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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

Podcast
The Trans History Project: A Cohort of Playwrights and Theatres
by Nicolas Shannon Savard, Bo Frazier
19 May 2026
Podcast
The Trans History Project: Ten Plays in Development
by Nicolas Shannon Savard, Bo Frazier
12 May 2026
Podcast
New Threads, New Forms: MENA/SWANA Dramaturgy and Development
by Nabra Nelson, Marina Johnson, Evren Odcikin
7 May 2026
A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 16 December 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 9 December 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 2 December 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 25 November 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

headshot of hansol jung.
Video

Readings of Excerpts of Hansol Jung's Work and a Conversation With the Playwright

Monday 18 November 2024
New York City

An evening with South Korean playwright Hansol Jung. Exploring themes related to displacement, identity, family (among others), her plays traverse geographical and psychological landscapes.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 18 November 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A promotional graphic for Kunafa and Shay.
Podcast
12 November 2024

Hosts Marina Johnson and Nabra Nelson are joined by poets Fargo Tbakhi and George Abraham to explore the intersection of poetry and performance art. They discuss live expression, their collaborative process, and how performance can challenge norms and spark conversations about identity, diaspora, and revolution.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 7 October 2024
New York

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A writer stands in front of a blank chalkboard in the front of a classroom.
Essay
3 October 2024

Translator and playwright Amanda L. Andrei offers a beginner’s guide to translation for theatre, with tips on everything from securing translation rights to finding the right community to support your work.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 30 September 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

Artists work in an a bare studio space with chairs on the floor.
Essay
30 September 2024

A decade ago, translators dreamt of a formalized network for the promotion of theatrical translation in the United States. Neil Blackadder and Adam Versényi write about the ways this effort now feeds into a variety of development and production strategies for works in translation.

Two actors wearing fuzzy animal costumes sit on stage.
Essay
24 September 2024

From awards shows to rehearsal rooms, the work of translation for theatre is invisibilized in the United States. Jeremy Tiang explores the reasons for this lack of recognition and makes the case not just for more translation, but for the increased presence of translators.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 23 September 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

shadow puppets on stage.
Video

Reviewing the Application Process and Updated Guidelines for the Creation and Touring Grant

Thursday 12 September 2024
New England

Staff will break down the application process, timeline, and grant guidelines, then close the info session with a Q and A.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 9 September 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A woman wearing white stands on stage in front of projections of different words.
Essay
29 August 2024

Cori Thomas convenes playwrights based in the United States for a roundtable discussion about working internationally. They parse the differences in new play development and theatregoing cultures in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the Czech Republic.

A group of students listen to a radio play in a crowded room.
Essay
28 August 2024

Through experimental dramaturgy that privileged sound over visuals, Neo Muyanga created the Visual Radio Plays project at the Centre for the Less Good Idea in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this essay, Tonderai Chiyindiko explores the histories, theories, and personal connections that inspired the project.
 

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 26 August 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work, facilitated by Suzan-Lori Parks, is a virtual communal work session for nurturing creativity. Hosted by the Public Theater, these Zoom and HowlRound livestream sessions are accessible worldwide, allowing participants to join from home, school, or anywhere with internet access.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 19 August
New York City

Watch Me Work is a communal work session for anyone eager to nurture and sustain their creative process. Facilitated by Public Theater Playwright-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks and the New Work Development department, Watch Me Work takes place via Zoom sessions and HowlRound livestreams that you can join at home, at school, or in a coffee shop from anywhere in the world!

A promotional graphic for Kunafa and Shay featuring art from previous episodes.
Podcast
13 August 2024

In the last episode of the fourth season of Kunafa and Shay—which was a historical and classical Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) and Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) theatre season—Marina Johnson and Nabra Nelson reflect on the season, give some additional insight, and provide a broader overview of their framework for historical and classical theatre.

Two actors stand on stage in front of a set made of damaged wood.
Essay
5 August 2024

Kristin Idaszak shares about Dolores Díaz’s new play Black Sunday that connects the environmental racism during the 1935 Dust Bowl to contemporary migration crises in Chicago.

A man sits on stage on a black box in front of a blue scrim.
Essay
31 July 2024

Playwright and performer Liam Monaghan details the process behind writing Strange/Familiar, his autofictional play on the themes of adoption and queer belonging. He explores the way contemporary autofictions hold up a mirror to ourselves and our world, reflecting both uncertainty and meaning.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 15 July 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work is a communal work session for anyone eager to nurture and sustain their creative process. Facilitated by Public Theater Playwright-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks and the New Work Development department, Watch Me Work takes place via Zoom sessions and HowlRound livestreams that you can join at home, at school, or in a coffee shop from anywhere in the world!

Three young woman sit in chairs reading scripts as a part of a workshop.
Essay
10 July 2024

Nasima Bee discusses the creation of take back my body, which was informed by a series of workshops in which groups of Muslim women connect and share experiences on the topics of belonging, identity, and home.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 1 July 2024
New York City

Watch Me Work is a communal work session for anyone eager to nurture and sustain their creative process. Facilitated by Public Theater Playwright-in-Residence Suzan-Lori Parks and the New Work Development department, Watch Me Work takes place via Zoom sessions and HowlRound livestreams that you can join at home, at school, or in a coffee shop from anywhere in the world!

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