PlayPenn

GET YOUR FREE TICKETS! Join us in Philadelphia July 29 for an intimate evening with acclaimed playwright Eboni Booth, author of "Primary Trust", the Pulitzer Prize-winning play known for its quiet emotional depth and its exploration of friendship, loneliness, and hope.

Tickets: https://buytickets.at/playpenn/2244717

Originally produced at , "Primary Trust" was recently produced at as part of its 2025–2026 season and is one of the most produced plays in the country.

The play is currently making its Los Angeles premiere at , further cementing its place as one of the defining American plays of the past decade. Reserve your spot now for a thoughtful and inspiring conversation.

Mark your calendars! Whether it's your first time or your 21st, this year's New Play Development Conference has something for everyone. Check out our schedule.

Most events are FREE! Will we see you this summer?

Get your tickets at www.playpenn.org/events

Tickets are now on sale for our 19-event summer conference, running July 17 through August 2!

The 2026 New Play Development Conference brings together 22 playwrights participating across workshops, conversations, and five new work presentations (Sarah Mantell, Roger Q. Mason, Zoe Palmer and more) while expanding its scope to include an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eboni Booth (Primary Trust), free playwriting workshops for adults, teens, and women over 50, and a public conversation examining constitutional history and civic identity.

Additional programming includes a community workshop for q***r theatre makers; a convening on innovation in theatre-making with leaders from Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Cannonball Festival, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Lemonade Stand, Tiny Dynamite and more; and an acting lab focused on approaches to new play development and cross-community exchanges among theatre artists.

Eboni Booth, Roger Q. Mason, and Sarah Mantell Headline PlayPenn’s 2026 New Play Development Conference: “Democracy in Action” This year’s Philadelphia new play conference marks the nation’s 250th anniversary and features a national cohort of artists including Tyler Dobrowsky, Danilo Gambini, Taibi Magar, Amrita Ramanan, and Charlie Thurston.

We at PlayPenn would like to take this moment to celebrate and mourn the life of Dito Van Reigersberg, a consummate artist who brought immense creative gifts to the work, such joy, humor, truth and tenderness.

Dito will light our memories for many years to come.

We send our thoughts his husband, Matthew, his mother, Stephie, his family, and the many artists who have been touched and changed by the magic and power that is Dito.

Photo: Dito in rehearsal for L M Feldman’s “hand foot hand” in 2025

Credit: James Kern Photography

Calling all Philadelphia-based playwrights! Applications are now open for The Foundry! Apply at www.playpenn.org/apply

The Foundry is a free three-year playwrights’ workshop at PlayPenn for Philadelphia-based writers, guided by lead artists L M Feldman and R. Eric Thomas.

Members meet twice a month to share work, exchange feedback, and engage in meaningful artistic dialogue within a supportive and rigorous creative community.

The primary objective of the Foundry is to help emerging playwrights hone their skills through self-directed writing and revision.

After completing the initial three years, writers continue as ongoing members, remaining active participants in The Foundry community.

The Foundry has cultivated a remarkable community of playwrights and artistic leaders who began their careers in Philadelphia. Alumni include Chris Davis, Emma Goidel, Sarah Mantell, MJ Kaufman, R. Eric Thomas, Erlina Ortiz, MK Tuomanen, Iraisa Ann Reilly, Chaz T. Martin, Lex Thammavong, and Zahra Patterson along with the more than 60 playwrights who have participated in the program since 2012.

Current members of The Foundry at PlayPenn include Rayne, Siddarth Anand, Monica Flory, Natyna Bean, Lulu Duffy-Tumasz, Aly Gonzalez, August Hakvaag, Nick Jonczak, and Pravin Wilkins.

Call for Submission for New Foundry Members Calling all Philadelphia-based playwrights! Applications are now open for The Foundry! Apply at www.playpenn.org/apply

BIG NEWS FOR 2027! The Foundry at PlayPenn, Philadelphia’s preeminent playwright collective, launches its inaugural festival in 2027, spotlighting new work by the next generation of theater artists, produced in association with Philadelphia Theatre Company.

The 2027 Festival will feature readings of new work by Lulu Duffy-Tumasz, Aly Gonzalez, and August Hakvaag.

March 12–14, 2027
at The Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake

March 20 and 21
In NYC!

The Foundry at PlayPenn is a tuition-free three-year playwrights’ workshop for emerging/early career Philadelphia-based writers, guided by lead artists L M Feldman and R. Eric Thomas.

Writers meet regularly to share work, exchange feedback, and engage in meaningful artistic dialogue within a supportive and rigorous creative community.

Its alumni include Chris Davis, Emma Goidel, Sarah Mantell, MJ Kaufman, R. Eric Thomas, Erlina Ortiz, MK Tuomanen, Iraisa Ann Reilly, Chaz T. Martin, Lex Thammavong, and Zahra Patterson along with the more than 60 playwrights who have participated in the program since 2012.

Current Foundry Members include Rayne, Siddarth Anand, Natyna Bean, Lulu Duffy-Tumasz, Monica Flory, Aly Gonzalez, August Hakvaag, Nick Jonczak, Pravin Wilkins.

We’re still reeling after spending time with PlayPenn staff, our Foundry playwrights, and board members during our events spree in late March. Community matters! P.S. - We saw “Miz Martha” at Wilma Theater that night. It was everything. More events to come!! Are you on PlayPenn’s mailing list? Get on the list now!!

On Monday, March 30 Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright James Ijames returns to PlayPenn (where many of his early works were developed) for an evening centered around the invisible but essential process that shapes new work before the public ever sees it

James will be joined by Nancy Boykin and Kimberly S. Fairbanks, PlayPenn Board Members and cast members of Wilma Theater’s upcoming production of Miz Martha, in a conversation moderated by PlayPenn Artistic Director Che’Rae Adams.

PlayPenn Presents James Ijames in Philadelphia! | PlayPenn Pulitzer Prize winning writer James Ijames returns to PlayPenn for a full circle conversation alongside Nancy Boykin, Kimberly S. Fairbanks, and Che'Rae Adams. Presented in association with Arden Theatre Company, Philadelphia Theatre Company, and Wilma Theater.

What if your voice could shape the stories the world can’t stop talking about? Your voice is not a hobby. It’s the spark that moves an audience from silence to standing ovation. Are you ready to sharpen it?

Scholarships, payment plans, and reduced rates for returning PlayPenn and DGI students are available.

Announcing PlayPenn's Seven New Classes for Spring 2026 Staring February 23! PlayPenn’s Continuing Education classes are laboratories for big ideas, fearless craft, and training for artists who want more than inspiration. It is rigorous, hands on, artist-centered training that strengthens structure, character, dialogue, and dramatic tension. You’ll write. You’ll revise...