Annual Commission

Chosen from projects nominated by Core Member Theaters, NNPN awards one $10,000 commission each year. This program is currently on hiatus.  

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.

Collaboration Fund

Since 2010, NNPN has encouraged innovative, pioneering, project-based partnerships among theaters in support of playwrights through its Collaboration Fund. To address the many different ways theater companies work together and with playwrights to develop and produce new work, the program has expanded over the years to fund a wide range of collaborative endeavors.  

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.