HOME
about NNPN
programs
members &
      membership
news
information for
playwrights
producers

ABOUT NNPN

contact us

mission
history
accomplishments
board of directors

The continued life of important new plays of quality is vital to the health of the American Theatre. Across the country, hundreds of new plays by emerging and established writers are developed each year, yet only a handful receive full productions on the regional professional theatre circuit. Among the plays that do receive world premieres, only a fraction receive second, third and fourth productions at theatres outside their immediate region. Without subsequent productions, plays have little opportunity to evolve artistically or to generate significant critical attention and momentum. And while there are numerous funding opportunities for play development and world premieres, there are none devoted to the continued life of new plays.

After a new play has had a successful premiere in a region, it remains a risky venture for a theatre elsewhere. Without the "hype" generated by an Off-Broadway run or a major festival, new plays struggle to attract audiences equal to that of classic plays, musicals and star-studded pre-Broadway tryouts. Nationwide statistics consistently reveal that traditional theatregoing audiences respond more positively to familiar titles and authors; and people who are not regular theatregoers are generally even less adventurous in attending new plays.

MISSION STATEMENT

The National New Play Network (NNPN) is an alliance of not-for-profit professional theatres that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays for the American theatre.

NNPN seeks to:

1. facilitate the exchange of new works among member theatres and other theatres across America and around the world
2. strengthen member theatres' ability to develop and produce new work in their own communities
3. cultivate an informed, passionate and supportive audience for new works of theatre in the future
4. use the development of new theatre works to create a deeper relationship between member theatres and their communities
5. develop regional and national funding sources to support the creation, production and continued life of new works.

VISION STATEMENT

Much like the successful regional theatre efforts of the 1950's, NNPN members see themselves as the vanguard of a new revolution in American Theatre. We have come to feel that the box office driven economic concerns of the large regional theatres no longer allow artistic risk, especially in the area of new play production and development. Small-to-midsize theatres are more capable of trying new ideas and more able to form intimate relationships with playwrights and their communities, providing theatre experiences that are new, interesting and vital.

A Model of NNPN's Vision

The members of NNPN see a national network of like-minded artistic institutions, where:

1. A new play, now destined, at its best, to have only a "six week run" at one theatre, might have five-ten productions in a three-year period.
2. A talented writer, who usually has to develop their play based on one or two readings, can hear numerous readings at different development stages, have a national community of professional artists providing multiple opportunities for coordinated input, and a united advocacy for their work.
3. Audiences can be introduced to what is new, different and challenging.

Playwrights are the true chroniclers of our times. Very few of them receive large-scale regional and New York productions; yet there are scores of excellent playwrights working in all parts of the country, with voices that are both regional and universal. There are scores more who would write plays, if there was an environment where the work and its future was supported. These writers bring us important messages about ourselves and our world, many are pushing the boundaries of dramatic structure to provide new insights into our humanity. They will not be heard in venues whose focus is consistently mainstream.

Fortunately, this creative and supportive environment does not have to be started from scratch. It exists in the dozens of hard working and artistically excellent small-medium sized theatres in every part of this country. Already we have seen, in our relatively short life, how powerful this collaborative effort can be when we bring these like-minded theatres together: how it can help playwrights and theatres, how it can change audiences, dramatic literature, and, quite possibly, the course of the American Theatre.

NNPN is more than an organization designed to advocate and market for a specific artistic discipline, more than a trade organization where self-interest (however enlightened) is the primary goal of membership (although advocacy and marketing are certainly a part of NNPN's mission). It is its focus on an external ideal -- the nurturing and continued life of new works for the stage -- and the insistence on a cooperative process amongst its members to attain that ideal which makes NNPN a place where the values of collaboration over competition and service over self-promotion predominate. NNPN's programs reflect this cooperative spirit. Members not only work with each other on projects, the programs and activities of NNPN are designed so that theatres get to know each other as friends and fellow artists.