The Playwrights' Center Explained

The Playwrights' Center
Type:Non-profit
Foundation:1971
Location:Minneapolis, Minnesota
Num Employees:13 (2012)
Industry:Theatre

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]

History

Playwrights' 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.

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.

Programs

The Ruth Easton Lab

The 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 Writers

Each term is three years; Core Writers may re-apply for additional terms.[7]

Core Apprentices

Schools 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]

PlayLabs

PlayLabs 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]

Fellowships

Jerome Fellowships

Many Voices Fellowships

The 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

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Playwrights' Center to leave Seward and double in size on St. Paul's Raymond Avenue. 20 October 2020.
  2. Web site: Olive. John. The Playwrights' Center: Confessions of a Founder. Minnesota Playlist. 12 November 2012.
  3. News: French. Rose. Heavenly Homes. 16 November 2012. Star Tribune. 8 February 2011.
  4. Book: Epstein. Wendy. Matheny. Marilyn. Musser. Rick. A People's History of the Seward Neighborhood. 2018. Nodin Press. 235–236.
  5. Web site: Skinner. Quinton. Playwrights' Center hires Cohen as Producing Artistic Director. CityPages. 12 November 2012.
  6. Web site: Coakley. Jacob. Playwrights' Center Selects Core Writers, Gives More than $200,000 in Direct Support to Playwright. 11 June 2009 . 16 November 2012.
  7. Web site: Kraar. Adam. Selected for Core Membership at The Playwrights Center.
  8. Web site: Core Apprentice. 16 November 2012.
  9. Web site: Amina. Henry. Core Apprentice at the Playwrights' Center (Minneapolis, MN). 17 July 2012 . 16 November 2012.
  10. Web site: Mitchell. Angela. PlayLabs Festival Spotlights New Playwrights, Opportunities. 12 November 2012.
  11. Web site: The Playwrights' Center Annual Report. 16 November 2012.
  12. Web site: The Playwrights Center Jerome Fellowship and Many Voices Program. 16 November 2012.
  13. Web site: Peter Sagal. Dramatic Publishing. 6 February 2017.
  14. Web site: McKnight Artist Fellowship Program. 16 November 2012.

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