What is CreateTheater? It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.
Not because I don’t know the answer, but because I’ve realized that many of the writers in our own community are trying to understand how all of the pieces fit together.
Is CreateTheater a writing group?
A theatre company?
An educational organization?
A festival?
A producer’s lab?
The answer is…
Yes—and no.
Those aren’t separate identities. They’re different expressions of one idea.
As CreateTheater enters its eleventh year, I’ve realized that part of growing as an organization is becoming clearer about who we are—and who we’re becoming.
Why I Originally Founded CreateTheater
When I founded CreateTheater in June 2015, my goal was simple: create a place where new plays and musicals could receive the thoughtful artistic development they deserve.
In 2021, we expanded that vision by launching the Experts Theater Company (ETC), creating an ongoing artistic home where playwrights and musical theatre writers could continue developing their work together. I chose the acronym to honor Ellen Stewart, for her extraordinary contributions to the art of theater at La MaMa Experimental Theater Club (La MaMa ETC).
In 2022, we presented our first CreateTheater New Works Festival at Theatre Row.
This spring, we celebrated our Fifth Annual CreateTheater New Works Festival, adding The CreateTheater New Works Cabaret Festival in the fall to the mix.
I’m absolutely thrilled that we can grant space in the both of these festivals for artists to present their work – all of it developed in-house in CreateTheater’s writers’ resident company, The Experts Theater Company.
Looking back, I realize that we’ve been building something much larger than a collection of programs.
We’ve been building a developmental theatre company.
Now, with the guidance of our Advisory Board, CreateTheater is beginning the journey toward becoming an independent nonprofit theatre company in NYC dedicated to the development and production of new plays and musicals.
It’s been an awesome journey – and it’s just starting.
But this milestone has prompted me to ask an important question:
What is CreateTheater now, really?
A Developmental Theater Company
Our work is not simply to teach writers how to write. Nor is it only to produce finished plays and musicals.
Our work is to develop new theater.
I believe that’s one of the most important—and often least visible—creative acts in our industry.
When audiences attend opening night, they’re seeing the result of months or years of artistic collaboration. They don’t see the dramaturgical conversations, the table reads, the rewrites, the song that finally finds its place, or the creative breakthroughs that happen because a room full of theatre artists are asking the right questions together.
That’s development.
I believe development is in itself an art form.
Last Friday I was reminded exactly why CreateTheater exists.
I was on a Zoom call with the writers preparing for our next Fall Cabaret Festival.
One team was calling from New York City.
Another from San Francisco.
Another from West Virginia.
Another from New Jersey.
Another from Mexico.
We weren’t taking an online class.
We were doing what theatre artists have always done.
We were solving problems , in the same “room,” together.
Sharing resources.
Offering ideas.
Celebrating breakthroughs.
Helping one another tell stronger stories.
The only difference was that geography wasn’t determining who could be in that room.
Develop Work in NYC from Anywhere
For most of theatre history, access to a professional development process depended on where you lived.
But today, that doesn’t matter.
CreateTheater was formed on Zoom way back in 2015 to bring writers, composers, lyricists, directors, dramaturgs, producers, and collaborators into the same professional development room—regardless of geography.
Not to replace New York.
To extend New York’s collaborative and professional culture.
Because the conversations that happen in New York rehearsal rooms shouldn’t belong only to the people who can afford to live there.
They should belong to every serious theatre artist committed to creating excellent new work.
That’s why our company exists.
Our Programs Form Our Pipeline
The six month Production-Ready Writers Groups are where many writers begin developing their scripts in a collaborative professional environment.
The 90 day Cabaret Lab gives musical theatre writers the opportunity to hear songs, experiment, and continue shaping their work in front of artists and audiences.
The four NYC Musical Development Workshops each year explore the craft and structure that help musicals become compelling works of theatre.
The year-long Musical Writing Lab and the NYC Producer Lab help selected projects prepare for public presentations in Industry Readings or Showcase productions by bringing together the artistic and practical work required to move from development toward production. Our labs create community, which is the heart of our collaboration.
These aren’t disconnected offerings.
They’re all part of one artistic mission.
To develop professional new plays and musicals through collaboration that result in industry exposure.
To create an artistic home where serious theatre makers can work together and form a community.
And to make New York’s culture of theatrical development more accessible without sacrificing its professional standards.
You no longer have to live in Manhattan to develop and produce your work in Manhattan.
We Develop New Plays and Musicals
At its heart, CreateTheater isn’t built around Zoom.
It’s built around the development room.
A place where artists gather to ask difficult questions, challenge one another with generosity, strengthen each other’s work, and move stories forward to production.
Because great theatre has never been created in isolation.
It has always been created in community.
As we begin this next chapter—growing into a nonprofit theatre company, expanding our artistic partnerships, and continuing to develop and produce new work—our mission feels clearer than ever.
CreateTheater exists to build a community of theatre artists committed to developing professional new plays and musicals through collaboration, dramaturgy, and creative producing.
That has been our work for the past eleven years. And we’re excited for what the next elevent will bring.
Welcome to CreateTheater.