Deepa Purohit holds a three-day working session for M[XX]: THE DIGNITY PROJECT with an ensemble that includes Akaina Ghosh, Raina Lawrence, Gulshan Mia, Mukta Phata, Indika Senanayake, Shetal Shah, Nandita Shenoy, Isuri Wijesundara, and Rita Wolf. Deepa is preparing to direct the project for the Exponential Festival in January, 2027.
Deborah Yarchun hosts a two-day working session for TEA & ESCHATOLOGY directed by Portia Krieger, with performers Eva Kaminsky and Mary Bacon.
Julia Izumi hosts a two-day working session for THE BANANA FACTORY.
Jonathan Payne holds a one-day reading of MEDEAS directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt.
Jordan Seavey holds a two-day working session for FORTUNE, COOKIE, GHOST directed by Leigh Silverman.
New Dramatists, a creative laboratory, community center and service organization for professional playwrights, is proud to announce the addition of six writers to its illustrious, dynamic resident playwright company: Dave Harris, Nazareth Hassan, DJ Hills, Regan Moro, May Treuhaft-Ali, and Bailey Williams
New Dramatists launched their seven-year residencies on Monday, September, 14 2026 at the annual New Playwright Welcome, an evening of readings and celebration. These outstanding theatre artists were selected by a seven-person committee of New Dramatists current residents, alumni, and outside theatre professionals from a pool of 799 applicants after undergoing a highly competitive, ten-month review and consensus-based decision-making process. They will be in residence through June, 2033.
Thank you to Alexanna Brier, photographer!
Congratulations to Madison Fiedler, who received the Princess Grace Award in Playwriting for her play, This Is What the Days Are. Madison will be the Princess Grace Fellow in residence with New Dramatists for the 2026-27 season.
New Dramatists administers the application process on behalf of the Princess Grace Foundation-USA. Applications are accepted each year in early March.
Last spring in the lead up to New Dramatists' Spring Luncheon, honoring Stephen Schwartz and Music Theatre International, Emily Morse had the pleasure of participating in radio conversations with theatrical legends and New Dramatists alumni, Taylor Mac, Kristoffer Diaz, and Suzan-Lori Parks, about the value of artists and storytellers, and the essential role New Dramatists and other development organizations play in their artistic growth and building a supportive community.
A.D. Amorsi’s Theater in the Round featured Taylor Mac, and Tom Candela’s Curtain Call featured Kristoffer Diaz and Suzan-Lori Parks.
On June 22, 2026, New Dramatists held an AFTER SEVEN salon to celebrate and honor outgoing playwrights: Johnna Adams, Boni B. Alvarez, Kirk Wood Bromley, Morgan Gould, MJ Kaufman, Aya Ogawa, Jiehae Park, andAndrea Stolowitz.These writers have completed nine years in residence at New Dramatists - the customary 7 years plus a 2-year COVID booster!
The PlayTime develomental studio, a microcosm of the ongoing work of New Dramatists, is a two-week workshop for multiple writers undertaking ambitious new projects within a collaborative company of directors, actors, designers and other writers. Each playwright determines their terms of engagement with the program, leads their own development, and chooses their collaborators. The schedule offers time to engage in one another's processes.
The Kleban Foundation announces the recipients of the 36th annual Kleban Prize for Musical Theatre. The 2026 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre lyricist has been awarded to Eric Price. The 2026 Kleban Prize for the most promising musical theatre librettist has been awarded to Phillip Christian Smith. The Kleban Foundation will present the prizes on Monday, February 2 at 5PM in a private ceremony (by invitation only) hosted by ASCAP and BMI at ASCAP (250 W. 57th St, NYC). Featuring musical performances from work by this year’s prize recipients, the event will be hosted by Tony Award winners and Kleban board members Richard Maltby, Jr. and Maury Yeston.
New Dramatists, a playwright development organization that supports playwrights through seven-year residencies, is itself “in residence” at Houghton Hall Arts Community, 22 East 30th Street. It is with gratitude that we announce that the Michaela O'Harra Reading Room with shelves full of playwright manuscripts will be open to the public by appointment this season.
The totality of our work – administrative and artistic - is continuing to take place at HHAC. Our partnership includes three offices, a multi-purpose co-working desk for playwrights and staff, access to a multi-purpose conference room, a dedicated programming room for roundtable readings and creative sessions (the Fairbanks Room), the ability to reserve space for bigger community events and readings, a shared kitchen, and a welcoming shared entrance/lobby/cafe area.
The principles of equity, diversity, accessibility, and inclusion (EDAI) are embedded in the founding of our organization. Click the link below to read our EDAI mission and values statement, and to learn about the process for articulating this community statement and putting it into practice.
Click the button below to see upcoming productions of new work by New Dramatists resident and alumni playwrights at theaters across the country and abroad.
Click the button below to access our compilation of upcoming play submission opportunities, grants, and writing residencies.
Click the button below to listen to the "plays for the ear" created by New Dramatists playwrights during the pandemic.
