Literary Development Initiative

At a theatre where the word on the page is the primary focus, giving playwrights the same nurturing environment that we have always provided for our actors is essential to our mission.  In the 2004/05 Season, thanks to the generosity of David & Mary Winton Green, we launched our formalized Literary Development Initiative through which we establish a dialogue between the theatre and noted playwrights from across the United States in order to commission, develop and produce new and adapted works.  

Writers’ Theatre is proud to announce the following projects in development:

	Nationally-acclaimed playwright Brett Neveu's new play, Do The Hustle, received a developmental workshop in December 2009 and is scheduled to have its world premiere at Writers' Theatre as part of our 2010/11 season.  Brett's previous commission for Writers' Theatre, Old Glory, received its world premiere in Glencoe in February 2009.
	Nationally-lauded playwright Keith Huff's new play, The Detective's Wife, the second in a trilogy of police plays that began with A Steady Rain (which played on Broadway in 2009 to phenomenal success), will receive its world premiere at Writers' Theatre in June 2011 as a limited engagement event.  Keith brought the play to us in 2009 and over the past year and a half we have supported its development through a series of readings and workshops, featuring director Gary Griffin and actress Barbara Robertson.
	Award-winning composer Josh Schmidt, who wrote the music to 2009's A Minister's Wife, is currently working on another project for Writers' Theatre, in collaboration with New York-based director Steven Fried.  They are adapting Nikolai Gogol's The Overcoat into an original musical.  A developmental workshop of the first draft is planned for October 2010.
	Gifted young composer Alan Schmuckler, award-winning playwright/adaptor Laura Eason and talented director Jessica Redish are collaborating on a musical adaptation of Charles Mee's play, Summertime.  The piece is in the early stages of development and will likely have a developmental workshop in November 2010.
	Nationally-acclaimed writer and director Chay Yew is working on a commission that is currently untitled and in an early stage of development.
	Randall Colburn, an emerging talent whose work has been produced across the country, is under commission and working on an original play currently titled Prom Queen.
	Nationally acclaimed, Jeff Award-winning playwright and Writers’ Theatre co-founder Marilyn Campbell re-imagines Mary Shelley’s classic novel Frankenstein under the working title The Monster’s Lullaby.

 We are also proud to announce the continuing success of some of our previous projects:

A Minister's Wife will receive its New York premiere at Lincoln Center Theater in April 2011, after being developed and having its world premiere at Writers' Theatre in May 2009.  The musical, which is based on the play Candida by George Bernard Shaw, is adapted by Austin Pendleton, with lyrics by Jan Tranen and music by Josh Schmidt, the highly-acclaimed and award-winning composer of Adding Machine.  Artistic Director Michael Halberstam will be directing the New York production.

Brett Neveu's Old Glory enjoyed its Los Angeles premiere in March 2010 at The New Victory Theatre Center in Burbank, CA.  The play was commissioned by Writers' Theatre and received its world premiere here in February 2009.

Evan Smith's The Savannah Disputation enjoyed its New York premiere in early 2009 at Playwrights Horizons.  The play, which recieved its world premiere at Writers' Theatre in 2007, was also performed in 2010 at The Old Globe (San Diego, CA) and SpeakEasy Stage Company (Boston, MA).

Crime and Punishment, adapted from Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel by Writers' Theatre co-founder Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, had its world premiere in Glencoe in 2003.  Writers' Theatre then produced the play's New York premiere at 59E59 Theaters in 2007.  Since then, the play has been produced by Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Cleveland Playhouse, Arden Theatre Company (Philadelphia, PA), Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Jungle Theatre (Minneapolis, MN), Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA), and Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival.

*Playwrights interested in submitting their work to Writers’ Theatre, please click here.