I felt such grace at Playwrights’ Center, permeating each and every molecule with the necessary sugar that allows for vulnerable work like this to bloom. I now feel like I know my play much better, that I’ve been able to clarify and condense, and that I can see where questions still linger.
Venturous Playwright Fellowships
Overview
Venturous Theater Fund (VTF) supports ambitious new work for the stage and the artists who create it. VTFe makes grants to fund the production of audacious, irreverent new plays 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. Our goals include helping writers achieve the freedom to write the plays they fear would otherwise go unproduced, and enabling producing organizations to say “yes” instead of “no” to author-driven projects that are perceived as especially “heavy lifts.”
The mission of the Venturous Playwright Fellowship at Playwrights’ Center is to
- build a lasting relationship between Venturous playwrights and Playwrights’ Center
- provide these playwrights with the necessary financial resources to sustain them in writing bold and theatrical new work
- support the development and production of Venturous plays by writers at all career stages, and offer transformative support that advances fellowship recipients’ careers
- build intentional relationships between these writers and producing theaters to move Venturous plays to production, provide financial support that enables theaters to produce them, and empower the Venturous playwrights as they shepherd their work.
Venturous plays are
- Formally adventurous: they break traditional narrative structures or defy the notion of narrative altogether
- Epic in scope: they include challenging production requirements, such as larger casts or difficult design elements
- Full of bold ideas: they handle topics rarely explored in the theater or present ideas in a new way.
Eligibility
The Venturous Playwright Fellowship is awarded through a combination of nomination and application: an invited group of nominators generates a list of Venturous plays that we then share with producing theaters of all sizes across the country. The nominators include playwrights of diverse aesthetic perspectives and at different points in their careers, with an emphasis on inviting playwrights who bring a bold theatrical vision to their own work, including previous fellowship recipients. Interested theaters and nominated playwrights form partnerships to apply for the fellowship, the recipients of which are selected by a panel of theater industry leaders. This application cycle, five fellowships will be awarded for a three-year fellowship term.
Playwright Fellowships
This cycle of Venturous Playwright Fellowships are three-year fellowships that include an unrestricted stipend of $60,000 over three years, along with $24,000 over three years in development and holistic artist support which includes workshop funds, travel/housing for collaborators, and the opportunity to engage with the work of other artists and connect with theater professionals. At the end of the fellowship term, all fellows will become Affiliated Writers of Playwrights’ Center.
Playwrights’ Center DOES NOT accept unsolicited applications for the Venturous Fellowship. ONLY nominated playwrights and their partner theaters are eligible to apply.
Production Subsidy Grants
Partner theaters are eligible to apply for a production subsidy of up to $75,000 to support the theaters’ productions of the Venturous plays.
In addition to this financial and artistic support, Venturous Playwright Fellows and their work are promoted by Playwrights’ Center to theaters and audiences across the country.
Along with the announcement of fellowship recipients, the Center publicly shares the full list of nominated plays—“Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List”—to encourage the theater community to join us in supporting challenging, adventurous, and epic theatrical work.
Past recipients
Previous playwrights who have been supported by the Venturous Playwright Fellowship include Nissy Aya, Vivian J.O. Barnes, Nathan Alan Davis, Harmon dot aut, Madeline Easley, L M Feldman, Jahna Ferron-Smith, Gethsemane Herron, Jessica Huang, and Seayoung Yim.
Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List
The 2027 Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List can be accessed below. Follow the link and click “request access” to view the nominated plays and playwrights.
Previous years of the Playwrights’ Center’s Venturous List can be viewed below.
Application resources
Information sessions about the Venturous Playwright Fellowship will be held on Wednesday, November 18 and Wednesday, January 13 at 12:00 CT on Zoom. Recordings of last year’s sessions are available to watch on the right.
Read the full transcript for the first session here.
Read the full transcript for the second session here.
Contact
Questions may be addressed to Artistic Programs Manager Julia Brown at juliab@pwcenter.org or 612-547-5730.
FAQs
01
I wrote a venturous play. Can I apply for this fellowship?
No. Playwrights whose plays are nominated for this fellowship will be contacted and invited to apply.
02
How are playwrights nominated?
Playwrights’ Center and the Venturous Theater Fund select around 50 playwrights to serve as fellowship nominators, with an emphasis on inviting playwrights who bring a bold theatrical vision to their own work, including previous fellowship recipients. Nominators are playwrights of diverse aesthetic perspectives and at different points in their careers.
Nominators are asked to nominate plays that exemplify the Venturous spirit. Self-nominations are not accepted.
03
What is the application process?
The playwrights of all nominated plays are contacted by Playwrights’ Center and asked to confirm their interest in applying. Those who choose to participate are included on the “Venturous List” which includes information about each playwright and about their play. The list is shared widely with producing theaters, which can then request access to the scripts of all nominated plays.
Playwrights’ Center works with nominated playwrights and interested theaters to help them form partnerships. Teams made up of a theater and a playwright apply for the Venturous Playwright Fellowship.
04
I work at a theater that might be interested in producing a Venturous play. How do I get involved?
If you are affiliated with a producing theater, please contact Julia Brown at juliab@pwcenter.org to receive the list of nominated plays and more information about applying. Theaters must be 501(c)3 nonprofits based in the United States.
