Concord Theatricals and the Dramatists Guild of America have relaunched their national ‘Playwrights Welcome’ program. The initiative invites participating theaters to offer unused tickets to Guild members for free. The program, developed by members of Samuel French (a Concord company), first launched in 2016 and has been on official hiatus since the start of the pandemic shutdown in March 2020.
Playwrights Welcome removes the hurdle of the cost of tickets for playwrights, composers, lyricists and librettists in order to encourage them to learn from onstage productions and grow in their craft. More than 90 theaters from around the U.S. have committed to participation in the program, including Broadway’s Roundabout Theatre Company. In the past, Roundabout has offered Playwrights Welcome tickets to shows in their Broadway and Off-Broadway spaces based on availability.
Of course, numerous other venues have signed on, including Off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company and regional houses such as the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, the Goodman in Chicago and Portland Center Stage in Oregon.
“What I especially appreciate with Playwrights Welcome is its national and local scope, inviting us to see theater in our hometowns, or across the state or across the country,” playwright Karen Zacarías said in a statement. “Staying connected to the art form and audiences is vital in our profession and free access to see what is onstage wherever I go helps inform both my craft and my resolution to make a difference in our field.”
Teresa Coleman Wash, founding artistic director of Bishop Arts Theatre Center in Texas added, “The Playwrights Welcome program is an extension of our commitment to help playwrights hone their craft. Our theater is among the first that transplants connect with when they relocate to Dallas, which provides us with an influx of continual, innovative new talent and perspectives.”
Interested playwrights need only show their digital or physical membership card at a theater’s box office to obtain available tickets. Playwrights Welcome will continue to recruit theaters and add them to their roster.
The Dramatists Guild of America is the professional trade association for playwrights, librettists, lyricists and composers working in theater. Concord Theatricals provides licensing, music and script publishing, cast recording and production services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals.
