New Plays on Campus

New Plays on Campus (NPOC) is an institutional membership program of the Playwrights’ Center that puts the best new plays in America into the hands of college and university theaters and connects today’s students and faculty with living playwrights and the professional playwriting world. New Plays on Campus memberships are a great value at $300 annually.

Join New Plays on Campus

New Plays on Campus Benefits

All of the regular general member benefits for 6 students and/or faculty members (additional students can be added for a discounted price of $25/each), including access to our online database of script submission opportunities, discounted seminars and classes, the chance to work one-on-one with a dramaturg, and more, plus:

Core Apprentice Program

Students of New Plays on Campus schools can apply to be Core Apprentices, who are granted fully-funded play development workshops at the Playwrights’ Center and a mentorship with a professional playwright. More about the Core Apprentice program »

Playwriting Classes & Seminars

Online playwriting classes and seminars geared toward topics that pertain to college students and recent graduates offered at Member rates and taught by working playwrights from around the country. 

Membership Orientations & Class Visits

Request an individualized online session with University Programs and Partnerships staff. We can provide an overview of Membership resources and Fellowship opportunities, or talk with students about a range of topics in playwriting.

Script-matching Services

Find new plays for your stage. Access to the most exciting new work in the country, year-round, before anyone else. The Playwrights’ Center has access to a vast nationwide network of playwrights and plays. Let us be your “literary manager at large.” We’ll narrow the pool to meet your requirements, then you select the play or playwright. Scripts are drawn from the Center’s high-caliber Core Writers, Fellows, and Affiliated Writers, assuring a professional commitment to excellence.

Playwright Residencies

Bring a playwright to your school. Rely on us to match you with a playwright you're interested in working with for an on-campus residency, on-site commission, teaching experience, or collaborative work with students.

Student Internships

Special internships throughout the year can be arranged to give students hands-on experience with the new play development process. New Plays on Campus members are given priority consideration for internships. More about internships »

Ready to join?

Join New Plays on Campus

Students: Want to sign up for New Plays on Campus? Have a school staff or faculty member contact us.

For more information about the New Plays on Campus program, please contact Shalee Cole Mauleón, University Programs and Partnerships Associate, at shaleec@pwcenter.org or 612-547-5742. 

For more information about the University Courses program, please contact Zoë Rodine, Director of University Programs and Partnership, at zoer@pwcenter.org or 612-547-5743.

 

Colleges, universities, and affiliated programs currently enrolled in the New Plays on Campus program by state:

ARIZONA
Arizona State University, School of Film, Dance and Theatre

CALIFORNIA
California Institute of the Arts
UCLA, School of Theater, Film, and Television
University of California - San Diego, Department of Theatre & Dance

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Georgetown University, Department of Performing Arts

ILLINOIS
Northwestern University, Department of Theatre
Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, Department of Theatre

INDIANA
Indiana University, Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance

IOWA
Iowa State University, MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment
University of Iowa, Theatre Arts

KENTUCKY
Spalding University, Creative Writing

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston University, Boston Playwrights' Theatre
Lesley University, Humanities
MIT, Music & Theater Arts
Smith College, Department of Theatre

MINNESOTA
Augsburg University, Creative Writing, Theater
Macalester College, Theatre and Dance Department
St. Olaf College, Theater Department
University of Minnesota, Department of Theatre Arts & Dance

NEBRASKA
University of Nebraska Omaha, Creative Writing

NEW YORK
Barnard College, Department of Theatre
Hunter College
Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group
Purchase College
Sarah Lawrence College
Vassar College

PENNSYLVANIA
Carnegie Mellon University, School of Drama

RHODE ISLAND
Brown University, Department of Theatre Arts & Performance Studies

TENNESSEE
Vanderbilt University, Department of Theatre

TEXAS
Texas Tech University
University of Texas - Austin, Department of Theatre and Dance

VERMONT
Bennington College, Theatre + Dance

VIRGINIA
Hollins University, The Playwrights' Lab, Playwriting MFA

WISCONSIN
Viterbo University

Beyond the New Plays on Campus program, students attending these schools have enrolled in our University Courses:

 Praise for New Plays on Campus

This play engaged our students’ imaginations more than any other project I've seen in a while.
—David Johnson, Associate Professor of Theater at Virginia Tech, about NPOC and their production of Tallgrass Gothic by Melanie Marnich

It is one of the first times that I can honestly say that such a bridge between the professional world and college theater makes us connect in a way that is creative, important, and useful for all parties involved.
—Karen Peterson Wilson, Theater Department Chair at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, about NPOC and their production of Perpetua by Vincent Delaney

The NPOC workshop was a wonderful first taste of what life as a working playwright could be like. When I saw the Playwrights’ Center for the first time I was stunned, in awe that a national center for playwriting was housed inside a church—it was beautiful, and empowering.
—Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig, MFA playwriting student at University of Texas-Austin, about the workshop of her play The Other Side of the Closet

Asked if New Plays On Campus could “change American theater,” Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Artistic Director Gregg Henry chuckles. “I think it is possible…I don’t mean to be Pollyanna about it, but everybody’s going to benefit from this.”
—From a Variety magazine article by Mark Blankenship

This program actually works. I can honestly say that the New Plays on Campus collaboration is a win-win for everyone involved.
—Karen Peterson Wilson, professor of theater, St. Olaf College

The Core Apprenticeship provided me with a fantastic mentor and a full week of new play development; it gave me tremendous and vital support as I left grad school.
—Basil Kreimendahl, MFA playwriting student at Iowa Writers’ Workshop, 2012-13 Core Apprentice, 2013-14 Jerome Fellow, 2014-15 McKnight Fellow