Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards 2025 Recipients Announced

Theatre Communications Group will present the 2025 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards to sixteen productions nationwide. The awards will allocate $783,000 toward extended rehearsal and development time for new plays premiering at TCG Member Theatres. The initiative aims to strengthen the lifespan of new plays beyond their initial productions.

Since its inception, the Edgerton Foundation New Play Program has awarded $19,670,534 to 569 productions, supporting work that has subsequently received nearly 1,600 additional productions. Forty-three supported plays have transferred to Broadway. Notable past recipients include Skeleton Crew, Next to Normal, The Vibrator Play, Time Stands Still, Hamilton, Bright Star, Oslo, Dear Evan Hansen, Prayer for the French Republic, and Primary Trust. Edgerton-supported plays have received multiple Tony and Pulitzer Prize nominations, with eight Pulitzer winners among them.

“Each year, the Edgerton Foundation’s support shines a bright light on new play development,” said LaTeshia Ellerson, TCG’s Co-Executive Director of National Engagement. “By giving playwrights, directors, and their collaborators more time to experiment and refine, these awards ensure that the transformative stories can take root and thrive beyond their premieres.”

2025 EDGERTON FOUNDATION NEW PLAY AWARD RECIPIENTS

Reconstruction at Alabama Shakespeare Festival by Robert Schenkkan
Dear Alien at Alley Theatre by Liz Duffy Adams
Fremont Ave. at Arena Stage by Reggie White
Cowboys and East Indians at Denver Center Theatre Co by Nina McConigley & Matthew Spangler
SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA at Geffen Playhouse by Beth Hyland
Ashland Avenue at Goodman Theatre by Lee Kirk
Iceboy! at Goodman Theatre by Erin Quinn Purcell & Jay Reiss
The Heart at La Jolla Playhouse by Kait Kerrigan
The Recipe at La Jolla Playhouse by Claudia Shear
Aztlan: a Journey Back to Homeland at Magic Theatre by Luis Alfaro
The Balusters at Manhattan Theatre Club by David Lindsay-Abaire
The Land of the Living at National Theatre by David Lan
My Joy is Heavy at New York Theatre Workshop by The Bengsons
The Woman Question at People’s Light by Suli Holum
Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo at Perelman Performing Arts Center by Jennifer Nettles
The Monsters: A Sibling Love Story at Two River Theater by Ngozi Anyanwu

“National Theatre in America is extremely grateful to the Edgerton Foundation for selecting The Land of the Living as a recipient of their New Play Awards,” said Kirsten Hughes, Executive Director of National Theatre in America. “This support was so important in giving the creative team the time and freedom they needed to fully realize their collective vision and stage this powerful story.”

Rob Melrose, Artistic Director of Alley Theatre, added: “I’m so grateful to the Edgerton Foundation for their support of Liz Duffy Adams’s play Dear Alien. Getting an additional week of rehearsal on a new play makes a tremendous difference. Supporting new plays is incredibly important for the health of the American theatre.”

ABOUT THE EDGERTON FOUNDATION NEW PLAYS PROGRAM

The program, directed by Brad and Louise Edgerton, began in 2006 with Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, supporting two musicals with extended rehearsal periods. It expanded nationally in 2007 and has since supported 569 plays at more than 50 theatres.

ABOUT THEATRE COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is the national organization for theatre, representing over 750 organizations and more than 3,000 individual members. TCG provides networking, research, advocacy, grantmaking, and publishing programs, including the annual TCG National Conference and the award-winning American Theatre magazine. TCG is the largest independent trade publisher of dramatic literature in North America, with 21 Pulitzer Prizes for Drama on its booklist. More information can be found at www.tcg.org.