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

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 20 May 2024

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

Video

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Watch Me Work

A Playwriting Masterclass

Monday 13 May 2024

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene

Essay

Creating Work in Series in the Anthropocene

by Chantal Bilodeau

22 April 2024

NO SUMMARY with John Eisner, Jamil Khoury, and Torange Yeghiazarian

Golden Thread

Video

NO SUMMARY with John Eisner, Jamil Khoury, and Torange Yeghiazarian

Online conversations with artists that don’t fit in a box

Friday 26 March 2021

United States

Golden Thread Productions presented NO SUMMARY: a conversation with with John Eisner, Jamil Khoury, and Torange Yeghiazarian livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 26 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway

Manuel

Muñoz

Essay

Beneath the Shadow of the Freeway

Virginia Grise’s Stage Adaptation of Helena Maria Viramontes’s Their Dogs Came with Them

17 March 2021

Manuel Muñoz reflects on Virginia Grise’s adaptation of Their Dogs Came with Them, which took place in fall 2019 under the colossal concrete freeway ramps of the I-10 freeway that dissect South Tucson from the edge of the Sonoran Desert.

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

Essay

Using Critical Fabulation for History-Based Playwriting

3 March 2021

Holly Derr and Calley N. Anderson sit down to talk about how Calley adopted historian Saidiya Hartman’s theory of critical fabulation when writing her new play The Story and the Teller about the effect of the Memphis yellow fever epidemic of 1878 on African Americans and immigrants.

Reverse-Engineering Zoom with Isadora

Essay

Reverse-Engineering Zoom with Isadora

Site-Specific Performance for the Internet

4 January 2021

Barbara Fuchs chats with director and designer Jared Mezzocchi about his digital theatre production Russian Troll Farm, how to reverse-engineer Zoom, Isadora as the way forward, and more.

Afro-Futurism and the Jamaican Stage

Akiba Abaka Arts

Video

Afro-Futurism and the Jamaican Stage

10 Weeks In Jamaica: Theater Conversations from Jamaica to The World!

Sunday 3 January 2021

Jamaica

Akiba Abaka Arts presented the conversation Afro-Futurism and the Jamaican Stage as a part of the 10 Weeks in Jamaica series livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 3 January 2021 at 1 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 3 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 4 p.m. EST (Kingston, UTC -5).

Title and details of event, with headshots of the participants, and a photo of people on a stage under blue light kneeling with arms raised.

Leaders of a New Stage

Akiba Abaka Arts

Video

Leaders of a New Stage

10 Weeks In Jamaica: Theater Conversations from Jamaica to The World!

Sunday 27 December 2020

Jamaica

Akiba Abaka Arts presented the conversation Leaders of a New Stage as a part of the 10 Weeks in Jamaica series livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 27 December 2020 at 1 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 3 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 4 p.m. EST (Kingston, UTC -5).

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Play

E. M.

Lewis

Essay

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Play

14 December 2020

E. M. Lewis shares thirteen ways writers can think about the plays they’re writing, including the stakes, the world, and the music.

Trans [Plays] of Remembrance Short Play Festival (Live-captioned)

Tufts University, Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Tufts University's LGBT Center

Ohio University's Division of Diversity and Inclusion

Trans [Plays] of Remembrance Festival

Video

Trans [Plays] of Remembrance Short Play Festival (Live-captioned)

Three nights of short plays written by up-and-coming trans* playwrights followed by roundtable discussions

Monday 16 November to Wednesday 18 November 2020

United States

Presenting Trans [Plays] of Remembrance livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Monday 16 November to Wednesday 18 November 2020 at 4 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 6 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 7 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

Photo of three conversation participants, with the event title and producers listed.

On Radical Imagination and The Black Feminine Divine

Crowded Fire

Campo Santo

Video

On Radical Imagination and The Black Feminine Divine

With Star Finch, Ellen Sebastian Chang, and Lisa Marie Rollins, presented by Crowded Fire and Campo Santo.

Tuesday 27 October 2020

United States

Crowded Fire and Campo Santo presented the conversation On Radical Imagination & The Black Feminine Divine livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Tuesday 27 October 2020 at 2 p.m. HST (UTC -9) / 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Unearthing Your Languages

Amanda L.

Andrei

Essay

Unearthing Your Languages

27 October 2020

Amanda L. Andrei discusses learning Romanian—her father’s native tongue—for her play Lena Passes By and shares methodology for dealing with translations, identifies unique issues of heritage language learners who are also writers, and reflects on the pain of being separated from language.

digital rendering of city street with white text PERFORMANCE XR 2020

Performance and XR 2020 (PXR2020) Symposium

Toasterlab

Canada Council for the Arts

Single Thread Theatre

Electric Company Theatre

Video

Performance and XR 2020 (PXR2020) Symposium

A Virtual Reality Symposium for Canadian artists and XR technologists, exploring creation and performance in XR

Friday 2 October to Saturday 10 October

Canada

Toasterlab presented the symposium Performance and XR 2020 (PXR2020) livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday 2 October to Saturday 10 October 2020.

Black Directors Roundtable

Art2Action

Pangea

Video

Black Directors Roundtable

Centering the voices of Black leaders in theatre with the National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation

Thursday 8 October 2020

United States

The National Institute for Directing & Ensemble Creation presented a Black Directors Roundtable livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Thursday 8 October 2020 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

Theatre of the Mind

Essay

Theatre of the Mind

A Dramaturgical Perspective on Tabletop Role-Playing Games

29 September 2020

Todd Brian Backus, Percival Hornak and Nicholas Orvis—three dramaturgs and gamers—talk about what theatremakers can learn from the collaborative storytelling techniques employed in tabletop role-playing games.

actors on stage with text PLAYS TO PROGRESS

Plays to Progress with Cori Thomas

The O'Neill

Video

Plays to Progress with Cori Thomas

A brief performance followed by a conversation about the resonance of Lockdown, a work by Cori Thomas launched at the O’Neill

Wednesday 9 September 2020

United States

Eugene O'Neill Theater Center presented Plays to Progress with Cori Thomas livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 9 September at 3 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 5 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 6 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

Spectrum Theatre Ensemble’s Neurodiversity New Play Festival

Spectrum Theatre Ensemble

Video

Spectrum Theatre Ensemble’s Neurodiversity New Play Festival

Premiering capstones for four new 10-minute plays, four public readings of works by playwrights on the spectrum, and panels on neurodiversity in the arts

Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August 2020

United States

Spectrum Theatre Ensemble presented their Neurodiversity New Play Festival livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv from Friday 31 July to Sunday 2 August 2020.

Creating Authentic Stories Through Collaboration

Essay

Creating Authentic Stories Through Collaboration

On Devised Theatre in the US

23 July 2020

Holly Holsinger, India Nicole Burton, Olivia Lilley, and Stefan Brün talk about devising in the United States, how each artist works differently, the future of American theatre, and more.

From México to Cataluña

Essay

From México to Cataluña

Performing Migration in Mexicatas / Realizar la migración en Mexicatas

9 July 2020

Mariela Lopez Flores speaks with Ariadna Ferreira—one of the creators of the show Mexicatas—about the realities of migration, Catalan vs. Mexican cultures, and more. / Mariela López habla con Ariadna Ferreira—una de las creadoras de la obra de teatro Mexicatas—sobre las realidades de la migración, la cultura catalana vs la cultura mexicana, y más.

overhead view of a large group both seated, standing, and moving about outside

The Marriage of Music and Story

Karishma

Bhagani

Essay

The Marriage of Music and Story

Redefining Kenyan Identity Through Musical Theatre

29 June 2020

Karishma Bhagani asks: “How do we, the Kenyan artist community, choose to understand our place in this contemporary, independent nation? And how do we use our art to express the realities of our contemporary experience in Kenya?”

a group of students in movement with ruther kanner in the center

Throw Away the Script

Essay

Throw Away the Script

How Ruth Kanner Uses Stories to Amplify a Polyphony of Voices

16 June 2020

Flo Low interviews Israeli theatremaker Ruth Kanner about what she calls “storytelling theatre,” her experience teaching in an American classroom, the impact of cross-cultural exchange, and more.

Lumbering Toward the New

Todd

London

Essay

Lumbering Toward the New

17 March 2020

In this virtual keynote, Todd London reflects on the nature of new work and the social cooperation inherent to making theatre.

Keynote by Todd London for the 5th Annual ORIGINKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

KCRep

Video

Keynote by Todd London for the 5th Annual ORIGINKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

at Kansas City Repertory Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri

Saturday 14 March 2020

Kansas City, Missouri

Kansas City Repertory Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri presented a keynote by Todd London from the 5th Annual ORIGINKC: NEW WORKS FESTIVAL livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 14 March at 8 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 10 a.m. CDT (Kansas City, UTC-5) / 11 a.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4).

A Playwright’s Guide to Self-Producing: Part II

John J

King

Essay

A Playwright’s Guide to Self-Producing: Part II

3 March 2020

In the second half of this two-part deep dive, playwright John J King continues his exploration into self-producing, looking at the production phase and marketing.

A Playwright’s Guide to Self-Producing: Part I

John J

King

Essay

A Playwright’s Guide to Self-Producing: Part I

2 March 2020

In the first half of this two-part deep dive, playwright John J King looks at the world of self-producing, touching on building a mission statement, budget concerns, and the script development process.

collage of close-up body images, including hands and feet

Gasping Whiteness and New Play Development Inspired by Community Organizing

Will

MacAdams

Essay

Gasping Whiteness and New Play Development Inspired by Community Organizing

25 February 2020

Through the lens of developing his show Gasping Whiteness, Will MacAdams talks about the value of creating theatre in partnership with community organizers.