What is a new play commission? Much like a realtor, salesclerk or stockbroker, a playwright can earn a commission for their work…specifically for their new work. Typically speaking, a new play commission is when a theatre company pays a playwright to write a script, generally with the understanding that the company has the first right […]
The new Theatre Company season kicks off performances on September 9 and will feature seven mainstage productions including the musical The Color Purple, William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and a new production of the audience-favorite The 39 Steps.
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ (DCPA) Student Playwriting Competition held its staged readings during the 2022 Colorado New Play Summit. But these plays have a slightly different journey to the stage than those of the professional playwrights. The main difference? The young playwrights receive guidance from the DCPA Education team to hone their […]
The future of creative writing in Colorado would appear to be bright: The winners of the DCPA’s high school playwriting competition have diverse styles and interests, resulting in three very different one-act plays: from madcap comedy to politically tinged fantastical drama to a somber meditation on the teen mental health crisis. Now in its ninth […]
By: Joanne Ostrow Someday there will be costumes, props, scenery and lighting. For now, the messy process of shaping and fine tuning a play, hearing what works and what doesn’t, takes place in bare-bones, all-day marathons over two weekends of readings. With actors stationed at music stands, scripts before them, the words (with luck and […]
Since our inception in 1979, the DCPA Theatre Company has been committed to new works. In fact, our very first season included the world premiere of Passing Game by Steve Tesich. By our 1982/83 season we had held our first public reading of a work in development — A Beautiful World by David Jones. Our […]
Every year, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts hosts the Colorado New Play Summit, featuring new play readings and attracting theatre industry leaders and artists. Launch Weekend showcases stripped-down readings of plays in development, so the playwright, director, and audience can focus entirely on the story. After receiving audience feedback, the productions spend the […]
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts (DCPA) announces today that tickets for several DCPA Theatre Company, Broadway, and Cabaret productions including the Colorado New Play Summit will go on sale Friday, November 12.
The 16th annual festival will take place over two weekends, February 25-26 and March 4-6, and feature readings of new plays by James Ijames, Kimber Lee, Leonard Madrid, and Kirsten Potter.
Annual celebration of new plays had its storytelling feet planted in all sorts of different worlds