Curious Theatre Company

CURIOUS + NNPN

Curious has produced 2 NNPN World Premieres:

In our nine years, Curious has emerged on the national scene as a vital presenter of new plays, commissioning works by theatre luminaries Paula Vogel, Suzan-Lori Parks, Joan Holden, Eric Coble and many others. A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS is presented in collaboration with the National New Play Network - an alliance of 20 select professional theatres fostering and developing the most urgent new work in America.

The NNPN’s Continued Life Fund ensures that new plays will see future productions beyond the initial world premiere, creating a “rolling” world premiere with at least three theatres across the country. Both Philadelphia’s InterAct and Florida Stage will present A HOUSE WITH NO WALLS in their 2006-2007 seasons. more info at : www.nnpn.org

Continued Life of New Plays Fund

The Continued Life of New Plays Fund (CLPNF) is a cooperative venture designed to insure that new plays will see future productions beyond the initial world premiere. Partnerships of three or more theatres, including at least two NNPN members, are eligible to receive funds in support of multiple productions of the same new play. All of the partners must commit to producing the play prior to the opening of the initial production, thus negating the impact of critical reviews. In this way, each theatre takes part in a "rolling" world premiere that guarantees an opportunity for the play to grow and flourish through contact with a wide national audience.

The pilot project for CLPNF was the world premiere of Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons, premiered by InterAct Theatre Company, Florida Stage and Unicorn Theatre.

PERMANENT COLLECTION received the following awards and nominations:

- Barrymore Award for Best New Play (InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia)

- Leon Rabin Award nomiation for Best New Play (Kitchen Dog Theatre, Dallas)

National Showcase of New Plays

The National Showcase of New Plays (NSNP) is a rotating festival, or trade show, that showcases new plays, new playwrights and theatres from across the country in a staged reading format. NSNP creates a unique and invaluable opportunity for dozens of production-ready new plays to be viewed by artistic directors, literary managers, literary agents, publishers, and independent producers from around the country. This year's showcase will take place in Stanford, California, June 20 - 25, 2005.

New Play Commissions

NNPN awards commissions, bi-annually, to playwrights nominated and selected by member theatres. Nominating theatres are responsible for the administration and development of the commissioned play. Commissioned playwrights agree to grant right of first refusal to produce their play to all NNPN members in their respective markets. Both NNPN and the nominating theatre participate in the subsidiary royalties from the commissioned play.

Script Exchange

Through monthly, online meetings, Literary Managers from NNPN member theatres regularly exchange information on plays and playwrights in an effort to help identify, cultivate, develop and produce promising new plays. New play "pitches" are regularly posted on a members' only bulletin board on the NNPN website, and a comprehensive database is in the process of being constructed to track the history of thousands of American plays and playwrights.

Travel Fund

In keeping with the NNPN's mission to create an informed and collegial community of member theatres, NNPN reimburses members for up to $500 in travel expenses, annually, to facilitate artistic exchange, networking opportunities, professional development and collaborations.

Examples of the travel fund are a trip by Salt Lake Acting Company's Dramaturg Mike Dorrell to Curious Theatre to see a world premiere production of [ ], and a trip by Florida Stage's Education Director [ ] to observe InterAct Theatre Company's Young Voices program.

National Conference

NNPN hosts an annual conference of its member theatres, which also serves as the annual meeting of the Board of Directors. The conference features member presentations, pitches of new plays, brainstorming of new programs, evaluation of existing programs, discussion of prospective new members, approval of the annual budget, and other administrative business. The annual conference is hosted by different members each year.

Ticket Discount Program

Keeping in mind that many of our patrons travel across the country on business and pleasure, member theatres have joined together to provide ticket discounts to visiting patrons from other NNPN theatres. Discounts range from "two-fers" to half price seats, subject to availability.