chimerica
Essay

Studio Theatre Stages a Heroic Chimerica

15 October 2015

Patricia Davis interviews Ron Menzel, an actor in Studio Theatre's production of Lucy Kirkwood’s Chimerica in Washington, DC.

From Impulse To Audience
Essay

From Impulse To Audience

Four Days at Toronto’s Theatre Centre

8 October 2015

Raphael Martin on the history, organizational model, current reality, and aspirations of The Theatre Centre in Toronto, Canada.  

Something is Afoot in Washington, DC
Essay

Something is Afoot in Washington, DC

7 October 2015

Holly Derr reports on the Women’s Voices Theater Festival, bringing together more than 50 of the Washington, DC’s professional theaters to feature world premieres of new plays and musicals by women.

Meet The Writers: the Public Kick-off Event of the 22nd Annual Playwrights Week
Video

Meet The Writers: the Public Kick-off Event of the 22nd Annual Playwrights Week

Sunday 4 October 2015
New York, NY, United States

 

The Lark in New York City presented Meet the Writers, the public kick-off event of the 22nd Annual Playwrights' Week livestreamed by CultureHub on the HowlRound.tv network on Sunday 4 October at 7 p.m. EDT (New York) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 23:00 GMT. 

Musical Theatre Factory and the Means of New Musical Development
Essay

Musical Theatre Factory and the Means of New Musical Development

29 September 2015

Artistic Director Shakina Nayfack discusses the origins and trajectory of the Musical Theatre Factory, which advocates new musical development.

#MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing & Celebrating Musical Theatre
Video

#MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing & Celebrating Musical Theatre

Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October 2015
New York, NY, United States

Samuel French presented four discussion panels for #MusicalsWeek: Protecting, Developing, & Celebrating Musical Theatre livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October. Follow @MrSamuelFrench and #MusicalsWeek for live-tweeting.