Programs and services

The Core Writer Program gives 25-30 of the most exciting playwrights from across the country the time and tools to develop new work for the stage. All Core Writers receive play development workshops at the Center, in collaboration with prominent directors, actors, dramaturgs, and designers. Selected work by Core Writers makes up our formal season of public readings: the PlayLabs festival and the Ruth Easton New Play Series. Core Writers are also promoted by the Center and provided opportunities through an extensive network of colleges and universities, cultural institutions, and producing theaters.

Fellowships, made possible by the McKnight and Jerome foundations, provide more than $315,000 each year for residencies, commissions, and development funds. Through these fellowships, the Playwrights’ Center functions as a home for:

• Jerome Fellows, four emerging American playwrights
• Many Voices Fellows, two early-career playwrights of color, one Minnesota-based 
• Many Voices Mentees, two Minnesota-based beginning playwrights of color
• McKnight Fellows in Playwriting, two accomplished Minnesota-based playwrights
• McKnight National Residency and Commission, one playwright selected annually from an impressive national pool
• McKnight Theater Artist Fellows, three exceptional Minnesota-based theater artists (other than playwrights)

Membership is open to all and provides nearly 2,000 playwrights worldwide with tools, resources, and support. Benefits include a database of playwriting opportunities, online and in-person seminars and classes, access to readings with professional actors, dramaturgical services, and more. In addition, the Playwrights’ Center’s New Plays on Campus program serves dozens of colleges and universities nationwide, providing script-matching services, arranging playwright residencies, and offering immersive apprenticeships to student playwrights. 

Local and national partnerships elevate the role of living playwrights. The Center works with several theaters each year to develop work for their stages. Recent collaborations include partnerships with Denver Center on Idris Goodwin’s Victory Jones and the Incredible One Woman Band, Marin Theatre Company on Carson Kreitzer’s Lasso of Truth, Mixed Blood on Aditi Kapil’s Brahman(i) and Shiv, Pillsbury House Theatre on Tracey Scott Wilson’s Buzzer, and The Walker Art Center and Elevator Repair Service on Sibyl Kempson’s Fondly, Collette Richland. The Center also flies in 10-15 artistic leaders each year to meet writers and hear their work. The newly-launched Regulars program brings together a group of nearly 100 producing theaters in the United States who seek the support of the Center in order to meet new writers, develop their work, and move them into production.