Scranton Fringe Launches Northeast PA Playwrights Incubator With Support From In This Together Nepa

Scranton Fringe has announced, in partnership with In This Together NEPA, the launch of the Northeast PA Playwrights Incubator (2026), a new support program designed to help emerging or aspiring playwrights in Northeast Pennsylvania to hone their artistic voice and to develop a new script from early draft to a festival-ready, stylized staged reading presented as part of the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival (October 1-10, 2026).

The incubator will support four (4) Northeast PA-based playwrights through a primarily virtual development process. Each selected playwright will be paired with a mentor/director who will provide feedback, structure, and artistic guidance, and ultimately direct a staged reading during the festival. Readings will be filmed for future documentation and use.

To ensure accessibility for artists across the region, the majority of program activity will take place online, with one in-person convening weekend in Scranton: July 17-19, 2026.

"At its core, this incubator is about giving Northeast PA writers a stronger voice-and real professional development opportunities-to take a new play from early pages to a living, breathing staged reading," said Conor Kelly O'Brien, Executive Director of Scranton Fringe. "The mentorship and cohort support create a clear pathway forward, and the stipends are a fantastic resource to help playwrights carve out a bit more time to write, revise, and deepen their practice."

In This Together NEPA has stepped up to serve as the founding sponsor of this program, providing the bulk of the initial seed funding needed for the Northeast PA Playwrights Incubator. This founding support helps ensure that emerging regional playwrights have real resources, real mentorship, and a public platform-while strengthening civic imagination and community dialogue through locally rooted storytelling.

"Artists are essential when our freedoms are threatened, and artists lead the way by uniting us and taking center stage to challenge injustice. Live theater provides the heartbeat of our local communities and connects neighbors. For all these reasons, In This Together NEPA is proud to be the founding sponsor of the Northeast PA Playwrights Incubator," stated Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, Executive Director, In This Together NEPA.

What Selected Playwrights Receive

Participants in the Northeast PA Playwrights Incubator will receive:

• Stipend to support writing time and development.

• A dedicated mentor/director for artistic guidance and feedback

• A cohort-based process with clear milestones

• A stylized staged reading during the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival (Oct 1-10), filmed for documentation

• Free local housing and meals in Scranton during the July 17-19 convening weekend and festival week, as needed

Eligibility

Applicants must:

1. Reside in Northeast Pennsylvania for most of the year, defined for this program as: Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, Pike, Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming, Columbia, Montour, Lycoming, Tioga, Union, Snyder, Monroe, Carbon, Northumberland, Susquehanna, and Schuylkill counties.

2. Identify an emerging or aspiring playwright early in their playwriting career who would benefit from structured development support.

3. Propose a new script in development (outline/early draft/first draft) that can culminate in a staged reading at the 2026 festival (in some cases, the program may consider presenting the first act/half of a script).

4. Commit to attending the July 17-19 convening weekend in Scranton, and be available during the Oct 1-10 festival window for the staged reading.

How to Apply / Learn More

Applications will open February 9, 2026, and close March 31, 2026, via the Scranton Fringe website. This submission period runs in tandem with the open applications for the 2026 Scranton Fringe Festival.

For more information, visit www.scrantonfringe.org.