59E59 Theater Announces Primary Stages as New Resident Company

59E59 Theaters will welcome Primary Stages as the new resident company, launching their 2020-2021 season in 59E59's Theater A in the fall.

"We are thrilled to welcome Primary Stages as our new Resident Theater Company. Beginning this September, their annual four-show season will anchor 59E59 Theater's programming directive to showcase excellence and diversity in the Off Broadway premieres we host," says 5959 Theaters' Artistic Director Val Day. "Under the leadership of Andrew Leynse, Primary Stages' artistic vision is well-matched with 59E59's programming mission. In recent years, they have successfully produced a myriad of New York premieres by playwrights whose voices and stories I know our audiences would have received enthusiastically."

Day continues, "This residency with Primary Stages is a natural extension of what 59E59 Theaters was built to do: we create an artistic home for nonprofit theater companies and provide practical, sustainable support which allows companies to reach greater creative heights and by extension, amplify the reach of their work."

"I first met Val Day when she was an agent at William Morris and she has a strong background in working with early-career artists. She has an intimate understanding of writers: who they are, what kind of work they do, and how the work needs to be supported. We're both adamant about finding ways to set our playwrights up for success and making their work shine, so when she approached me about Primary Stages returning to 59E59, I leaped at the opportunity," says Primary Stages Artistic Director Andrew Leynse.

"59E59's audiences are sharp: they have a depth of experience about the art form and want to be challenged. It's an electric environment to be producing theater in when you have a group of people who are willing to take the leap into a new piece with you," he continues. "We couldn't be more ecstatic to return home to 59E59 Theaters. Primary Stages is the definitive Off Broadway home for new American plays-even as we head back uptown (just a little bit!), we're committed to producing the vital, emerging voices that have shaped our artistic identity in recent years."

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