PLAY AT HOME Announces 100th Playwright Commission; Participating Theaters Include The Kennedy Center & More

PLAY AT HOME, the new micro-commissioning initiative begun by Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, has announced their 100th playwright commission, ensuring that $50,000 has gone directly to playwrights in need in this time of crisis. The commissioned plays are available online for the public to download, read and perform at home for free at playathome.org.

In the wake of theatre closures across the country in March, Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf, The Public Theater, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Woolly Mammoth are working to support artists, connect people to theatre and through theatre, and to ignite imagination and joy in these uncertain times with PLAY AT HOME. In past weeks, a todo dar, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Encore! Theater Group, The Fornés Institute, Indiana Repertory Theatre, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, New York Rep, Northlight Theatre, The Old Globe, Plan-B Theatre, The Playwrights Realm, Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Relative Theatrics, The Sol Project, State Theatre New Jersey, Two River Theater, Yangzte Repertory Theatre and 16th Street Theater have joined the initiative.

Each theatre has commissioned playwrights to write ten-minute plays under the assumption that these will be read alone or aloud with loved ones, but never produced, allowing these playwrights to dream big and write joyful plays that may contain elements that could not be reproduced for the stage. Each play is ten minutes or less.

Newly commissioned playwrights include:

A todo dar has commissioned Sharon Bridgforth (River See).

Berkeley Repertory Theatre has commissioned Julia Cho (Durango), Min Kahng (The Four Immigrants) and Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (Fall Springs).

Encore! Theatre Group has commissioned producer Alexa Seda.

The Fornés Institute has commissioned Caridad Svich (Luna Park).

Indiana Repertory Theatre has commissioned James Still (The House That Jack Built).

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has commissioned Laurie Brooks (The Lost Ones), Jose Casas (la rosa still grows beyond the wall), Gloria Bond Clunie (North Star), Idris Goodwin (How We Got On), Paige Hernandez (Havana Hop), Finegan Kruckemeyer (The Boy at the Edge of Everything), Timothy Allen McDonald (Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka) & Rob Rokicki (The Lightning Thief), Brian Quijada (Where Did We Sit on the Bus?), Alvaro Saar Rios (On the Wings of a Mariposa) and Suzan Zeder (When She Had Wings) & Jenn Hartmann Luck (The Battlefields of Clara Bartin) & 8 year old poet, Helen Pursley.

Lyric Stage Company of Boston has commissioned Sam Hamashima (American Spies and Other Homegrown Fables).

New York Rep has commissioned Melissa Yi and Kit Yan (Interstate).

Northlight Theatre has commissioned Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly) and Isaac Gomez (La Ruta).

The Old Globe has commissioned Ngozi Anyanwu (The Homecoming Queen); Barry Edelstein (The Old Globe's Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director, director, and author); Nathan Englander (What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank); Selina Fillinger (Faceless); Jose Cruz González (Under a Baseball Sky); Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen (Ebenezer Scrooge's BIG San Diego Christmas Show); Jiréh Holder (Too Heavy for Your Pocket), Melinda Lopez (Back the Night), Tony Meneses (El Borracho); Heather Raffo (Noura); Mike Sears (When It Comes); Gill Sotu (Ordinary Magic); Whitney White (Macbeth in Stride); and Anna Ziegler (The Wanderers).

Plan-B Theatre has commissioned first-time playwright Tatiana Christian, Olivia Custodio (Driver's License, Please) Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin (To Billie and Ella with Love), Tito Livas (Hallmark's 12 Gifts of Christmas), Brandan Ngo (Where Are You From?), Iris Salazar (American Pride) and Darryl Stamp (Roar).

The Playwrights Realm has commissioned Chad Beckim (Nothing Gold Can Stay), Sam Chanse (Trigger), Sarah Gancher (Hundred Days), Asiimwe Deborah Kawe (Forgotten World), Jonathan Payne (Opal Root), Christopher Wall (At Sea) and Stefanie Zadravec (Tiny Houses).

Portland Center Stage at The Armory has commissioned E.M. Lewis (Song of Extinction), Josie Seid (Petite Dames), Anya Pearson (Made to Dance in Burning Buildings), and Sara Jean Accuardi (The Delays).

Relative Theatrics has commissioned Dale Dunn (The Big Heartless).

The Sol Project has commissioned Virginia Grise (blu), Candido Tirado (Fish Men), and juliany taveras (SYZYGY, OR THE CEASING OF THE SUN).

State Theatre New Jersey has commissioned Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety), Nancy Garcia Loza (Tocaya), Madeline Sayet (Where We Belong) and Keli Goff ("Black Lightning").

Two River Theater has commissioned Eleanor Burgess (The Niceties), Emily Feldman (The Best We Could (a family tragedy)), Jessica Huang (The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin), Eliana Pipes (DREAM HOU$E) and Emily Zemba (Deer and the Lovers).

Yangtze Repertory Theatre has commissioned Yilong Liu (The Book of Mountains and Seas), Zhu Yi (You Never Touched the Dirt) and Marcus Yi (The Procedure).

16th Street Theater has commissioned Juan Muñoz (Contact Heist).

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has commissioned one additional playwright, Jiehae Park (peerless).

They join previously commissioned playwrights Jaclyn Backhaus, Hilary Bettis, Guadalís Del Carmen, Jordan E. Cooper, Daniella De Jesús, Ty Defoe, Noah Diaz, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi, Ricardo Pérez González, Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Tre'von Griffith, Ryan J. Haddad, Miranda Rose Hall, Aleshea Harris, Michael R. Jackson, Daniel Alexander Jones, Hansol Jung, MJ Kaufman, Mike Lew, Ethan Lipton, Patricia Ione Lloyd, Mona Mansour, Diana Oh, Ashley Lauren Rogers, Steph Del Rosso, Keenan Scott II, Lloyd Suh, Regina Taylor, Lauren Yee and Karen Zacarías.

Have you performed a PLAY AT HOME play with your family at home or via videoconference? PLAY AT HOME wants to see your performances! Upload your performance to YouTube and tag #PlayatHomePlays for a chance to be featured on the PLAY AT HOME website and by our partner theatres.

If you are interested in joining the PLAY AT HOME initiative, please visit playathome.org/play-with-us.