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The Playwrights' Center
Playwrights' Center is a non-profit theatre organization focused on both supporting playwrights and promoting new plays to production at theaters. It is located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. In October of 2020, the organization announced plans to move to a larger space in St. Paul.[1] HistoryPlaywrights' Center was founded in 1971 by a group of University of Minnesota undergraduate and graduate students, including Greg Almquist, Erik Brogger, Tom Dunn, Barbara Field, Gar Hildenbrand, and Jon Jackoway. These playwrights conceived of the Playwrights' Center (initially called the Minnesota Playwriting Laboratory) as a place where writers could hear their work read aloud by professional actors, criticized from peers and audience members, and to develop their scripts collaboratively. After becoming a not-for-profit company in 1973, the founders held a series of play readings, discussion series, and one-acts performed at various venues in the Twin Cities.[2] In 1979, the center moved into the Olivet Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, which remains its home today.[3][4] Jeremy Cohen serves as the producing artistic director,[5] and the center is further supported by a full staff, an eighteen-member board of directors and a national advisory board of theater professionals. Members of the Playwrights' Center include artists such as August Wilson, Lee Blessing, Ping Chong, Paula Vogel, Jeffrey Hatcher, Suzan-Lori Parks, Jordan Harrison, Carlyle Brown, Craig Lucas, Melanie Marnich, and Kira Obolensky.[citation needed] Recent partners have included Tectonic Theater Project, Mixed Blood Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Public Theater (NY), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ten Thousand Things Theater Company, Berkeley Rep, Marin Theatre Company, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and others. The Center also collaborates with local cultural institutions as the Walker Art Center and Minnesota History Center to develop theater that deepens their programming.[citation needed] ProgramsThe Ruth Easton LabThe Ruth Easton New Play Series[6] gives selected Core Writers 20 hours with collaborators to workshop their script. Each year, a handful of plays are selected from the Core Writers for development in The Ruth Easton Series. With funding from the Ruth Easton Lab, the plays receive a director, a designer and, if the playwright chooses, a free two public readings of the plays. Core WritersEach term is three years; Core Writers may re-apply for additional terms.[7] Core ApprenticesSchools participating in the New Plays on Campus program may nominate students to become Playwrights’ Center Core Apprentices. In partnership with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the Core Apprentice program provides student playwrights with a professional playwright and a workshop of a new play at the Playwrights’ Center. Five student playwrights are selected each year to be “Core Apprentices”.[8][9] PlayLabsPlayLabs is an annual new play festival that occurs during a two-week span in October. Each playwright is paired with a director, designer, and cast of actors. The selected plays receive 30 hours of rehearsal and two readings with allocated writing and revision time. All readings are free. The festival extends to a Jerome Fellows showcase, a panel discussion, and a festival celebration.[10] According to The Playwrights' Center 2005 annual report, 74 percent of Playlabs playwrights go on to receive professional productions or further development opportunities.[11] FellowshipsJerome Fellowships
Many Voices FellowshipsThe Many Voices Fellowship was created in 1994 in partnership with the Jerome Foundation in order to create a home for early-career playwrights of color. Since that time, the Many Voices program has provided 140 fellowships for some 100 emerging playwrights of color, offering class instruction, play development workshops, and mentoring opportunities.
McKnight Fellowships
References
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