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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

I Designed a Series of Workshops to take back my body
Essay
I Designed a Series of Workshops to take back my body
by Nasima Bee
10 July 2024
Ten Years of The Gun Show
Essay
Ten Years of The Gun Show
by E. M. Lewis, Nate Cohen
27 June 2024
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
A Playwriting Masterclass
Monday 26 August 2024
New York City
A promotional graphic for Watch Me Work.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 26 August 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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 5 August 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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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.
I Designed a Series of Workshops to take back my body
Essay

I Designed a Series of Workshops to take back my body

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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!

Two actors stand in a dimly lit space with one shining a flashlight in the others face.
Ten Years of The Gun Show
Essay

Ten Years of The Gun Show

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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.
How Theatre Can Create Positive Change in Our Food Systems
Essay

How Theatre Can Create Positive Change in Our Food Systems

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks' Watch Me Work

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.
On Collaboration
Podcast

On Collaboration

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.
World Voices
Video

World Voices

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
On Teaching Dramaturgy
Podcast

On Teaching Dramaturgy

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.
The < 3 G E N Project Explores Matrilineal Connectivity Through a Digital Theatre Lens
Essay

The < 3 G E N Project Explores Matrilineal Connectivity Through a Digital Theatre Lens

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene
Essay

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
The Importance of Community for Playwrights
Essay

The Importance of Community for Playwrights

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

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.
Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work with Special Guest Neil deGrasse Tyson
Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work with Special Guest Neil deGrasse Tyson

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!

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