“The National New Play Network is so vital and necessary - one of those really bright ideas - that one wonders why it took so long for theaters to get together and create it.”

-Yussef El Guindi, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes

“NNPN really acts as a new play grapevine. Because member theaters are in regular contact, they get to know each theater's mission and tastes and a recommendation from one member to another is much more meaningful. Those relationships have helped my work find a home. ”

-Allison Moore, Hazard County, Collapse

“The Smith Prize was a great shot in the arm for me. It served as a valuable affirmation from my peers that my work is both of a high quality and exploring important issues. ”

-Seth Rozin, 2007 Smith Prizewinner, Black Gold

“[CLNPF] secures for the playwright not simply a 'product' (the premiere) – but a process (the ongoing series of productions)... The model – giving several theatres a crack at a new work, giving a writer several chances at their revisions – is a godsend."

-Steven Dietz, Yankee Tavern

“[NNPN’s] professional network is as vital (and unique) as the artistic support -- I've not found any other group that offers both.”

-Eric Coble, For Better

“I can't say enough about the impact the Continued Life Program had on my play. That elusive and desirable thing called 'buzz' that consecutive productions can create… very much became the case for Love Person. Three productions grew to six thanks to NNPN.”

-Aditi Brennan Kapil

“In an industry as competitive, as unstable, and as personal as theater, the acknowledgment from a national body of professional theaters that the Emerging Playwright Residency gives a young writer is invaluable.”

-Jennifer Fawcett, Playwright-in-Residence 2009

"The generosity and vitality of this unique and much needed organization ultimately benefits playwrights, theatres, audiences and the culture."

-David Rambo, The Ice Breaker

“NNPN not only lives up to its mission of championing ‘the development, production, and continued life of new plays,’ but also champions the authors of those new plays in the long journey from page to stage.”

-John Biguenet, Rising Water, Shotgun

“I was and remain deeply honored and encouraged by the Smith Prize… I love that the prize is awarded to a script and not a production… I love that NNPN is working against premiere-itis.”

-Y York, 2008 Smith Prizewinner, ...And LA is Burning

NNPN Announces 33rd Rolling World Premiere: MANNING UP by Sean Christopher Lewis

WASHINGTON, DC - The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country’s alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, announces its 33^rd Rolling World Premiere: Sean Christopher Lewis’ Manning Up will receive three productions through the Network’s Continued Life of New Plays Fund in the 2012/13 season, the Network’s 15th. Manning Up will begin its Rolling World Premiere at Riverside Theatre (Iowa City, IA, October 12 – 28, 2012), followed by performances at Salt Lake Acting Company (Salt Lake City, UT, November 7 – December 9, 2012) and Actors’ Summit (Akron, OH, May 16 – June 2, 2013). Lewis – a former NNPN Playwright-in-Residence – kicks off the festivities by directing the Riverside production.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Somewhere in a man cave in middle America, two soon-to-be dads wrestle with hopes, fears and each other as fatherhood creeps ever closer. Lewis’ warm-hearted comedy introduces us to long-time friends Donnie and Raymond, trying to balance competing needs as 21^st century husbands, dads, friends, and men.

ABOUT SEAN CHRISTOPHER LEWIS

Sean Christopher Lewis is the Artistic Director of Working Group Theatre. He is a contributor to NPR'S This American Life and his plays have been awarded the National New Play Network Annual Commission, the Kennedy Center's Rosa Parks Award, the National New Play Network Smith Prize, NEA Voices of Community Award, the William Inge Fellowship, a National Performance Network Creation Fun Grant, a Barrymore Award, two Central Ohio Critic Circle Citations and a National New Play Network Emerging Playwright Residency. His plays and solo pieces include KILLADELPHIA (Available Light Theatre, Baltimore CENTERSTAGE, Drilling Company NYC, Gerald W. Lynch Theatre, InterAct Theatre, Hartbeat Ensemble, Touchstone Theatre, Riverside Theatre, Legion Arts, Empty Boat Theatre, Adirondack Theatre Festival and more); JUST KIDS (Pontine Theatre, Sandglass Theatre, Working Group Theatre); I WILL MAKE YOU ORPHANS (Galapagos Art Space, Riverside Theatre, Uno Festival of Solo Performance, Hyde Park Theatre); MILITANT LANGUAGE (Know Theatre; Halcyon Theatre); THE APERTURE (Cleveland Public Theatre) and MAYBERRY (Hancher Auditorium; Bucksbaum Performing Arts Center and Iowa Arts Center).

ABOUT THE CONTINUED LIFE OF NEW PLAYS FUND
NNPN's flagship program, the Continued Life of New Plays Fund supports three or more theaters which choose to mount the same new play within a twelve-month period. The result is a Rolling World Premiere through which the playwright develops a new work with multiple creative teams, for multiple communities of patrons, ensuring the resulting play is of the highest possible quality. And with a minimum of three productions in a single year, the play attains the momentum it needs to join the repertoire of frequently-produced new American works. NNPN provides grants of $7,000 to the first three participating theaters in each Rolling World Premiere; to date, NNPN has championed the continued life of 33 new plays in over 100 productions, with over a quarter-million dollars in grants.

ABOUT RIVERSIDE THEATRE

Now in its 32nd season, Iowa City’s Riverside Theatre is one of only three professional, Equity affiliated theatre companies in Iowa. Its year-round programming includes an indoor season of mostly contemporary works, an outdoor summer season of classic works, and education and outreach programs for all ages. A proud Core Member of NNPN since 2011, the theatre’s long-time commitment to developing new work has resulted in over 20 premieres of original scripts.

ABOUT SALT LAKE ACTING COMPANY

Founded in 1970 to present innovative and thought provoking plays for Utah audiences and to nurture a community of local professional theatre artists, SLAC is committed to presenting a year round season of regional and world premieres as well as commissioning, developing and producing the work of emerging playwrights. SLAC has been a Core Member of NNPN since 2002.

ABOUT ACTORS’ SUMMIT

Actors’ Summit was established in 1999 by Neil Thackaberry and MaryJo Alexander as a professional theater committed to providing an artistic home for Ohio theater artists. It has produced 110 full length plays including the English language world premiere of a recently discovered short play by Chekhov, two commissioned translations of classics (Oedipus Rex & Tartuffe) and eight world premieres. Located in the heart of downtown Akron in a century old building it serves a diverse population.