| Type | Non-Profit |
|---|---|
| Industry | Theatre |
| Founded | 1971 |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Employees | 15 (2009) |
| Website | pwcenter.org |
The Playwrights' Center is a theater organization established in 1971 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with the aim of furthering the careers of both new and established individuals in the field. Five playwrights formed the organization in the hopes of providing/obtaining support for new play development. The work of playwrights associated with the organization has won every major award in the field, including two Pulitzers and a Tony. The work of the Center is directed by a Board of Directors made up of eighteen members. Day-to-day operations are run by Dr. Polly Carl (who became Producing Artistic Director in 2002), and Dr. Craig Harris (who became Managing Director in 2007).
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The Producing Artistic Director of the Playwrights’ Center, Dr. Polly Carl, will be joining the staff of the Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre in September 2009.[1][2][3] The PWC has retained Connecticut-based Management Consultants for the Arts, Inc. to assist the Board of Directors in a national search for a replacement.
The PWC has recently begun producing video “trailers” of new plays.[4][5] The trailers are available primarily on the Center’s web site. The project is funded by the new “TCG/Met Life Aha! ‘Think It / Do It’”[6] grant program, and a recent $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Part of the project was the installation of a lighting upgrade, microphones, digital mixing equipment and software, increased server speed and space.
The Playwrights’ Center launched a new website in September 2008. For the first time, the website utilizes flash multimedia and increased capacity for video quality. It includes news and information about the organization and its work, as well as a private area for current members. The members-only area includes advice, job posting boards, and opportunities for playwrights to share their work directly with each other.[7]
The Playwrights’ Center’s Mission Statement is: “The Playwrights’ Center champions playwrights and plays to build upon a living theater that demands new and innovative works.”
The Ruth Easton Lab brings the Playwrights’ Center’s Core Writers and playwriting fellows to Minneapolis for 10- to 20-hour play development workshops with professional actors and prominent directors, dramaturgs, and designers from across the country. At the playwright’s discretion, the workshop may or may not culminate in a public reading. The PWC develops about 50 plays in the Ruth Easton Lab each year. Lab writers are also promoted through the Center’s website and are provided opportunities by transporting literary managers (and other representatives of prominent organizations) to Minneapolis to see their new work.
The Playwrights’ Center’s Core Writers are a group of 25-30 leading playwrights from across the country. Approximately 7 playwrights per year are given “Core Writer” status. Core writers are then given three years of access to the PWC’s Ruth Easton Lab.
Five student playwrights are selected each year to be “Core Apprentices”. These writers come from partnerships with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, GA, in addition to applications from New Plays on Campus schools. Each Core Apprentice receives a fully funded workshop that includes travel, housing and pay for actors, directors, dramaturgs and designers. Student writers are paired with a Core Writer as a mentor for the full year of their apprenticeship.
The Playwrights’ Center offers year-long fellowships funded by the Jerome and McKnight foundations. More than $200,000 in annual support is provided to playwrights and actors through the Playwrights’ Center.
Playwright Fellowships: PWC awards $10,000 Jerome fellowships to five emerging American playwrights per year.
Many Voices Fellowships: PWC awards (2)-$1250 ‘Beginning’ Playwright fellowships and (3)-$4500 ‘Emerging’ fellowships for writers of color. The Many Voices program also includes a structured curriculum of playwriting instruction and dramaturgical support.
Theater Artist Fellowships: Three professional artists whose skill and talent contribute to theatrical productions are awarded $25,000 grants to significantly advance recipients’ art and careers.
National Residency and Commission: One playwright selected annually from a national pool to develop a new work. S/he receives A $12,500 commission, housing during the agreed upon residency, and $5,000 to a director of the playwrights’ choice to participate in both the development and production of the play.
The McKnight Advancement Grants recognize two Minnesota-based playwrights whose work demonstrates exceptional artistic merit and potential. Two grants of $25,000 each are awarded each year. The grants are intended to advance recipients' art and careers, and additional funds of $2,000 can be used to support a wide variety of expenses, including but not limited to artistic costs of residency at a theater or arts organization, travel, study, production, or presentation.
Private membership to the organization is offered at $50 per year, per person. Membership gives individuals access to services such as: (private or public) roundtable readings, one-on-one dramaturgy consultations, and access to a members-only website. Membership is nationwide—the majority of members reside in states other than Minnesota.
Institutional membership is $275 for an educational institution to have regular access to new plays, plus the aforementioned benefits of private membership.
The Playwrights' Center offers various classes taught by theatre professionals. Playwrights' Center members receive discounts on tuition.
The Playwrights’ Center’s company in residence, who produce fully staged works at the Playwright Center’s Waring Jones Theatre. Workhaus is an independent collaboration of PWC writers, and is not managed by the Playwrights’ Center.
The U.S.-Japan Contemporary Plays and Playwrights Exchange Project (defunct)
An international project organized by the Playwrights' Center and the U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network, Inc., in association with the Saison Foundation, with funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Saison Foundation, and the Japan Foundation through the Performing Arts JAPAN program. The purpose is to annually exchange a new play between Japan and America by providing a space in which a new play can be workshopped and read, in addition to its playwright being transported and housed. As of 2009, the exchange/translation part of this project is over, but work is in progress to develop a book bringing together the plays that were translated in previous seasons.
(on hiatus[12]) PlayLabs was an annual showcase of new plays that used to occur during a two-week span in July. As of 2009, it is currently being substituted by a regular (September-May) season in the Waring Jones theater, which is designed to better showcase the new play development occurring year-round.
The Playwrights’ Center is housed in a Victorian era church on the corner of 23rd and Franklin in Minneapolis, MN. In 2001, they concluded a $1.1 million construction project. Included in the restoration was the Waring Jones theater, which seats 120.[13] The Playwrights' Center ’s annual budget is approximately $1.4 million, and receive financial support from: the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation[14][15], McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Ruth Easton Fund of the Edelstein Family Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Bush Foundation. The Playwrights’ Center has a staff of ten full-time, and five part-time employees. The work of Center playwrights are supported by a Board of Directors consisting of eighteen members, and a national Advisory Board of theater professionals.
These prominent artists are, or have been, affiliated with the Playwrights’ Center.[16]