Venturous Production Pipeline Awards

The NNPN/Venturous Production Pipeline Awards support NNPN Member Theaters working collaboratively to develop (towards production) or produce new plays that exceed their shared capacity. Funded by a generous grant from Venturous Theater Fund, the Awards provide funds for selected projects that are “venturous” - ambitious in scale, epic in scope, challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, experimental in concept, and/or unabashed in their theatricality and, because of their nature, have needs greater than the current awards provided by NNPN’s existing programs.

Smith Prize Commission

Established in 2006 by Timothy Jay Smith and a group of socially conscious donors, the NNPN Smith Prize for Political Theater encouraged early-career playwrights to tackle the pressing issues of our times. The $5,000 Prize was awarded annually as a commission for a proposed play that examined the American body politic. NNPN also awarded funds to the first NNPN Member Theaters to produce a developmental workshop of the play and to produce the world premiere of the commissioned work.

This program awarded its final commission in June 2022 and has subsequently been sunsetted. NNPN and the artists, theaters, and audiences impacted by The Smith Prize are grateful to Prize founder Timothy J. Smith and those who gave in support of the program over the years. The plays created, developed, and premiered with the assistance of NNPN through The Smith Prize continue to be produced around the world.

Annual Commission

Chosen from projects nominated by Core Member Theaters, NNPN awards one $10,000 commission each year. This program has been sunsetted.

International Exchange

Since 2012, NNPN has piloted international exchange initiatives that emerged from the Network’s strong and growing interest in new play organizations and associations in other countries. These have included a playwright exchange with PlayWriting Australia and an ongoing partnership with Banff Playwrights Lab.