DeWanda Wise and Khris Davis in Donja R. Love’s “Fireflies” at the Atlantic Theater, which was received support from an Edgerton Foundation New Play Grant. (Photo: Ahron R. Foster)
NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for theatre and the publisher of American Theatre, today announced the recipients of the first round of the 2024-25 Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards. The awards, totaling $601,000, allow 11 productions extra time for the development and rehearsal of new plays with the entire creative team, hoping to extend the life of the world premiere play after its first run.
“With Primary Trust by Eboni Booth receiving the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the profound impact of the Edgerton Foundation on the new play sector grows even clearer,” said LaTeshia Ellerson, co-executive director: national engagement, TCG, in a statement. “That support is also more necessary than ever. As the aftershocks of the pandemic increase the difficulty of producing new work, the support of the Edgerton Foundation grants critical extended rehearsal periods so the artists can fully realize their visions. That leads to not only successful premieres, but to many subsequent productions in theatres nationwide.”
This year awards have been presented to The Janeiad by Anna Ziegler, which will have an original production at the Alley Theatre; Bust by Zora Howard at Alliance Theatre; What Became of Us by Shayan Lotfi at Atlantic Theater Company; McNeal by Ayad Akhtar at Lincoln Center Theater; Vladimir by Erika Sheffer at Manhattan Theatre Club; A Tupperware of Ashes by Tanika Gupta at National Theatre; The Constituent by Joe Penhall at The Old Vic; Liberation by Bess Wohl at Roundabout Theatre Company; The Counter by Meghan Kennedy at Roundabout Theatre Company; Kyoto by Joe Murphy & Joe Robertson at Royal Shakespeare Company, co-produced with Good Chance; and The Staircase by Noa Gardner at South Coast Repertory.
“I want to thank the Edgerton Foundation for its support of our production of The Janeiad by Anna Ziegler,” said Rob Melrose, artistic director of Alley Theatre, in a statement. “Having this extra week of rehearsal has proved incredibly helpful for the whole team, but especially for Miriam Laube who plays 10 different roles. It has been such a luxury to have this time months before rehearsals to begin to carve out what makes each character different and to start to be able to realize them long before our originally scheduled rehearsals start.”
The Edgerton Foundation New Plays Program, directed by Brad and Louise Edgerton, was piloted in 2006 with Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering two musicals in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team, including the playwrights. The Edgertons launched the program nationally in 2007 and have supported 545 plays to date at over 50 different Art Theatres across the country.
Over the last 18 years, the Edgerton Foundation has awarded $18,551,534 to 545 productions, leading to almost 1,500 subsequent productions at TCG Member Theatres following their world premieres. Forty have made it to Broadway, including: Skeleton Crew, Paradise Square, Curtains, 13, Next to Normal, 33 Variations, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, A Doll’s House Part 2, Indecent, and Hamilton. Twenty-one plays were nominated for Tony Awards, with All the Way, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Oslo winning the best play or musical awards. Sixteen plays were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, with wins for Primary Trust (2024), English (2023), The Hot Wing King (2021), Cost of Living (2018), Hamilton (2016), The Flick (2014), Water by the Spoonful (2012), and Next to Normal (2010).
“The rigorous rehearsal process facilitated by the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award has been instrumental in bringing to life the rich tapestry of characters at the heart of the Kyoto protocol negotiations and telling the complex story of how international leaders grappled to reach agreement against all the odds,” said Royal Shakespeare Company co-artistic directors Daniel Evans and Tamara Harvey in a statement. “Kyoto has had a profound impact on all who have seen it so far, and we look forward to sharing it with many more. We are confident that the journey of this exciting new work is just beginning.”
Theatre Communications Group is the national organization for theatre and leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology. Through its programs and services, TCG reaches over one million students, audience members, and theatre professionals each year. They are also the publisher of this magazine.