NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK AWARDS $36,000 FOR PLAYWRIGHT COMMISSIONS AND RESIDENCIES

WASHINGTON, DC - The NATIONAL NEW PLAY NETWORK (NNPN), the country's alliance of non-profit theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays, will award grants of $36,000 to playwrights for Commissions and Residencies in 2010-11. The awards were announced at the organization's Annual Conference on June 12 in New Orleans, LA, hosted by member theater Southern Rep.

PLAYWRIGHTS IN RESIDENCE
NNPN's Playwright Residencies were established in 2007 to support playwrights graduating from qualified MFA programs for season-long residencies at NNPN member theaters. Playwrights selected for the program receive stipends of $9,000 to learn from and engage with NNPN members. 2010 recipient theaters and playwrights are:

• Actor’s Express (Atlanta, GA)/Joshua Elias Harmon (Carnegie Mellon '10)
• Curious Theatre (Denver, CO)/Meridith Friedman (Northwestern '10)
• Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA)/Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig (UT Austin '10)

COMMISSIONS
NNPN's oldest initiative is its Commissioning Program, which has awarded a single $3,500 commission in each of the past twelve years to a playwright selected by the Network's membership. This year, the number and amount of commissions was raised. 2010 Commissions have been awarded to Marin Theatre Company (Mill Valley, CA) for Carson Kreitzer's play Lasso of Truth ($5,000) and to Horizon Theatre Company (Atlanta, GA) for Thomas W. Jones II's play Sheddin' ($4,000).

NATIONAL SHOWCASE OF NEW PLAYS (NSNP)
Denver's Curious Theatre was selected to host the 2010 National Showcase of New Plays, scheduled for December 3-5, 2010. A "traveling trade show", the NSNP showcases six new plays selected from member theaters' submissions.

ABOUT NNPN
The National New Play Network (NNPN) is the country's alliance of non-profit professional theaters that champions the development, production, and continued life of new plays. Since its founding in 1998, NNPN has commissioned over a dozen playwrights, provided ten MFA graduates with paid residencies, and supported nearly 100 productions nationwide through its innovative Continued Life of New Plays Fund, which creates "rolling world premieres" of new plays. Through these activities and others, NNPN has granted nearly a half million dollars to theaters and playwrights in the past ten years. Hundreds of artists have gained employment through these efforts in the 24 regions of the country where NNPN member theaters are located. NNPN receives substantial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Boeing Company, the Shubert Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.