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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
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 27 June 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presented Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work—a playwriting masterclass—livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 27 June 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 23 May 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presented Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work—a playwriting masterclass—livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 23 May 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 16 May 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presented Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work—a playwriting masterclass—livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 16 May 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 9 May 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presents Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work—a playwriting masterclass—livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 9 May 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Six people standing together for a photo.
Essay
3 May 2022

Danielle Iwata sits down with Amy Zhang to discuss the creation and significance of her show Ascend!, which featured a cast and crew entirely made up of Asian women.

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 2 May 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presented Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work — a playwrighting masterclass — livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 2 May 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

Three actors performing outdoors.
Essay
2 May 2022

Theatre artist Elle Thoni shares their experience working on the outdoor theatre production of a futuristic musical, Queen B, and challenges institutional ideas on how and where theatre can take place.

event poster for the pacific playwrights festival.
Video

Conversations with the playwrights of the Pacific Playwrights Festival

Sunday 10 April 2022
United States

South Coast Rep presented a Playwrights Panel livestreaming on the commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Sunday 10 April 2022 at 9 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 11 a.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 12 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work event poster.
Video

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 28 March 2022
United States

The Public Theater in New York City presented Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work — a playwrighting masterclass — livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Monday 21 March 2022 at 12 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10) / 1 p.m. AKST (Juneau, UTC -9) / 2 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 4 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 5 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 22:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 23:00 CET (Berlin, UTC +1).

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Mara Isaacs.
Podcast
15 February 2022

Tony Award-winning producer Mara Isaacs discusses how she puts collaboratively creative work in front of national audiences through her producing organization, Octopus Theatricals. This final episode of season two holds hot takes on boards, theatricality, and the connective tissue around artist-centered producing.

Poster for Addressless.
Video

An interactive theatrical game about housing insecurity

Tuesday 11 January 2022
United States

Rattlestick and Center for International Theatre Development presented a conversation about the making of Addressless livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network Tuesday 11 January 2022 at 12 p.m. PST (Los Angeles, UTC -8) / 2 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 3 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5) / 20:00 GMT (London, UTC +0) / 21:00 CET (Budapest, UTC +1).

Two women sitting across from each other being filmed in a living room.
Essay

Creating Non-Theatre

10 January 2022

Enid Brain reflects on the unique process of creating and performing the new work Our Childhood Sucked and shares what the theatre community can learn from creating digital “non-theatre.”

From the Ground Up Podcast image featuring Rachel Dickstein.
Podcast
15 December 2021

Rachel Dickstein, Artistic Director of Ripe Time, takes us through her experience with Center Theatre Group’s completion commission for their adaptation of SLEEP. She also spotlights some necessary and helpful relationships with tour presenting partners, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as well as champion and friend Diane Rodriguez.

event poster for no summary with headshots of artistic director Sahar Assaf and playwright Adam Ashraf Elsayigh.
Video

Sahar Assaf in conversation with playwright Adam Ashraf Elsayigh, author of Drowning in Cairo

Friday 3 December 2021
United States

Golden Thread presented NO SUMMARY with Adam Ashraf Elsayigh livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 3 December 2021 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Performer with puppet.
Essay
11 November 2021

Pulling from works in the Independent Theater Hungary’s annual Roma Heroes International Theatre Festival, Rosamaria Kostic Cisneros discusses the ways that festival artists created and staged nuanced depictions of Roma life. Cisneros highlights several of these plays and pays particular attention to their representations of potentially taboo material.

poster for the panel discussion.
Video

Featuring Meme Garcia, Lauren Gunderson, Avi Amon, Réal Vargas Alanis, and Fran Astorga

Thursday 21 October 2021
United States

In this panel invited playwrights featured a part of the New American Theatre Festival discuss their process of creation and adaptation. Playwrights include Avi Amon, Lauren Gunderson, Réal Alanis, Meme Garcia and Fran Astorga. The conversation will be moderated by Amrita Ramanan. We will discuss with each writer leaning into the power of joy and decentering the tropes of trauma.

Seven people sitting on a lit-up rooftop.
Essay
7 October 2021

Miranda Wright discusses the vitality of supporting new work development in the field and shares learnings from her experiences doing so as the founder of Los Angeles Performance Practice (LAPP) and the Live Arts Exchange (LAX) Festival.

A group of women and children.
Essay
26 July 2021

Kofoworola Owokotomo shares the theatre for development processes she undertook with a team of students to tackle issues of drug abuse, tribalism, and poor attitudes towards education in two Nigerian communities.

one actors posing in front of a wheel while two actors watch
Video

With Reactor's Laboratory for creation and experiment

Sunday 25 July 2021
Cluj, Romania

Reactor presented a performance of The Rest of Our Lives livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Sunday 25 July 2021 at 20:00 EEST (Cluj, UTC +3) / 19:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 18:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

an actor at a microphone stands behind actor holding a computer facing the camera.
Video

With Reactor's Laboratory for creation and experiment

Tuesday 27 July
Cluj, Romania

Reactor presented a performance of Interior-Light livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network, date to be announced.

A woman drinking water and sitting down on a chair surrounded by other chairs and onstage "woods".
Essay
13 July 2021

Kate Purdum shares the challenges and successes of creating a hybrid virtual and in-person production of On Loop at Barnard College.

event poster for unrehearsed futures episode fourteen.
Video

Episode 14: Offerings of Possibility

Thursday 8 July 2021
South Africa

Unrehearsed Futures: Offerings of Possibility livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 July 2021 at 7 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 12 p.m. BST (London, UTC +1) / 1 p.m. SAST (Cape Town, UTC +2).

event poster with artist headshots and text for inflections.
Video

Healing Over Hate Episode Three: Featuring new works by Philip Kan Gotanda & Shinji Eshima, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Ren Dara Santiago, Jade Wu and Max Yu

Monday 28 June 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented Inflections, the third episode of its ongoing monthly ConFest Virtual Series, Healing Over Hate on Monday 28 June at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8), 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7), 5 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6), 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5), 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

actors scattered across stage wearing red and blue clothing in performance.
Video

With Reactor's Laboratory for creation and experiment

Friday 25 June 2021
Cluj, Romania

Reactor presented a performance of (IN)CORRECT livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Friday 25 June 2021 at 20:00 EEST (Cluj, UTC +3) / 19:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 18:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

three actors in green shirts standing on stage behind an actor in a rabbit onesie on a couch.
Video

With Reactor's Laboratory for creation and experiment

Saturday 19 June 2021
Cluj, Romania

Reactor presented a performance of I Love Sushi livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network on Saturday 19 June 2021 at 20:00 EEST (Cluj, UTC +3) / 19:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC +2) / 18:00 BST (London, UTC +1) / 1 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4) / 12 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 10 a.m. PDT (Los Angeles, UTC -7).

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