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| Festival of New American Plays | |
|---|---|
| Name | Festival of New American Plays |
| Location | New York City |
| Established | 1998 |
| Founders | Various |
| Genre | Theatre, Drama |
| Frequency | Annual |
Festival of New American Plays
The Festival of New American Plays is an annual American theatre festival dedicated to the presentation and development of contemporary plays by living playwrights. The festival convenes playwrights, directors, producers, and actors for readings, workshops, and staged premieres in major theatrical centers such as New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It has become a gathering point for institutions like the Public Theater, Lincoln Center, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and the American Conservatory Theater to incubate new dramatic works alongside organizations such as New Dramatists, Playwrights Horizons, and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.
The festival functions as a nexus linking playwrights with producers from institutions like Roundabout Theatre Company, Theatre Communications Group, Arena Stage, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, and artistic directors from Yale Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theater, Goodman Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Geffen Playhouse. Panels often feature representatives from funding bodies such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Helen Merrill Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trusts, while critics from outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Variety, The New Yorker, and Los Angeles Times attend. The format promotes collaboration among professionals affiliated with training institutions such as Juilliard School, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Founded in the late 1990s amid a resurgence of new play development, the festival emerged from conversations among leaders at Public Theater, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NGO partners, and producers from Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, and regional venues like Actors’ Equity Association houses. Early editions showcased writers connected to Circle Repertory Company, Off-Broadway ensembles, and collectives including Ma-Yi Theater Company, New Yeruham Players, and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Founding organizers included artistic figures who had worked at Joseph Papp’s institutions and at companies associated with directors from David Mamet’s network, while dramaturgs and literary managers with ties to New Dramatists and Playwrights’ Center shaped curation.
Submission and selection protocols are administered by panels composed of literary managers from Steppenwolf Theatre Company, commissioning producers from Roundabout Theatre Company, senior dramaturgs from Lincoln Center Theater, and guest curators from Broadway League member houses. Scripts are solicited via open calls that attract playwrights represented by agents at firms such as Creative Artists Agency, United Talent Agency, and managers allied with SAG-AFTRA. The adjudication combines blind readings by committees including staff from Playwrights Horizons, Theatre for a New Audience, BAM Literary Office, and guest artists associated with Helen Hayes Award-winning institutions. Selected works undergo staged readings, workshop productions, and full productions supported by residencies at venues like O’Neill Theater Center, MacDowell, and university programs at Brown University and Columbia University.
The festival has premiered plays that later transferred to Broadway and regional seasons, including works by Pulitzer Prize–affiliated playwrights and Tony Award nominees. Early seasons featured playwrights associated with August Wilson, Tony Kushner, Suzan-Lori Parks, Paula Vogel, and emerging writers who later joined the rosters of New Dramatists and the Playwrights’ Center. Premieres have been produced at major houses such as Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, American Repertory Theater, and transferred to venues like Belasco Theatre, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre. The festival has launched productions that received Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominations and Tony Award recognition.
Participants have included actors and directors with credits at Broadway, West End, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Royal Court Theatre, and film/television artists represented by Motion Picture Academy members. Companies regularly involved include Playwrights Horizons, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Proteo Theatre Ensemble, The Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, and Goodman Theatre. Noted playwrights who have participated are affiliated with institutions such as New York University Department of Dramatic Writing, Juilliard School, and Brown/Trinity Rep MFA Program.
Venues for readings and productions span downtown loft spaces, Off-Broadway houses, and repertory stages including The Public Theater, Cherry Lane Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Barrow Street Theatre, Guthrie Theater, and regional houses like Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s rehearsal spaces. Production formats include staged readings, workshop productions, and full-scale premieres with sets designed by designers who have worked on Tony Award–winning productions; musical collaborations sometimes involve composers linked to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts programming and New York Philharmonic guest artists.
The festival has influenced commissioning practices at leading American institutions and shaped careers of playwrights who later received awards from organizations such as Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Pulitzer Prize, and Tony Awards. Critics from The New York Times, Variety, and The New Yorker have noted the festival’s role in accelerating transfers to Broadway and regional repertoires. Funders and boards from organizations like the National Endowment for the Arts and private foundations have cited festival-produced works in grant reports for initiatives at Theatre Communications Group and university theatre programs.