UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS AND PARTNERSHIPS Playwrights’ Center fosters future playwrights by connecting students and educators to some of the best playwrights at work in the field. In 2019–20, we further invested in our commitment to education by planting the seeds of a new university courses program.
NEW PLAYS ON CAMPUS New Plays on Campus (NPOC) is an institutional membership program that connects the next generation of playwrights and their faculty mentors with professional playwrights and their work. NPOC members can access online playwriting seminars, script-matching services, and playwright residencies in the form of on-site commissions, teaching, or direct collaborative work with students. Member schools also nominate students to participate in the Core Apprenticeship program.
UNIVERSITY COURSES In February 2020, Playwrights’ Center entered a groundbreaking partnership with Augsburg University to offer, beginning in Fall 2020, online, university-accredited courses taught by the Center’s cohort of top-tier, working playwrights, creating unparalleled arts education access for aspiring writers and offering them a global network of artistic peers.
CORE APPRENTICESHIPS In partnership with the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the Core Apprenticeship program pairs three student playwrights with professional playwright mentors. In addition to the ninemonth mentorship, each student receives a 12-hour new-play development workshop.
“The Playwrights’ Center’s commitment to nurture new and undiscovered voices makes way for exceptional new stories to exist for the American stage.” —Gursimrat Kaur, 2019–20 Core Apprentice
THE 2019–20 CORE APPRENTICES Gursimrat Kaur University of Texas at Austin Mentored by Mfoniso Udofia Taylor Rankin Northwestern University Mentored by Lydia Diamond
Producing Artistic Director Jeremy B. Cohen, First Lady of Minnesota Gwen Walz, and Director of University Programs and Partnerships Sarah Myers at a March 9, 2020 reception celebrating the newly formalized University Courses partnership with Augsburg University.
Aaron Ricciardi Indiana University Mentored by Taylor Mac 21
