Collaboration Fund

In 2010, in an effort to encourage innovative, pioneering, project-based partnerships among theaters in support of playwrights and new plays, National New Play Network established its Collaboration Fund.

The Collaboration Fund supports innovative partnerships that explore the many different ways theater companies can work, both together and with playwrights, on the development of a new work. Up to $10,000 per project is awarded annually on a competitive basis to projects proposed by NNPN Core Member Theaters.

Theater-to-Theater Collaborations encourage creative partnerships between Member Theaters that pilot new, unexpected projects, stepping outside their normal budgetary confines to work together to develop new plays.

Theater-to-Playwright Collaborations encourage creative partnerships between Member Theaters and playwrights that re-interpret traditional models of new work development, such as residencies, workshops, and festivals. Prior to 2016, Theater-to-Playwright Collaborations operated under the auspices of the Playwrights-in-Residence Program, which was established by NNPN in 2007.

Current Projects

Magic Theatre
Magic Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre and Playwrights Foundation will collaborate on Making Good Trouble: Anti-Racist Trainers, a training program to empower a group of 12 local artists and theater administrators to lead the Bay Area theatre community creating in deep and lasting change toward greater equity.
San Diego Rep
San Diego Repertory Theatre, Theater Alliance, and The Black Rep in St. Louis will collaborate to support the development of Idris Goodwin and K. Quinn Marchman’s new online/interactive play, Beyond the Crossroads.
Southern Rep Theatre
The inclusion of NY-based choreographer Jarrell Hamilton, who will create a site-specific dance component, in the artistic team of the world premiere of Chemin du Bayou by Pamela Davis Noland at Southern Rep.

Past Projects & Alumni Playwrights-in-Residence

A. Zell Williams
Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre Company
Actor's Express
A workshop and concert reading of the musical *Fck7thGrade* by award-winning songwriter Jill Sobule at Actor’s Express prior to its world premiere at City Theatre Company May 9-31, 2020.
Actor's Theatre of Charlotte
The co-programmed, overlapping productions at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte and Children’s Theatre of Charlotte of two commissioned plays by Steven Dietz with a central, parallel theme and story: The Ghosts of Splinter Cove written for young audiences and The Great Beyond for adult audiences.
Amanda Jane Shank
Playwright in Residence at Unicorn Theater
Andrew Rosendorf
Playwright in Residence at Florida Stage
B Street Theatre
B Street Theatre’s inaugural full-scale, week-long New Comedies Festival, bringing in artists from across the country to develop four comedies by playwrights David Myers, Adrienne Dawes, Jacob T. Zack, and Peter Manos selected from an open submission process.
Borderlands Theater
Collaborative team travel and video design for the Rolling World Premiere of Guapa by Caridad Svich at Borderlands Theater, Miracle Theatre Group (now Milagro), and Phoenix Theatre.
Borderlands Theater
Spanish translation services and a Spanish language workshop hosted by El Círculo Teatral (Mexico City) for The Ghosts of Lote Bravo by Hilary Bettis and partner theaters in the Rolling World Premiere: Borderlands Theater, Teatro Publico de Cleveland/Cleveland Public Theatre, and Unicorn Theatre.
Borderlands Theater
Development of NNPN Annual Commission Their Dogs Came With Them by Virginia Grise, adapted from the novel by Helena Maria Viramontes, at Borderlands Theater.
Carrie Louise Nutt

Playwright in Residence at Writer’s Theatre of New Jersey (Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey)
Christina Anderson

Playwright in Residence at Magic Theatre.
City Theatre Company
The creation of two Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Advocate (EDIA) positions as part of the creative team for the world premiere of Isaac Gomez’s PerkUp PerKup at City Theatre Company.
Cleveland Public Theater
The co-creation of a new work by artists Marc David Pinate, Milta Ortiz, Isaiah Betts, Meiver De La Cruz, Chaunice Hendking, and Holly Holsinger at Cleveland Public Theatre and Borderlands Theater, exploring each theater community’s relationship to water and environment.
Cleveland Public Theatre
Development of NNPN Annual Commission Breakout Session (or Frogorse) by Nikkole Salter at Cleveland Public Theatre.
Contemporary American Theater Festival
Consultation with an illusionist and stage technicians for the Rolling World Premiere of Uncanny Valley by Thomas Gibbons at Contemporary American Theater Festival, InterAct Theatre Company, San Diego REP, and Capital Stage.
Curious Theatre Company
The development of Refuge by Andrew Rosendorf and Satya Chavez (Co-Creators) at Curious Theatre Company through a unique horizontal creative process based on artistic and cultural equity and collaboration with artists Marialuisa Burgos (Transcreator) and Lynde Rosario (Dramaturg; Denver Center Theatre Company), as well as Denver’s Latino Cultural Arts Center.
Curious Theatre Company
Sustained development efforts for the Rolling World Premiere of Collapse by Allison Moore at Curious Theatre Company, in collaboration with Kitchen Dog Theater and Aurora Theatre.
Curious Theatre Company
Development of the final play of Lindsay Joelle’s “Truck Trilogy” at Curious Theatre Company.
Dano Madden

Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre Company
Emily Dendinger
Playwright in Residence at Curious Theatre Company
Florida Studio Theatre
The NNPN Women in Playwriting Festival, a week-long workshop and a public staged reading at Florida Studio Theatre for four women playwrights: Jacqueline Goldfinger, Lia Romeo, Sarah Bierstock, and Minita Gandhi.
Florida Studio Theatre
The Florida New Play Reading Tour, a festival of staged readings of new plays by playwrights Meridith Friedman and Thomas Gibbons, traveling to Florida Studio Theatre, Florida Repertory Theatre, and Orlando Shakespeare Theater.
Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig
Playwright in Residence at Marin Theatre Company
Gabrielle Fulton

Playwright in Residence at Horizon Theatre Company
Gabrielle Reisman
Playwright in Residence at Southern Rep Theatre
InterAct Theatre Company
Cross-Pollination, a local playwright trade project between InterAct Theatre Company and R. Eric Thomas, Kitchen Dog Theater and Jonathan Norton, and Cleveland Public Theatre and Lisa Langford.
InterAct Theatre Company
InterAct Theatre Company and The VORTEX will collaborate on two virtual workshops in support of the development of Reina Hardy’s Sunny Days, which follows a fictionalized version of “Sesame Street” called “ABC City” through three points in time: 2004 Kosovo, a current day Immigrant Detention Center outside of Austin, TX, and the future envisioned just inland of a submerged Philadelphia.
JC Lee

Playwright in Residence at Marin Theatre Company
Jennifer Fawcett
Playwright in Residence at Curious Theatre Company
Joshua Harmon

Playwright in Residence at Actor’s Express
Lia Romeo
Playwright in Residence at Writer’s Theatre of New Jersey (formerly Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey)
Magic Theatre
Developmental workshops and readings of 6 plays from Mfoniso Udofia’s “The Ufot Cycle” by Magic Theatre.
Marin Theatre Company
The development of shared technical elements for the Rolling World Premiere of Lasso of Truth by Carson Kreitzer, in collaboration with Marin Theatre Company, Unicorn Theatre, and Synchronicity Theatre Company.
Martyna Majok
Playwright in Residence at New Jersey Repertory Company
Meridith Friedman
Playwright in Residence at Curious Theatre Company
Meron Langsner
Playwright in Residence at New Repertory Theatre
Milagro
The second edition of INGENIO Milagro, a play and playwright development program for Latinx playwrights Brian Otaño, Adrienne Dawes, Nelson Díaz-Marcano, and Mercedes Floresislas under the mentorship of Diana Burbano and in partnership with Northwest Theatre Workshop.
Milagro
The development at Milagro of Antigone at the Border, created in collaboration with Su Teatro and Marc David Pinate of Borderlands Theatre.
Milagro
The inaugural edition of INGENIO Milagro, a play and playwright development program for Latinx playwrights Guillermo Reyes, Monica Palacios, Marisela Treviño Orta, and Monica Sanchez, under the mentorship of Daniel Jáquez.
Milagro
The 2020 digital edition of INGENIO Milagro, a play and playwright development program for Latinx playwrights, presented in association with Teatros Unidos, an emerging and growing collective of Latinx theatre organizations that also includes: Baktun12, Borderlands Theater, Cara Mia Theatre Co., In the Margin Theatre, Teatro Alebrijes, Teatro Bravo, Teatro Luna West, Teatro Nagual, Teatro Visión, TuYo Theatre, and UrbanTheater Company. Featured playwrights include: Bernardo Cubrîa, Christin Eve Cato, Mateo Hernandez, AnaSofîa Villanueva, Matt Barbot, and Jasminne Mendez.
Milta Ortiz
Playwright in Residence at Borderlands Theater
Orlando Shakes
Shared dramaturgy and key partner travel for the Rolling World Premiere of The Exit Interview by William Missouri Downs, with partners Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Riverside Theatre, InterAct Theatre Company, Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte, and San Diego REP.
Orlando Shakes
A collaborative directorial exchange of Member Theater artistic leadership between Orlando Shakes, Florida Repertory Theatre, Florida Studio Theater, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and Gulfshore Playhouse in their 2019-20 new play festivals.
Phoenix Theatre
A workshop of Rancho Mirage by Steven Dietz at Phoenix Theatre, including representatives from the play’s Rolling World Premiere partner theaters: Olney Theatre, Curious Theatre Company, and New Repertory Theatre.
Prop Thtr
Prop Thtr and midNites cHiLd Productions, a project of Affiliated Artist Riti Sachdeva, in collaboration with other POC producing individuals and institutions, presented the POC Producers Panel and Masterclass Series, consisting of 2 Panels and 3 Masterclasses designed to feature producers of color to share experience and expertise as a point of entry to build producing capacity among theater artists of color.
Salt Lake Acting Company
Salt Lake Acting Company‘s 2018 Playwrights’ Lab (SLAC Lab) with playwrights Will Snider and Eleanor Burgess.
Salt Lake Acting Company
The expansion of Salt Lake Acting Company’s 2017 Playwrights’ Lab (SLAC Lab), convening at least 35 artists to work on the development of 4 new plays by playwrights Hilary Bettis, Kathleen Cahill, Dominic Finocchiaro, and Winter Miller over 7 days.
Samuel Brett Williams

Playwright in Residence at Writer’s Theatre of New Jersey (formerly Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey)
San Diego Repertory Theatre
The expansion of the 2019 Latinx New Play Festival at San Diego Repertory Theatre to include full residencies for its four featured playwrights: Jordan Ramirez Puckett, Eliana Pipes, David Davila, and Alexis Scheer.
Sarah Sander

Playwright in Residence at Florida Studio Theatre.
Sean Christopher Lewis
Playwright in Residence at InterAct Theatre Company
Southern Rep
The creation of the puppet element in Afterlife: A Ghost Story by Steve Yockey, for use in its Rolling World Premiere productions at Southern Rep Theatre and New Repertory Theatre.
Steve Moulds
Playwright in Residene at Curious Theatre Company.
Steve Yockey
Playwright in Residence at Marin Theatre Company.
Tom Horan
Playwright in Residence at Phoenix Theatre.
Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company
The presentation and D.C. tour (THEARC, Howard University, and Duke Ellington School of the Arts) of The Movement Theatre Company’s production of What to Send Up When It Goes Down by Aleshea Harris in the 2019-20 season at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
Writers Theatre of New Jersey
New Jersey New Plays, a week-long event featuring high-quality playwrights with New Jersey connections: Yasmine Rana at Writer’s Theatre of New Jersey (formerly Playwright’s Theatre of New Jersey), Michael McGoldrick at New Jersey Repertory Company, Deborah Brevoort at Centenary Stage, James Christy at Passage Theatre, John Wooten at Premiere Stages, Joe Papryzcki and South Camden Theatre Co., and Ben Clawson at Luna Stage.
trey anthony

Playwright in Residence at Horizon Theatre Company