NEW YORK CITY: PlayCo, the Obie-winning Off-Broadway theatre that seeks to produce adventurous new work from international and American playwrights, has announced a new global theatre residency program. Over the next two years, PlayCo will send nine American playwrights to residencies with international theatre companies, thanks to a grant from the Venturous Theatre Fund of the Tides Foundation, including Center for International Theater Development in Budapest, Centre 42 in Singapore, Nalanda Arts Studio in Bangalore, Prologue Center in Taipei, Sala Beckett in Barcelona, and Švanda Theatre in Prague. These partners will also send playwrights to the U.S. for residencies with PlayCo.
The initiative’s purpose is to open crucial dialogues in an era of eroding free expression and isolationism and counter American theatre’s own insular tendencies. “Nothing can expand and enrich an artist’s practice like the fresh perspective and inspiration of immersion in new communities,” said PlayCo founding producer Kate Loewald in a statement. “As we face increasingly harsh measures to suppress free speech and creative expression in our own country, and as the U.S. pulls back from global engagement, U.S. artists have much to gain from in-person interactions in other theatre cultures, including those with a history or current experience of authoritarian government. PlayCo is stepping up to open new channels for connection with the global artistic community.”
The program is an outgrowth of PlayCo’s vision for advancing a more innovative and globally inclusive American theatre ecosystem. In its nearly 25 years since its first full production in 2001, PlayCo has developed and produced 46 plays from more than 15 countries, and launched, amplified, and sustained the U.S. debuts and careers of hundreds of artists from both the U.S. and abroad. For U.S. artists, the chance to travel and experience theatre experimentation and traditions abroad firsthand is rare, as is the opportunity to experience their own work translated and performed in different cultural contexts.
While residency details will vary depending on the partner, they are all designed to support immersion in new theatre communities to spark lasting connection and learning. For each residency, the grant will cover travel, housing, a per diem, professional development, translation, and workshop fees for public reading presentations. The first open call for applications, for PlayCo’s playwright residency with Sala Beckett, opened on Dec. 1, and is due Jan. 4 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
PlayCo began their partnership with Sala Beckett in October 2023 by hosting Catalan playwright Josep Maria Miró for a public reading of his play The Nicest Body Ever Seen Around These Parts, and PlayCo is now developing a new production for a U.S. premiere. In 2024, U.S. playwright Yilong Liu received the opportunity and went to Sala Beckett, where Liu’s play We Borrowed Brokenness was translated into Catalan for a public reading, and this year, the play was published.
