American Playwrights News

Theater for the New City will present Kind Stranger…a memory play based on Tennessee Williams' MEMOIRS, adapted for the stage and directed by Steven Simone-Friedland. Learn more!

International Literary Properties’ theatrical division (ILP) has entered into a strategic partnership with The University of the South for ILP to assume an active management role and co-stewardship of the works of Tennessee Williams. Learn more!

Portland Center Stage’s annual JAW New Play Festival is back July 25–27, 2025, at The Armory. A summer tradition for over two decades, JAW is a vibrant, community-powered celebration of new work, featuring staged readings, workshops, and performances from local musicians, dancers, and creators. All events are free and open to the public.

Philadelphia-based theater company The Wilma Theater has revealed four productions for its 2025-26 season. See the full lineup here and learn how to purchase tickets.

Well directed and skilfully delivered by a stellar cast, this is an absorbing play that will remain with you for a long time.

 Urbanite Theatre’s eleventh season will culminate in an exhilarating world premiere of FROM 145TH TO 98TH STREET this month. Learn more about the upcoming performance here!

Pork Filled Productions will present UNLEASHED 2025: NEW PLAYS FOR A NEW WORLD, a staged reading new works festival celebrating and showcasing Asian-American playwrights in five tales of wonder that span AI, psychological horror, vampires and more.

Lobby Theatre, a nonprofit organization that champions emerging and established American playwrights and highlights accomplished artists in Los Angeles, will offer a staged reading of Annie Baker's The Antipodes.

In Scena! Italian Theater Festival NY will present a reading of the 2025 Hystrio Award Translation and Adaptation Mentorship Winner Chiara Arrigoni and her play Pelle. Learn more and see how to purchase tickets.

Florida Studio Theatre has announced the lineup for its 2025 Burdick New Play Festival, featuring three staged readings of new works by contemporary American playwrights.

Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced the 2025-2026 season on Broadway and Off-Broadway, including initial casting. Stars joining the lineup include Kelli O'Hara, Rose Burn, Patrick Page, Mark Strong, Lesley Manville and more. Check out the full season details here.

Robert Cooperman may not remember her first name, but he is forever grateful to Mrs. Barlas, the Jamaica (N.Y.) High School English teacher who introduced  him to playwright Eugene O’Neill.

Acclaimed by Frank Rich as 'a writer who illuminates the deepest dramas of American life with poetry and compassion,' Lanford Wilson is one of the most esteemed contemporary American playwrights of our time. Nowhere is this more evident than in his latest play, Book of Days, which has won the Best Play Award from the American Theater Critics Association. 

Second Stage Theater’s Board of Trustees, has revealed that over the last year, nine new Trustees were appointed to the Second Stage Theater Board. Learn more about the trustees!

Texas State's School of Theatre, Dance and Film (SoTDF) invites all playwrights from across the country to submit for the 23rd celebration of new American theatre via the rebranded New American Play Festival at Texas State.

 The Senator Speaks will be presented at the American Theatre of Actors, a new play, written and directed by Michael Hagins. Learn more.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, just celebrated opening night for its searing revival of Sam Shepard’s dark and beautiful masterpiece Fool for Love, directed by Jeremy Herrin. Check out photos from inside the big night here.

FIM Flint Repertory Theatre will present the world premiere production of A Driving Beat by Jordan Ramirez Puckett at FIM Elgood Theatre. Learn more about the show here!

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is presenting Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love, directed by Jeremy Herrin, in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater. Get a first look at photos here! 

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust has revealed the names of the two outstanding early-to-mid-career playwrights who will be celebrated with 2024 Steinberg Playwright Awards in the amount of $100,000 each. Learn more!