Playwrights: Apply for the 2026-27 Writers Pool

CALL FOR PLAYWRIGHTS: 
PLAYGROUND’S 2026-27 WRITERS POOLS
San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago
Applications Due April 30, 2026

San Francisco – PlayGround, a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, is pleased to share the latest call for applicants to the 2026-27 Writers Pools in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. One-hundred-and-twelve playwrights will be selected from across the four cities and will be eligible to submit for the 2026-27 season, be under consideration for Best Of PlayGround in each city (Spring/Summer 2027), and also be in the running for the Best of the Best of PlayGround (Summer of 2027).

Since 1994, More than 400 playwrights have participated in Monday Night PlayGround, including Lauren Yee, Jonathan Spector, Geetha Reddy, and Cleavon Smith. Monday Night PlayGround alumni have gone on to win local, national, and international honors for their short and full-length work, including recognition at the Steinberg Awards, Glickman Awards, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and New York International Fringe Festival, among others. PlayGround serves one of the largest theatre artist networks in the nation, connecting hundreds of Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York artists in support of a common vision: the development of bold and diverse new voices and new works.

How Does Monday Night PlayGround Work?

Each month, from October through March, PlayGround announces a topic to the 112 Members of the national Writers Pools. Members of the Writers Pool in each city are invited to submit original ten-page plays based on the monthly topic. The top six short plays from each region are selected and presented as script-in-hand staged readings featuring some of the best directors and actors in each region. All performances are offered in-person and live simulcast, as well as admission-free (donations gratefully accepted), for maximum accessibility.

2026-27 WRITERS POOL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Applications accepted now through April 30, 2026.

THE OPPORTUNITY
– 25 early-career playwrights as well as 3 alternates will be competitively selected from applications to form the Writers Pool in each city. For city-specific dates and guidelines, follow this links:

San Francisco
Los Angeles
New York
Chicago

– Members of the Writers Pool may submit scripts to be considered as part of the Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series. Four times each season, September through March, PlayGround will announce a prompt and Writers Pool members have just four-and-a-half days to generate an original short script (max. 10 pages) inspired by the prompt. The top six scripts each round will be staged publicly with leading local directors and actors. Those not selected may submit their scripts to Recess for cold readings via Zoom.
– From the plays staged throughout the season, up to six will be selected for Best of PlayGround (Spring/Summer of 2027).
– Writers Pool members can gain peer feedback on their work by participating in Recess cold readings (one week after each Monday Night PlayGround and generally via Zoom) as well as through a staff one-on-one session (available upon request). Writers Pool Alternates will have full access to Recess.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
– Each city has its own geographic requirements for participation, see above link for details.
– Writers Pool members must commit to submitting for ALL FOUR Monday Night PlayGround events in a given season. Writers failing to meet the eligibility requirements must sit out the remainder of the season and one additional full season. Alternates are asked to submit each round and may be admitted to the Pool should there be an opening during the season.
– The submission of a script to Monday Night PlayGround grants PlayGround the exclusive option to stage the play as part of the Monday Night PlayGround and, should it be so selected, to present the world premiere as part of Best of PlayGround and non-exclusive option to publish the script in a “Best of PlayGround” anthology.
– Members of the current Writers Pool must reapply in order to be considered for the following season.

WHAT TO SUBMIT
– Playwrights must submit a 10-page max, properly formatted script as PDF attachment. Both previously produced and unproduced scripts are eligible. See below for formatting examples.
– The script must have the playwright’s name, address, email and phone number at the top of the first page and include a detailed cast breakdown, and all pages must be numbered.
– The script title must be labeled by Lastname, Firstname_Title (e.g., Shakespeare, William_The Tempest).
– Excerpts from longer works are not accepted but short plays that meet the above requirements and are derived from a longer work are accepted.
– BIPOC, trans/gender-non-conforming & playwrights with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
– Applications must be received by 11:59pm PT on Thursday, April 30, 2026.

To view sample script formats, click the link(s) below.
Submission Format #1
Submission Format #2

WRITERS POOL ANNOUNCEMENT
– Applicants will be notified of selections on or before August 1, 2026.
– Selected writers must attend a mandatory company meeting on Sunday, August 16 (time tbd).

For any questions not answered above, email to info@playgroundground-sf.org.

PlayGround was founded in 1994 by Jim Kleinmann, Brighde Mullins, and Denise Shama, beginning as a professional-academic partnership in residence at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and with initial sponsorship from SFSU’s Creative Writing Program. Early participating artists included Prince Gomolvilas, Garret Jon Groenveld, Daniele Nathanson, Sandra Hunter, Colman Domingo, Kent Nicholson, Antigone Trimis, Mary Coleman, and Rhonnie Washington. The fledgling organization moved to Project Artaud and A Traveling Jewish Theatre’s new 80-seat black box theatre in 1996, at which time Kleinmann took on sole leadership as PlayGround’s founding artistic director.

The company was in residence at Berkeley Repertory Theatre from 2003 until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and has also presented at the David Brower Center, the San Francisco Main Library, Freight & Salvage, Zeum, A.C.T.’s Costume Shop, and Thick House, as well as co-producing with such notable Bay Area theatres as San Francisco Playhouse, Shotgun Players, Impact Theatre, San Jose Stage, and Magic Theatre, among others. PlayGround first brought its work to New York City with the 2008 co-production of Garret Jon Groenveld’s Missives, followed by the 2009 NY International Fringe Festival hit co-production of Aaron Loeb’s Abraham Lincoln’s Big Gay Dance Party, 2013 NY International Fringe Festival co-production of Katie May’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl. PlayGround celebrated its 25th anniversary with a one-night program of original short musicals at NYC’s Theatre Row in 2019.

PlayGround’s first ongoing regional expansion came in 2012 with the launch of PlayGround-LA at West Hollywood’s Zephyr Theatre. In 2018, PlayGround-LA relocated to Hollywood’s Broadwater Theaters (home of Sacred Fools Theater Company), where the company continues to present its Monday Night series. PlayGround expanded to NYC in 2021 and Chicago in 2022, with in-person performances (and simulcasts) beginning in the Spring of 2023, at NYC’s Producers Club and Chicago’s Theater Wit, respectively. 

Over its 32 year history, PlayGround has grown into a leading national playwright incubator and theatre community hub, providing unique development opportunities for the Bay Area’s and, more recently, Los Angeles’, New York’s, and Chicago’s best new playwrights through innovative programs such as the monthly Monday Night PlayGround staged reading series, annual PlayGround Festival of New Works, full-length play commissions, playwright residencies and production support through the New Play Production Fund.

To date, PlayGround has developed and staged more than 1,500 original short plays through Monday Night PlayGround and the PlayGround Festival. PlayGround has also commissioned and/or developed several hundred new full-length plays by PlayGround alumni through its Commissioning Initiative, Playwrights Residency and Alumni Programs and, through the innovative New Play Production Fund, has directly facilitated the premiere of 40 full-length plays at theatres of every size, including many that have gone on to NYC and other major theater communities across the country. 

In 2017, PlayGround launched Potrero Stage: PlayGround Center for New Plays, a 99-seat state-of-the-art performance venue to serve as a shared community resource for dozens of local companies and hundreds of artists. New programs in residence at Potrero Stage like the Free-Play Festival, Solo Performance Festival, and Innovator Incubator provide opportunities for local and national artists to self-determine and showcase their work in San Francisco at little to no cost. 

PlayGround’s work has not gone unnoticed. PlayGround has received numerous awards, including Playwrights Foundation’s Inaugural New Play Champion Award, San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle’s Paine Knickerbocker Award for ongoing contributions to Bay Area theatre, and American Theater Wing’s National Theater Grant. In 2016, Artistic Director Jim Kleinmann was recognized by Theatre Bay Area as one of the Bay Area’s top 40 leaders. Three of PlayGround’s commissioned plays have won the San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle award for Best New Play, and three have had subsequent productions in NYC. Four of the past five Will Glickman Award winners for best new play are PlayGround alumni. When other theatre companies think of producing new work, PlayGround artists are often their first call. As a result of PlayGround’s strong leadership, planning, and a willingness to take bold risks with high payoff, the new play ecosystem has been utterly transformed by PlayGround. For more information, visit playground-sf.org.

All programs will be offered both in-person and online this year and are all admission free. Tickets and Monday Night PlayGround memberships go on sale September 1, 2026.

For information about any of the four Monday Night PlayGround programs, visit PlayGround-SF, PlayGround-LA, PlayGround-NY and PlayGround-Chicago.