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| American Playwrights Project | |
|---|---|
| Name | American Playwrights Project |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Samuel Adler |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Type | Nonprofit theatre organization |
| Focus | Play development, new play workshops, playwright residencies |
American Playwrights Project The American Playwrights Project is a nonprofit organization based in New York City dedicated to commissioning, developing, and producing new American plays. Founded in 1998, the Project operates through partnerships with regional theatres, academic institutions, and national festivals to shepherd scripts from readings to full productions. Its work has intersected with major institutions, artists, and awards across the United States, influencing development pathways at venues and programs associated with Lincoln Center, Public Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and New York Theatre Workshop.
The organization was established in 1998 by producer Samuel Adler after collaborations with Juilliard School, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon University, Sundance Institute, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Early initiatives drew on models from Royal Court Theatre, Royal National Theatre, and the Great Lakes Theater Festival, adapting workshop-driven development processes. Throughout the 2000s the Project expanded through co-productions with Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, Trinity Repertory Company, and touring partnerships with Roundabout Theatre Company and American Conservatory Theater. Major milestones include residencies at New Dramatists, commissioning programs with Drama League, and participation in juried showcases such as Humana Festival of New American Plays and the O'Neill Theater Center conferences.
The Project's stated mission emphasizes sustaining contemporary American playwrights and amplifying diverse voices through commissioning, dramaturgy, and production. Objectives include creating professional development pipelines linked to National Endowment for the Arts grants, facilitating collaborations with theaters like La Jolla Playhouse and Arena Stage, and supporting playwrights previously affiliated with MacArthur Fellows Program, Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners, and Tony Award nominees. Strategic goals prioritize partnerships with conservatories such as Columbia University School of the Arts, Brown/Trinity MFA Programs, and community institutions including NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
The Project has helped premiere works that later transferred to major stages and festivals. Early premieres included plays that moved from readings to productions at Public Theater and subsequent Broadway transfers to venues like Ethel Barrymore Theatre and Booth Theatre. Collaborations produced premieres at La Jolla Playhouse, Arena Stage, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and the Guthrie Theater, with some works later presented at Lincoln Center Theater and awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama or Obie Awards. The Project's development pipeline has led to commercial transfers mediated by producers associated with Manhattan Theatre Club, Roundabout Theatre Company, Second Stage Theater, and Broadway League partners.
A wide range of playwrights, directors, dramaturgs, and actors have worked with the Project. Playwright alumni include recipients and nominees of national honors such as Tony Award, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, MacArthur Fellows Program fellows, and Obie Awards winners who have also been affiliated with institutions like New Dramatists and Playwrights Horizons. Directors associated with the Project have roots at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Collaborating actors and creative teams have connections to The Public Theater, Royal Shakespeare Company, Globe Theatre, and regional ensembles tied to Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Seattle Repertory Theatre.
Education initiatives include masterclasses, dramaturgy fellowships, and youth-playwriting residencies conducted with universities and community partners such as NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Juilliard School, Columbia University, Boston University, and public programs at Smithsonian Institution affiliates. Outreach extends to high-school playwriting festivals modeled on frameworks used by Young Playwrights Festival and partnerships with arts councils funded by National Endowment for the Arts grants and state arts agencies like the New York State Council on the Arts and California Arts Council.
The Project operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by a mix of private philanthropy, foundation grants, institutional underwriting, and ticket revenue. Principal funders have included arts philanthropies and foundations comparable to Ford Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and programmatic grants from National Endowment for the Arts. Governance typically comprises a board of trustees drawn from producers, academics, and administrators with ties to Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, Yale School of Drama, and leading regional theatres; staffing models include artistic directors, development officers, and literary managers who collaborate with networks like Dramatists Guild of America.
Critical reception has noted the Project's role in accelerating careers of emerging and established playwrights, with coverage in outlets aligned with theatrical discourse and criticism associated with The New York Times, The New Yorker, Variety (magazine), and trade organizations including American Theatre magazine. Its impact is visible in the circulation of developed plays through regional seasons at Guthrie Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Arena Stage, and in awards trajectories including Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners and Tony Award nominees whose early drafts were incubated by the Project. The model influenced similar initiatives at institutions like Roundabout Theatre Company and university-affiliated play development programs.
Category:Theatre companies in New York City