​​​​​​​National New Play Network Welcomes New Core Member Theaters

National New Play Network will welcome Cara Mía Theatre (Dallas, TX), East West Players (Los Angeles, CA), St. Louis Black Rep (University City, MO), Teatro Luna West (Los Angeles, CA), Theater Alliance (Washington, D.C.), and Kenny Leon's True Colors Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA) as its newest Core Member Theaters. These companies each have a history of creating impactful theatrical experiences and deep relationships with their communities.

Core Member Theaters play a central role in the governance of National New Play Network, with all major programmatic changes as well as the addition of new Core Member Theaters or Board Members requiring a majority vote of this body. Core Member Theaters contribute more in member dues and have greater access to NNPN programs and resources, such as the opportunity to host Producers in Residence, serve as the primary partner in Collaboration Fund projects, or unlock full funding for NNPN's revolutionary Rolling World Premiere program. On their induction as a new Core Member, Teatro Luna West's Maya Malan-Gonzalez (Ensemble Member) and Alexandra Meda (co-Artistic Director) praised the building of a shared purpose "of moving artists of marginalized identities from surviving to thriving." They continued, "We strongly believe that joining NNPN as a Core Member Theater is one way we will support this new future." David Lozano, Executive Artistic Director at Cara Mía Theatre, shares these values. "Joining the NNPN family is an extraordinary opportunity for Cara Mía Theatre in Dallas, Texas to network with progressive theater companies from around the country. We're inspired to join the NNPN movement to create a new American theater."

National New Play Network is eager to leverage our resources to transform the American theater into a system of anti-racist organizations rooted in, responsive to, and in service of their communities. A key goal set forth by our FY20 - 25 Strategic Plan was a significant increase in Core Member Theaters who self-identified as Theaters of Color creating work by, for, about, and with artists and communities of color in their regions. To move toward this goal, NNPN actively recruited new Member Theaters for the first time in the organization's history, an effort led by Board Members and Membership Committee Co-Chairs Marguerite Hannah and Jenni Werner.

When looking at the list of incredible theaters of color during the recruitment process, Werner commented on how inspired the Membership Committee was, and how "together, we could build a more equitable and inclusive theatrical landscape." Co-Chair Hannah expressed enthusiasm about the new membership: "These new Members will bring energy, diversity, and greater opportunities for relationships."

Ron Himes, Founder and Producing Director of The St. Louis Black Repertory Company, expressed an appreciation for "the energy that comes from working with a community of theaters dedicated to supporting new plays and playwrights. Not just because we need to re-examine what is considered the canon, but we can create a new one, through the elevation of new voices and new work." Raymond O. Caldwell, Producing Artistic Director at Theater Alliance, agreed when speaking on their theater's own legacy of being a part of the membership, "As Associate Members, we found a home early on at NNPN. Now as Core Members, we're ecstatic to foster that same sense of community for others throughout the Network!"

"We look forward to enhancing our development of new work for the American theater with our fellow NNPN members," shares Jamil Jude, Artistic Director of True Colors Theatre Company. His vision is that "True Colors will thrive at the intersection of artistic excellence and civic engagement by providing entry into conversations pertinent to our community - locally and nationally." East West Players is "beyond honored to join the National New Play Network as a Core Member," said Snehal Desai, Artistic Director. "We're positioned at the nexus of art and social justice," Desai continued, "and as such we strive to create a space of belonging and creativity, be an incubator for new work that artists of color may not have the chance to work on elsewhere, and be a home for healing, empowerment and change through storytelling."