Plays Developed at PlayPenn | PlayPenn

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Over 160Plays Developed.

PlayPenn supports new plays from infancy to a state closer to production-readiness.

Plays and writers supported by PlayPenn have gone on to more than 600 professional productions across Broadway, Off-Broadway, LORT, domestic, and international stages.

Their work has been seen at the Atlantic Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Azuka Theatre, Denver Center, La Jolla Playhouse, Lincoln Center, National English Theatre Berlin, The National Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre, Second Stage, South Coast Rep, and Actors Theatre of Louisville and many more.

PlayPenn writers and plays have received notable nominations, awards, publication, and recognition, including the Pulitzer Prize, Tony, BAFTA, Drama Desk, Obie, MacArthur Fellowship “Genius” Grant, Guggenheim Fellowships, the Lilly Award for Playwriting, the Pew Fellowship, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and multiple Barrymore Awards for Best New Play.

This Feature is Under Construction

This page is currently under construction as we continue adding information about the many plays and creative teams PlayPenn has supported over 20 years. We appreciate your patience and look forward to sharing the full experience soon.

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2025

Ama. Egg. Oyá.

by Lori Felipe-Barkin

Ama. Egg. Oyá. follows Ama, a determined woman in Hialeah, Florida, on her relentless journey to motherhood. Weaving together Santería, the pulse of modern-day Miami, and the rich rhythms of Cuban culture, this powerful story explores infertility, faith, and the deep longing for creation.

2025

Field of Flowers

by Bee Kanofsky

An artist, two friends, and a dream. In Arles, France, Vincent van Gogh seeks connection through his art, while Paul Gauguin hopes a creative revival will lead him to Tahiti. When Vincent’s brother Theo brings them together, sparks fly, forging a new connection as their art is tested and possibly shattered.

2025

Hand Foot Hand

by L M Feldman

An intimate and raw portrait of three aging aerialists navigating love, loss, and the uncertainty of mid-career artistry when their bodies and futures are no longer defined by their past feats.

2025

Harlem Canary/Tokyo Crow

by Andrew Saito

A satirical comedy about WWII’s “Negro Propaganda Operations,” in which captured African American POWs were forced to record radio plays contrasting Japan’s supposed racial freedoms with the brutal realities of racism in the U.S.

2025

I'll Eat You Whole

by Chaz T. Martin

Bestselling author Caro X. Wilson returns to her alma mater to discuss her hit debut novel—only to face the woman who inspired it, furious and uninvited. As tensions rise in Caro’s hotel room, the two confront the past they share and the reckoning it demands.

2025

Talking to Og

by Zahra Patterson

A political farce about activists fighting to shut down an anti-empathy factory.

2025

The Company

by Lex Thammavong

In City X, a biotech giant threatens to consume homes, businesses, and lives. When it targets the last indie bookstore, activist Ash must rally their neighbors to fight back before it’s too late.

2024

Celebrity Dream Date

by Keenya Jackson

Meet Leva and Sky Parker, the creators of a fresh, new take on the dating scene. Inspired after reading about their aunt’s journal about a steamy, love affair with an old Hollywood actor (which had to be made up, right?) Leva and Sky navigate between AI generated dates and real dates and learn that dating for single black females is not for the faint at heart. What does real love look like? And can black women achieve it?

2024

Junk Redemption

by eppchez yo-sí yes

Lorna, a curator from the city who specializes in showing self-taught/outsider artists is chasing the lead of an anonymous public sculpture in the hope of finding her next artist to champion.

2024

Spitting Image: A Brown Girl’s Story About Her Black Friend

by Nimisha Ladva

Adjunct Professor Nalini is a finalist for her dream teaching job when she is called in by the Provost and learns that a student has filed a complaint against her for teaching a classic text of the Harlem Renaissance that features a violent lynching.

2024

Trans World

by Ty Defoe

When transgender folks are chosen to temporarily live in a house to be filmed non-stop for a new reality TV show, the lines between reality and pretend become jagged and blurred.

2023

"I" is for Invisible

by DeLanna Studi

I is for Invisible is a play about the missing and murdered Indigenous women epidemic and one family’s journey searching for a missing loved one while navigating a system that is disinterested in justice for people like them.

2023

An Army of Lovers

by R. Eric Thomas

An aging queer activist is invited to the sleek, enclosed campus of a global communications company to give a speech for their first Pride celebration

2023

Death Came By My Doorstep

by Devin Randall

In a modest home, a small family holds on as their bonds begin to quietly fray.

2023

Our Hopeful Anxious Hearts

by Griffin Horn

Deb and Pen return to settle their mother’s estate after her death, only to find out that an old family friend, Es, and their mother were lovers.

2023

Publik Private

by eppchez yo-sí yes

Some private things have to be made public if we want to live—in the way that our bodies become public when we go outside, where we will be perceived.

2023

Reunion

by Robynne M Graffam

Beth returns home for her twenty-fifth high school reunion, bracing herself to finally face the man who stood her up for her senior prom.

2023

The Duat

by Roger Q. Mason

Taking its title from the mythical Egyptian afterlife, The Duat is a psychological portrait of Cornelius Johnson, a FBI counterintelligence officer, in a battle for his very soul.

2023

Unprecedented

by Megan Schumacher

A Black woman, who with the help of her anthropomorphized conscience, tries to understand her own choices and why she responded to a discriminatory situation in the way that she did.

2022

Above the Fold

by Julie Zaffarano

Above the Fold is set during the 1935 grand jury investigation of the death of rising musical theater star Evelyn Hoey in Glenmoore Pennsylvania.

2022

All the Emilies in All the Universes

by Ian August

Ian August’s world bending drama takes us on a journey with Emilie and Jeff, a couple struggling with the devastating loss of their stillborn child. Emilie exists in four distinct parallel timelines. But when an unexpected bend in the space / time continuum brings these four grieving Emilies together, they realize that infinite possible realities means that somewhere, “somewhen”, their lost son was born alive.

2022

Fat Muslim Girls

by Ken Kaissar

Risqué photographs of female college students are found in the desk of Edgar, a college professor, at fictional McCabe University.

2022

Gente Del Sol

by Santiago Tonauac Castro

This new play by Santiago Tonauac Castro uses magical realism to explore the intricacies of personal identity, sexuality, and transracial relationships.

2022

Goddess at the Lucky Lady Motel

by Nimisha Ladva

After a death in the family, Mummy-ji, a first generation South Asian immigrant, and her son, Ravi, clash over almost everything.

2022

Moss & Kay's Fabulous Adventure...

by Geo Decas O'Donnell

Moss & Kay meet in the audience of a play. Kay is there to support a friend, and Moss is there because their ex wrote it — about them.

2022

Pase Lo Que Pase

by Carl(os) Roa

Fátima lives in Tegucigalpa, where she must fight for her life every single day. Guillermo lives in Bogotá, where he is told repeatedly that he does not belong.

2022

The Pigeon

by Brie Knight

Nina, Constantine, Irina, and Trigorin may all be familiar characters to you. They live eternally dissatisfied with their lives.

2022

Vintage Illustrations of the Devil

by Kevin Esmond

A spooky collection of five frightening tales, all told from the gift shop/waiting area of a Cracker Barrel restaurant…..during a storm!!!

2022

Whisper of My Sister

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

2022 McNally Award winner Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters explores the impact of inherited trauma within immigrant families.

2021

Desert Stories for Lost Girls

by Lily Rushing

Haunted by nightmares of an evil Knight, 18-year-old Carrie is thrown into a world of memory, danger, and mysticism as she seeks to uncover her grandmother, Rosa’s, past.

2021

Feathers

by J R Mathews

Feathers is a look at the struggle and strife of two religious’ ideologies when they come in conflict with the life of one man and his two families.

2020

Badlands

by Nora Leahy

2020

Covenant

by York Walker

2020

Flor Underwater

by Lori Felipe-Barkin

In Florida the water is rising, the climate is changing, and Flor and her children are looking to get theirs before it all goes to shit.

2020

I LIVE YOU [AUTOCORRECT]

by Douglas Williams

2020

Impact

by Ray Yamanouchi

2020

My Mother the Sun

by massi monfiletto

2020

Take My Hand And Wave Goodbye

by Tammy Ryan

2020

This Much I Know

by Jonathan Spector

2020

When We Fall

by Emma Gibson

2020

how it feels to fall from the sky

by Dominic Finocchiaro

2019

Archipelago

by Amy Witting

2019

Buffalo Bill or How To Be A Good Man

by Meghan Kennedy

2019

Cave Canem

by A. Emmanuel Leadon

2019

Esther Choi and the Fish that Drowned

by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters

2019

Homeridae

by A.Z. Espinoza

2019

How a Boy Falls

by Steven Dietz

2019

Incendiary

by Dave Harris

2019

Strange Men

by Will Snider

2019

The Haunted Life

by Sean Daniels

2019

The Piper

by Kate Hamill

2019

Wayfinding

by Whitney Rowland

2018

Bruise & Thorn

by C. Julian Jimenez

2018

Dimenticar

by Mattie Hawkinson

2018

Down in the Holler

by Val Dunn

2018

Honor Flight

by Willy Holtzman

2018

Joan

by Stephen Belber

2018

Kids Drop (Off)

by Dominic Anthony Taylor

2018

Ripe Frenzy

by Jennifer Barclay

2018

Shaped Man Fights Crime

by Alex Dremann

The artists in the hipster neighborhood of LOLA are losing their post-gentrification turf war to a corporation called The Farm and Magda’s artisan bakery is on the verge of going under.

2018

TJ Loves Sally 4 Ever

by James Ijames

Imagine if Thomas Jefferson was a University Dean and Sally Hemings was his work-study student.

2018

Tha Chink-Mart

by Ray Yamanouchi

2018

The Garbologists

by Lindsay Joelle

2018

You, The Fire, and Me

by Sevan K. Greene

2017

Bobby James

by Anne Marie Cammarato

2017

Bottle Fly

by Jacqueline Goldfinger

2017

Galilee

by Christine Evans

2017

Hard Cell

by Brent Askari

2017

House of the Negro Insane

by Terence Anthony

2017

Pancake Queen

by Brie Knight

2017

Replica

by Mickey Fisher

2017

Thirst

by C.A. Johnson

2017

Welcome to Fear City

by Kara Lee Corthron

2017

With

by Carter W. Lewis

2017

penny candy

by Jonathan James Norton

2016

Another Kind of Silence

by L M Feldman

Perilous & luminous in equal measure, ANOTHER KIND OF SILENCE tells the story of Evan & Chap – 2 already-partnered queer women who cross paths in modern-day Greece and find themselves falling in love.

2016

Flat Sam

by Antoinette Nwandu

2016

Heartland

by Gabriel Jason Dean

2016

Heavenly Cosmic

by Meghan Kennedy

2016

Poor Edward

by Jonathan Payne

2016

Sensitive Guys

by MJ Kaufman

2016

Suicide Jockey

by Lena Barnard

2016

The Found Dog Ribbon Dance

by Dominic Finocchiaro

2015

Giantess

by Genne Murphy

2015

Human Error

by Eric Pfeffinger

2015

Oslo

by J.T. Rogers

Oslo is inspired by the amazing true story of the back-channel talks, unlikely friendships, and quiet heroics that led to the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords.

2015

Prince Max’s Trewly Awful Trip to the Desolat Interior

by Ellen Struve

2015

Shitheads

by Douglas Williams

2015

War Stories

by Richard Dresser

2015

White

by James Ijames

In this modern Frankenstein story, a young artist trying to get into a major contemporary art museum hires a woman to claim his work. This plays spins out of control as it explores issues of race, gender, sexuality, and art.

2015

Widower

by David J. Jacobi

2015

r/LYPSE: a subreddit of our dark lips and heart

by Brian Grace-Duff

2014

A Scar

by Anne Marie Cammarato

2014

Behind the Motel

by Emily Schwend

2014

Cattle Barn, Hoochie Coo

by Davey Strattan White

2014

Honor Flight

by Willy Holtzman

2014

Moon Cave

by Douglas Williams

2014

Mr. Wheeler’s

by Rob Zellers

2014

The Dizzy Little Dance of Russell DiFinaldi

by Stephen Belber

2014

The House That Jack Built

by Suzanne Bradbeer

2014

Wild Blue

by Jen Silverman

2013

Cockfight

by Peter Gil-Sheridan

2013

Informed Consent

by Deborah Zoe Laufer

2013

No Such Thing

by Lisa Dillman

2013

Profiles

by Joe Waechter

2013

Terminus

by Gabriel Jason Dean

2013

The First Mrs. Rochester

by Willy Holtzman

2013

The Most Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington

by James Ijames

The recently-widowed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and cared for by the very slaves that are free the moment she dies. The fever dream of terrifying theatricality that follows investigates everything from Martha Washington’s family to her historical legacy.

2013

Uncanny Valley

by Thomas Gibbons

2012

A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World

by Liz Duffy Adams

2012

Barcelona

by Bess Wohl

2012

G.O.B.

by Willy Holtzman

2012

Household Spirits

by Mia McCullough

2012

My Tidy List of Terrors

by Jonathan James Norton

2012

Seven Spots on the Sun

by Martin Zimmerman

2012

The Three Christs of Manhattan

by Seth Rozin

2012

Too Much, Too Much, Too Many

by Meghan Kennedy

2011

American Wee-Pie

by Lisa Dillman

2011

Another Girl

by John Yearley

2011

At the Edge of a Promised Land

by Jesse Bernstein

2011

Chasing Waves

by Quinn Eli

2011

Nerine

by Brian Quirk

2011

Slip/Shot

by Jacqueline Goldfinger

2011

The Electric Baby

by Stefanie Zadravec

2011

The Hatmaker’s Wife formerly A Man, His Wife, and His Hat

by Lauren Yee

2010

Clementine in the Lower Nine

by Dan Dietz

2010

Cowboy/Indian

by Matt Ocks

2010

Etched in Skin on a Sunlit Night

by Kara Lee Corthron

2010

Hum

by Nicholas Wardigo

2010

Imagining Madoff

by Deb Margolin

2010

Love and Communication

by James J. Christy

2010

Raising Jo

by Charlotte Miller

2010

Some Other Kind of Person

by Eric R. Pfeffinger

2010

The Outgoing Tide

by Bruce Graham

2010

The Whale

by Samuel D. Hunter

On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a 600-pound recluse hides away in his apartment and slowly eats himself to death.

2009

410 Gone

by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig

2009

Appetite

by Arden Kass

2009

Blood and Gifts

by J.T. Rogers

Blood and Gifts is a sweeping, often shockingly funny epic set against one of the greatest historical events of recent history, the repercussions of which continue to shape our world.

2009

Ghost-Writer

by Michael Hollinger

2009

The Morini Strad

by Willy Holtzman

2009

The Specificity of Paradise

by John Orlock

2009

Two Jews Walk Into a War

by Seth Rozin

2009

We Three

by Mary Hamilton

2008

A Human Equation

by Peter Bonilla

2008

Another Man’s Son

by Silva Semerciyan

2008

Any Given Monday

by Bruce Graham

2008

Breadcrumbs

by Jennifer Haley

2008

Dear Brutus

by Jeffrey Hatcher

2008

House of Gold

by Gregory Moss

2008

Saving Grace (now entitled Salvation)

by James McClindon

2008

The Beef

by Katie Grey

2008

Wildflower

by Lila Rose Kaplan

2007

After Adam

by Christina Ham

2007

Bubu the Terrible

by Rick DesRochers

2007

Carlo vs. Carlo

by Aaron Cromie

2007

Militant Language

by Sean Christopher Lewis

2007

My Name is Asher Lev

by Aaron Posner

2007

The Day of the Picnic

by Russell Davis

2007

The Rant

by Andrew Case

2007

There or Here

by Jennifer Maisel

2006

A Scream

by Gina Barnett

2006

Bad for the Jews

by Peter Morris

2006

Malignancy

by Eric R. Pfeffinger

2006

Scarcity

by Lucy Thurber

2005

Act a Lady

by Jordan Harrison

2005

On Clarion

by Lydia Stryk

2005

The Overwhelming

by J.T. Rodgers

A riveting examination of the mounting tensions in 1994 Rwanda and a war that cannot be comprehended or controlled.

2005

We Are Not These Hands

by Sheila Callaghan

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