PlayPenn Announces New Play Development Conference This Month

PlayPenn's newly transformed New Play Development Conference is opening on July 6th at The Drake Theatre in Philadelphia and will run throughout the month, with the last reading on Sunday, July 24th. Recognized as one of the most esteemed conferences for new play development in the country, PlayPenn has been vigilant in its efforts, under new leadership, to bring back the Conference with a completely new submission and review process.

The six finalists will now develop their plays during the Conference through in-depth workshops with directors, actors, dramaturgs, and interns. Over the course of the three-week period, two public readings of each play will be presented to the public free of charge; reservations are encouraged. There will be four additional readings at the Conference by graduating members of The Foundry.

PlayPenn's new Artistic Director Che'Rae Adams said the new PlayPenn staff, advisors, and board members have worked hard to remove all inequitable barriers that have historically prevented people from fully engaging in the process.

"A big change this year is our blind submission policy that was altered to pave a way for equity, diversity, and inclusion," said Adams. "As an organization, we value the multiplicity of voices in our community and believe the collaborative process of storytelling deepens connections and communal understanding in ways that enrich us all."

Adams said the review process matched the demographics of the playwrights with the demographics of the readers, which is unique to the sector. As PlayPenn re-introduced the organization to the region, the conference submission process was only open to writers who were born and/or raised in Philadelphia, who were educated here, or who at any time had an address within a thirty-mile radius of the city.

All readings are held at The Drake located at 302 S. Hicks Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

For questions or assistance, please contact PlayPenn's box office at boxoffice@playpenn.org or by calling (215) 242-2813 x406. Ticket information for the Conference is available at the PlayPenn website.