New Play Workshop

The New Play Workshop (NPW) series introduces Chautauqua audiences to important new voices in the theater and to the staged reading as a thrilling theatrical event in its own right. Over the last eight years, our NPW series has gained incredible momentum and developed into something truly unique.

As 2011 writer Michael Mitnick described it, the NPW is “ a guerrilla process involving top actors, designers, and directors for an audience that truly welcomes new theatre. CTC is not another music stand stop for plays in development – it's a genuine opportunity to see the play come to life in front of a paying audience.”

Past seasons have hosted new work by Zayd Dohrn, Kate Fodor, Rinne Groff, Molly Smith Metzler, Alex Lewin, Michael Mitnick, David Schulner, David Zellnik, and Anna Ziegler, among others. We are proud to report that currently two of our past NPW’s are receiving off-Broadway productions at MTC (Metzler’s Close Up Space) and Primary Stages (Fodor’s Rx).

NPW Submissions

Chautauqua Theater Company is no longer accepting submissions for the 2012 season. If you have submitted, programming decisions will be made by March 31, 2012.

Writers on NPW

“Coming to Chautauqua was a chance to work on my play with a group of truly world-class artists but without any of the usual stresses and pressures. The audiences were intelligent and receptive and the setting was an inspiration. I am going to hurry up and write another play so they’ll let me come back.”

- Kate Fodor, Rx (NPW ’09) &100 Saints You Should Know (NPW ’06)

(Kate is also the recipient of Chautauqua’s first play commission, granted in 2011)

"At Chautauqua Theater Company, I was fortunate enough to find one of the only places in the country willing to do politically-engaged, potentially controversial work…I was impressed as well by the audiences: …there was always respect and a free exchange of ideas…. CTC was an amazing experience for me as a playwright."

- David Zellnik, Ariel Sharon… (NPW ’05)

“My reading at CTC was more of a production than some productions I've had… the reading really let me see what lived inside of my play instead of having to imagine it and revise based on that imagined product. I can't say enough…about my Chautauqua experience.”

- Anna Ziegler, Variations on a Theme (NPW ’08) & An Incident (NPW ‘10)

“I had plenty of time to spend with the director and the cast working through beats, finding the purpose of a scene, or getting a joke right—good old nuts-and-bolts dramaturgy. My week at Chautauqua was a productive and encouraging one. A lot of talented people worked very hard to give me the space in which I could learn more about my play.”

- Alex Lewin, The Further Adventures of Suzanne and Monica (NPW ’09)

For much more about the Chautauqua Institution visit: ciweb.org