Founded in 1997 by Lowell and Nancy Swortzell, NYU’s prize-winning New Plays for Young Audiences has developed 33 new plays written by leading playwrights for young audiences and families.  These plays go on to win major prizes, and receive publication and production throughout the world.

Now celebrating its twelfth season, New Plays for Young Audiences builds upon the long-honored tradition of creating plays specifically for young audiences and families.   Lowell and Nancy Swortzell, co-founders of the Program in Educational Theatre at NYU Steinhardt, recognized a need to encourage the development of plays for young audiences. As a playwright himself and editor of several books of plays for children, Lowell believed in the power of the “written word”.

Through their extensive work with theatre for young audiences, Lowell and Nancy saw that playwrights needed a place where their works could be developed and subsequently brought to wider audiences and into publication.  They saw the value of these plays not just for entertainment, but for creating opportunities for young people to learn about themselves and the world through drama focused on their lives.  Through the supportive atmosphere carefully designed by the Swortzells, playwrights who take part in the annual summer series are able to take risks as their writing is put on its feet, evaluated, reworked, and read aloud by a talented cast of actors in front of an eager audience of youth and their families. In the spirit of experimental theatre and the development of new work that Jig Cook, Susan Glaspell, Eugene O’Neill, and their colleagues in the original Provincetown Playhouse focused on as their lives’ work, the Play Development Series project strives to continue the great tradition of theatre for young audiences through our attention to the development of new plays for young audiences.

Plays previously produced have won national recognition, publication and numerous productions.  Among these:
Red Fortress by Carl Miller, full production premiered October 2008 at the Unicorn Theatre in London, UK.
Red Sky by Bryony Lavery, full production premiered July 2007 at the National Theatre in London, UK.
The Forgiving Harvest by Y York.  TCG AT&T Onstage Award, subsequently produced by Peoples’ Light and Theatre, Malvern, PA.
The Odyssey (2003) Adapted by R.N. Sandberg.  Subsequently performed nationally with string quartets in the USA.
Spirit Shall Fly by Mary Hall Surface, subsequent premiere performance at Stage One, Stage One, Louisville, KY.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham by Kevin Willmott, subsequently performed by Coterie Theatre, Kansas City, MO.  
The Riddling Child (1998) by John Urquhart, published as Lisa and the Riddling Cave. Anchorage Press.
The Match Girl’s Gift: A Christmas Story (1998) by Laurie Brooks, published in The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Applause Books.
The Wrestling Season (1999) by Laurie Brooks, published by The Dramatic Publishing Company.  AATE Distinguished Play Award 2001.
Deadly Weapons (2000) by Laurie Brooks, published by The Dramatic Publishing
    Company.
Ezigbo: The Spirit Child (2001) published by Anchorage Press.  AATE  Distinguished Play Award 2002.
Earthsongs (2004) by Jose Cruz Gonzales, subsequently performed with full orchestra, choirs, and mimes by the Metro Theatre Company, St. Louis,