fbpx New Play Development | HowlRound Theatre Commons

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
Two actors stand in a dimly lit space with one shining a flashlight in the others face.
Essay
27 June 2024

Ten years after writing The Gun Show, playwright Ellen Lewis looks back at the play that tasks an actor with the delivery of a series of gun stories from Lewis’s life—typically with Ellen among the audience. Lewis sits down with Nate Cohen, who worked on the show for several runs that totaled more than one hundred performances, to reflect on the ways the play, its playwright, and the world have changed over ten years of productions.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 17 June 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!

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 10 June 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!

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 3 June 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!

An actor speaks into a microphone in a dimly lit space.
Essay
29 May 2024

Food Tank’s Little Peasants bridged theatre and advocacy by staging an interactive play set during a union vote at a fictional international coffee chain. Elena Morris discusses the play’s development process and its place in the theatre-based food systems advocacy strategies employed by the nonprofit Food Tank.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 20 May 2024
United States

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 Teaching Theatre.
Podcast
14 May 2024

Theatre is a collaborative art.  In this week’s episode, host Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder talks with Padraic Lillis, artistic director of the Farm Theatre and Jennifer Goff,  professor at Centre College, about the collaborative process. Drawing from their experience developing a new play through the Farm Theatre project, Padraic and Jennifer discuss the ways in which collaboration helps students learn to think critically, communicate effectively, take risks, and analyze text.

headshots of ten playwrights.
Video

Displacement Plays from Uganda, Lebanon, West Africa, Haiti and Ukranian Playwrights Project

Monday 13 May 2024
New York City

Join us for an evening of plays by nine writers who personally experienced displacement, migration, and war. Alongside four thirty-minute pieces, we will hear shorter ten-minute works by five young Ukrainian writers.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 13 May 2024

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 Teaching Theatre.
Podcast
7 May 2024

Dramaturgs serve productions in a variety of ways, which are often dictated by needs of the play and the playwright. Playwright and dramaturg Jacqueline Goldfinger, along with dramaturg and dean of the Theatre School at DePaul University Martine Kei Green-Rogers, join the conversation to discuss the role of the dramaturg in new play development, as well as how to incorporate dramaturgy in the classroom.

An actor with one foot on a ladder hands a book to another onstage.
Essay
1 May 2024

Amelia Parenteau explores the creation of The < 3 G E N Project: a documentary theatre project in which the creators, Beatriz Cabur and Giulia Cavallini, are using digital theatre to bridge the digital divide between generations of women, and invite these women into conversation on how to better connect. 

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 22 April 2024
New York

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 performer stands on a dimly lit stage in front of a whale setpiece.
Essay
22 April 2024

Chantal Bilodeau kicks off another installment of Theatre in the Age of Climate Change by reflecting on her journey working on the Arctic Cycle against the backdrop of the continuously increasing global temperature, and introducing the other playwrights who will be sharing about their commitment to creating a series of work about the climate crisis. 

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 15 April 2024
New York

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!

Headshots of three playwrights.
Essay
3 April 2024

What tools are playwrights using to survive in the theatre industry today? What tools are missing? Louis DeVaughn “DeVo” Nelson poses these questions and more to three playwrights in conversations about the future of theatre, the shedding supremacist systems, and the necessity to build new communities.

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 1 April 2024
New York

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 Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 25 March 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!

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 11 March 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!

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 4 March 2024
United States

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 Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 26 February 2024
United States

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 row of actors read from scripts on music stands.
Essay
13 February 2024

Jacob Juntunen traces the collaborative network of theatres and theatremakers in St. Louis that share resources and make the city a rich environment for new play development. 

A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 12 February 2024
United States

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 Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 5 February 2024
United States

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 Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 29 January 2024
United States

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 Watch Me Work.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 22 January 2024
United States

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!

Subscribe to HowlRound

Sign up for our daily, weekly, or quarterly emails so you never miss the latest theatre conversations.

Sign me up

Support HowlRound

We fundraise to keep all our programs free and open and to pay our contributors. Thank you to all who make our work possible!

Donate today