Support PlayPenn

The Board and Staff of PlayPenn offer a massive "thank you" to the wonderful artists, patrons and supporters of all stripes who contributed toward making PlayPenn 2011 a shining example of what play development can be. Eighty artists worked on 8 plays over two-and-a-half weeks in what can only be described as a love-fest of communal creativity. Already, Philadelphia is all the poorer for the loss of such an amazing conglomeration of artistic energy. As we turn our attention to shaping next year's conference, the character of your collective presence will go a long way toward helping us attempt to improve on what seems to have been a perfect experience.

The application window for PlayPenn's 2012 Conference has closed. Thanks for your interest and we encourage
you to check back in late August of next year for application guidelines to our 2013 Conference.

For complete 2011 conference information click here

WHAT IS PLAYPENN?

PlayPenn is an artist-driven organization dedicated to improving the way in which new plays are developed. Employing an ever-evolving process, PlayPenn creates a relaxed tension within which playwrights can engage in risk-taking, boundary-pushing work free from the pressures of commercial consideration. PlayPenn gives time and attention to playwrights from around the nation whose work is poised for a developmental workshop environment. Each summer PlayPenn hosts a two-week conference, inviting playwrights to develop new plays in a collaborative workshop environment. In order to encourage active revision and rewriting during the period of the conference, PlayPenn provides professional actors, directors, designers and dramaturgs with space, technical and administrative resources and ample time to use them. The process culminates in a series of staged readings to be presented to members of the local, regional and national professional theatre communities and to the community at large.

PlayPenn is a new play development conference. The goal of the conference is the development of plays, through a process of collaboration, experimentation, rehearsal and rewriting rather than fully realized productions of finished works. We like to think of what we do as “development heaven”. By focusing on playwrights’ needs, PlayPenn makes the fundamental work of the theatre possible without the constraints and pressures of production, promotion and commercial concerns.