100 Theaters Join Playwrights Welcome, the Nationwide Ticketing Initiative
Playwrights Welcome, the nationwide free ticketing initiative created by Samuel French for Dramatists Guild of America members, is thrilled to announce that over 100 theaters have joined the program. These Participating Theaters, located in 26 states, have joined Playwrights Welcome to invest in the success and artistic health of our industry writers, and by extension, the vibrancy of the American theatre.
Knowing that attending theatre is an integral part to how writers learn their craft, Playwrights Welcome was created to provide free theatre access to playwrights, composers and lyricists. The program was established in 2016 with the support of the Dramatists Guild of America, as well as all major publishing and licensing houses.
Playwrights Welcome offers available tickets to Dramatists Guild members and student members on the day of a performance, free of charge. These tickets are ones that would otherwise go unsold; Samuel French and all other publishers firmly believe that no theater should give away a ticket that could otherwise be sold.
“With Playwrights Welcome, theatre writers can do what has previously been almost impossible due to the prohibitive cost of tickets both in New York and across the country: stay current with their craft,” comments Doug Wright, president of the Dramatists Guild.
“We are grateful for the community of theatre makers who are committed to fostering the craft of playwrights, composers and lyricists, the originating artists in the theatre,” says Bruce Lazarus, Samuel French’s Executive Director. “We encourage theaters at every level to make a commitment by joining Playwrights Welcome. Samuel French looks forward to adding the next 100 in the coming year.”
With Playwrights Welcome continuing to grow, Participating Theaters have also found that the program provides a positive a way to give back to their local playwrights.
“The Alliance thoroughly enjoys welcoming Atlanta-based Dramatists Guild members to our productions, especially since we offer a group Playwrights Welcome night during the run of every show in our season,” says Celise Kalke, Alliance Theatre Director of New Projects. “The playwrights help to build word of mouth and have become a cornerstone of our audience engagement activities. We thoroughly enjoy this partnership!”
As of March 27, 2018, the Participating Theaters of Playwrights Welcome are:
Actors Collaborative Toledo (Toledo, OH)
Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, GA)
American Repertory Theater of WNY (Buffalo, NY)
American Shakespeare Center (Staunton, VA)
American Stage (St. Petersburg, FL)
Amphibian Stage (Fort Worth, TX)
Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland, OR)
Atlantic Theater (New York, NY)
Axis Theatre (New York, NY)
Barnstormers (Grants Pass, OR)
Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield, MA)
Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley, CA)
Bishop Arts Theatre Center (Dallas, TX)
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre (Boston, MA)
Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company (Boulder, CO)
Camp Death Productions (Dallas, TX)
Capital Stage Company (Sacramento, CA)
Center Stage (Baltimore, MD)
Children’s Theatre Company (Minneapolis, MN)
Cleveland Public Theatre (Cleveland, OH)
CoHo Productions (Portland, OR)
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (Colorado Springs, CO)
Community College of Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD)
Coterie Theatre (Kansas City, MO)
Dallas Theater Center (Dallas, TX)
Denver Theater Center (Denver, CO)
Dorset Theatre Festival (Dorset, VT)
The Drama Center (Greensboro, NC)
Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre (Summit, NJ)
Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.)
Forward Theater Company (Madison, WI)
FreeFall Stage (Folsom, CA)
Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles, CA)
Goodman Theatre (Chicago, IL)
Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN)
Hartford Stage (Hartford, CT)
Horizon Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA)
Huntington Theatre Company (Boston, MA)
The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (Philadelphia, PA)
The Indie on Main (Keyser, WV)
Innovocative Theatre (Tampa, FL)
Intiman Theatre (Seattle, WA)
Irish Repertory Theatre (New York, NY)
Iron Crow Theatre (Baltimore, MD)
JET (West Bloomfield, MI)
Jobsite Theater (Tampa, FL)
La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla, CA)
La Mirada Theatre (La Mirada, CA)
Lab Theater Project (Tampa, FL)
Lucky Penny Productions (Napa, CA)
Magic Theatre (San Francisco, CA)
Manatee Performing Arts Center (Bradenton, FL)
Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse (Vineyard Haven, MA)
McCarter Theatre (Princeton, NJ)
Nashville Repertory Theatre (Nashville, TN)
North Texas Performing Arts — Plano Children’s Theatre (Plano, TX)
Old Globe (San Diego, CA)
Orlando Repertory Theatre (Orlando, FL)
Palm Beach Dramaworks (West Palm Beach, FL)
Paramount (Aurora, IL)
Passage Theatre (Trenton, NJ)
The Pearl Theatre Company (New York, NY)
Playhouse on the Square (Memphis, TN)
Playwrights Local (Cleveland, OH)
Portland Center Stage (Portland, OR)
Queens Theatre (Flushing Meadows Corona, NY)
Paul Robeson Theatre at the African American Cultural Center (Buffalo, NY)
Premiere Stages at Kean University (Union, NJ)
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (New York, NY)
Renaissance Theaterworks (Milwaukee, WI)
Ritz Community Theatre (Snyder, TX)
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (Chicago, IL)
Road Less Traveled Productions (Buffalo, NY)
Roundabout Theatre (New York, NY)
San Francisco Playhouse (San Francisco, CA)
Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle, WA)
Selah Theatre Project (Front Royal, VA)
Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.)
Signature Theatre (Arlington, VA)
Spooky Action Theater (Washington, D.C.)
Stage West (Fort Worth, TX)
Stageworks Theatre (Tampa, FL)
Stephen D Hyers Theater (Greensboro, NC)
StreetSigns (Pittsboro, NC)
Rockford University Performing Arts (Rockford, IL)
Theatre Aspen (Aspen, CO)
Theatre Britain (Plano, TX)
Theatre Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Theatre Elision (Minneapolis, MN)
Theatre for a New Audience (New York, NY)
Theatre Three (Dallas, TX)
Theatre Under the Stars (Houston, TX)
Town Hall Theatre (Lafayette, CA)
Two River Theater Company (Red Bank, NJ)
Urban Stages (New York, NY)
Vineyard Theatre (New York, NY)
Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago, IL)
Village Theatre (Issaquah, WA)
The Welders (Washington, D.C.)
The Wilbury Theatre Group (Providence, RI)
Westport Playhouse (Westport, CT)
Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven, CT)
In addition to the support from the Dramatists Guild of America and Participating Theaters, The Playwrights Welcome Council includes a list of some of the theatre industry’s most celebrated artists and professionals including playwrights Kia Corthron (A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick), Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly), Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Colman Domingo (Dot), Rebecca Gilman (Boy Gets Girl), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Gloria), Christine Toy Johnson (The Secret Wisdom of Trees), Aditi Kapil (Love Person), Lisa Kron (Fun Home), Mike Lew (Bike America), David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), Dominique Morisseau (Detroit ’67), Qui Nguyen (Vietgone), Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss), Robert Schenkkan (All the Way), Madhuri Shekar (In Love and Warcraft), Octavio Solis (El Paso Blues), Doug Wright (Hands on a Hardbody, War Paint) and Lauren Yee (The Hatmaker’s Wife); composers Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime), Andrew Lippa (Wild Party, The Addams Family), Georgia Stitt (Samantha Spade: Ace Detective, Board Member, The Lilly Awards), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home); and industry leaders Ken Davenport (Davenport Theatricals), Todd Haimes (Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre), Todd London (Author, Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play), Emily Mann (Artistic Director, McCarter Theatre), Daryl Roth (Daryl Roth Productions), Tom Schumacher (Disney Theatricals), Tim Shields (President, League of Resident Theatres), and Jim Steinberg (Steinberg Foundation).
To learn more about Playwrights Welcome or to add the program to your theater, click here.
ABOUT SAMUEL FRENCH
Samuel French is the world’s leading publisher and licencor of plays and musicals. The company’s catalog features some of the most acclaimed work ever written for the stage and titles by writers at the forefront of contemporary drama. Samuel French is proud to have served as a leader in theatrical publishing and licensing for over 180 years and is committed to the future by championing for playwrights, innovating the industry, and celebrating all those who make theatre around the world.
ABOUT DRAMATISTS GUILD OF AMERICA
Since its inception in 1912, The Dramatists Guild of America has been the professional association for playwrights, librettists, lyricists and composers writing for the American stage. With over 7,000 members around the world, the Guild is guided by a governing council of writers who each give their time, interest and support to advance the rights of dramatists everywhere, including the right for dramatists to own and control their own copyrighted work. The Guild’s advocacy, programs, events, publications and other services provide dramatists with the resources, the community and the support they require to protect their property, their livelihoods, and their unique voices in the American Theater.
