Creative Development
In addition to producing a full festival of theatre each summer, Williamstown Theatre Festival develops ground breaking new work year-round.
WTF does not accept unsolicited submissions; only agents may submit scripts.
Every summer, the Festival supports new work in development by inviting artists to Williamstown to participate in workshops and residencies. Playwrights, directors, actors, producers and other creative team members develop their work with the support of our Creative Development team, wherever they are in their process–whether they are starting from putting pen to paper, or inviting audiences to experience the work for the first time.
Williamstown Theatre Festival is now accepting proposals for the 2025 season. All project proposals should meet the following requirements:
- Proposals must be submitted by a playwright, actor, or director with representation or an established producing entity.
- Company members of each project will agree to be in residence in Williamstown for one to two weeks to workshop the project and present up to three work-in-progress performances in the summer of 2025.
If you have a project you would like to have considered for a developmental workshop for an upcoming season, please email submissions@wtfestival.org with the below information:
- The names and roles of the entire company and team for the project, with an indication of who will also be in residence in Williamstown for the duration of the workshop.
- Describe the technical needs of the workshop including the intent for scenic, costumes, lighting, sound, etc.
- List producing partners and detail their involvement.
- The agency name and representative contact information for any representation.
- Submit a script or any materials associated with this project.
Artists are invited to take residence in Williamstown during the season, in the form of an artist's residency or developmental workshop. All artists-in-residence are members of the Festival community, not only invited to make pivotal advancements in their work but also to engage in Festival happenings throughout the summer.
Recent participants have included: Martyna Majok, Jessica Dickey, Sanaz Toossi,, Michael R. Jackson,, John J. Caswell, Jr. Nell Benjamin and Lawrence O’Keefe, Rachel Chavkin, PigPen Theatre Company, Breaking the Binary Theatre, and Waterwell.
Williamstown Theatre Festival commissions and develops up to 14 playwrights, composers, and other generative artists from across the career spectrum at one time. Each commission also includes at least one artist residency at the Festival to support the creation process.
Artists commissioned have included Aziza Barnes, Big Dance Theater, Jocelyn Bioh, Fernanda Coppel, Nathan Alan Davis, Meghan Kennedy, Sylvia Khoury, Michael John LaChiusa, Justin Levine, Matthew Lopez, Marsha Norman, Max Posner, Heather Raffo, Sharyn Rothstein, Zoe Sarnak, Benjamin Scheuer, Lucy Thurber, Harrison David Rivers, Sanaz Toossi and Bess Wohl.
Our weekly reading series (formerly Fridays@3) brings playwrights, directors and professional actors together for a 29-hour rehearsal process culminating in a public presentation. The series provides playwrights a process that gives them the essential information they need to continue to develop their new work.
Past readings have led to thrilling new work at the Festival, on Broadway and beyond. Most recently, Lempicka, made its debut as a Fridays@3 reading in 2017, with a world premiere WTF production in 2019, before finally taking the Broadway stage in 2024. Other notable recent Friday@3 readings include Selling Kabul, part of the 2019 MainStage WTF season and a 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist, and Seared, which was part of the 2018 MainStage season and made its off-Broadway debut in 2019.
Each spring, Williamstown Theatre Festival administers the L. Arnold Weissberger Award on behalf of WTF Trustee Emeritus Fredda Harris and the Anna L. Weissberger Foundation. The award honors noted theatrical attorney and avid theatre supporter L. Arnold Weissberger,with a $10,000 prize recognizing excellence in playwriting. The award also carries a $10,000 commission, named for long-time Festival trustee, the late Jay Harris, and an option for publication by Concord Theatricals.
Nomination is by invitation only, with the winner selected by a panel of theatre professionals. Eligible scripts must be full-length, unpublished, unproduced, and not optioned for production during the season in which it is being considered. Musicals, screenplays, or TYA plays are not considered. For more information, contact weissberger@wtfestival.org.
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL L. ARNOLD WEISSBERGER AWARD RECIPIENTS
Since 1998, the L. Arnold Weissberger Award has recognized the following new plays and emerging playwrights:
2024 – SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA by Beth Hyland
2023 – CHAPTERS OF A FLOATING LIFE by Clarence Coo
2022 – TINY FATHER by Mike Lew
2021 – WET BRAIN by John J. Caswell, Jr.
2020 – ENGLISH by Sanaz Toossi (winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Drama)
2019 – CINCHED/STRAPPED by Selina Fillinger
2018 – SELLING KABUL by Sylvia Khoury (finalist for the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
2017 – NOURA by Heather Raffo
2016/2015 – HANNAH AND THE DREAD GAZEBO by Jiehae Park
2014 – KILL FLOOR by Abe Koogler
2013 – FIVE MILE LAKE by Rachel Bonds
2012 – PARADISE BLUE by Dominique Morisseau
2011 – THE BODY OF AN AMERICAN by Dan O’Brien
2010 – CHOIR BOY by Tarell Alvin McCraney
2009 – THE SUBSTANCE OF BLISS by Tony Glazer
2008 – SENSE OF AN ENDING by Ken Urban
2007 – THE GOOD NEGRO by Tracey Scott Wilson
2006 – TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION by Etan Frankel
2005 – SAID SAID by Kenneth Lin
2004 – BFE by Julia Cho
2003 – ARRANGEMENTS by Ken Weitzman
2002 – MOTHERHOUSE by Victor Lodato
2001 – THE BRIDEGROOM OF BLOWING ROCK by Catherine Trieschmann
2000 – JUMP SLASH CUT by Neena Beber
1999 – INTO THE FIRE by Deborah Brevoort
1998 – INFRARED by Mac Wellman