Playwrights Welcome

Providing free access to theatre for playwrights, composers, and lyricists around the country.

Playwrights Welcome is a program created to support and inspire playwrights, composers, and lyricists writers. The goal is simple: to provide free access to theatre for playwrights, composers and lyricists around the country.

Developed for the Dramatists Guild of America members, Playwrights Welcome is a national ticketing initiative created by Samuel French along with Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing, Music Theatre International, Playscripts and Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Playwrights Welcome is designed to offer available tickets to professional playwrights on the day of a performance, free of charge. These available tickets are ones that would otherwise go unsold; we firmly believe that no theater should give away a ticket that could otherwise be sold.

How it Works: Theaters

Theaters can sign up to participate in Playwrights Welcome by filling out this form. Our Program Manager will be in touch with next steps. Once registered, theaters will receive a welcome packet, complete with language to use in marketing and promotion, a logo pack, and a window cling to display in your box office window.

Eligible playwrights will call or visit your box office for day-of tickets - or through a reservation system designed by your theater. Every box office works differently, and we know that you may not be able to offer day-of tickets, so managing reservations for this program is at your discretion. Our only requirement is that playwrights present their Dramatists Guild card to claim their ticket.

How it Works: Playwrights

Below, you'll find the list of Participating Theaters. New theaters are being added on a regular basis, so be sure to check back every so often.

If you're interested in seeing a show at one of the below theaters, simply show up at their box office before to curtain and ask if they have any Playwrights Welcome tickets available. If they do, you will need to present your Dramatists Guild membership card as well as your ID. (Click here to learn more about becoming a Dramatists Guild member.) Then, enjoy the show! However, please remember that every box office is different, so some theaters may have different ticketing processes for Playwrights Welcome tickets. See asterisks below for specific notes.

The Playwrights Welcome Council

The Playwrights Welcome Council includes a list of some the theatre industry's most celebrated artists and professionals who are in support and endorse the program. Council Members include playwrights Kia Corthron (A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick), Lydia Diamond (Stick Fly), Kristoffer Diaz (The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity), Colman Domingo (Dot), Rebecca Gilman (Boy Gets Girl), Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Gloria), Christine Toy Johnson (The Secret Wisdom of Trees), Aditi Kapil (Love Person), Lisa Kron (Fun Home), Mike Lew (Bike America), David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole), Dominique Morisseau (Detroit '67), Qui Nguyen (Vietgone), Sarah Ruhl (Stage Kiss), Robert Schenkkan (All the Way), Madhuri Shekar (In Love and Warcraft), Octavio Solis (El Paso Blues), Doug Wright (Hands on a Hardbody, I Am My Own Wife) and Lauren Yee (Hatmaker's Wife); composers Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime), Andrew Lippa (Wild Party), Georgia Stitt (Big Red Sun), Jeanine Tesori (Fun Home); and industry leaders Ken Davenport (Davenport Theatricals), Todd Haimes (Artistic Director, Roundabout Theatre), Todd London (Author, Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play), Emily Mann (Artistic Director & Resident Playwright, McCarter Theatre), Daryl Roth (Daryl Roth Productions), Tom Schumacher (Disney Theatricals), Tim Shields (Managing Director, McCarter Theatre), and Jim Steinberg (Steinberg Foundation).

Press

Free Tickets for Playwrights Who Can't Afford the Theater (New York Times)
Dramatists Guild Launches Playwrights Welcome Program (Playbill)
Playwrights Welcome: A New National Program Providing Free Access to Theatre for Playwrights, Composers & Lyricists (Breaking Character Magazine)
How Playwrights Can Get Free Theatre Tickets (American Theatre)
How to Get Cheap Tickets to Broadway Shows (Even 'Hamilton') (New York Times)
100 Theaters Join Playwrights Welcome (Breaking Character)
100 Theatres Sign-on for Free Ticketing Initiative
Playwrights Welcome Reaches 100 Theaters (Broadway News)
100 Theaters Join Playwrights in Nationwide Ticketing Initiative (Broadway World)

Contact Information

To enroll your theater as a participant in Playwrights Welcome, please complete this form. Our Program Manager, Courtney Kochuba, will be in touch with the next steps to complete your registration.

Participating Theaters

Alabama

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Alaska

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Arizona

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Arkansas

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

California

Berkeley Repertory Theatre (Berkeley)
Capital Stage Company (Sacramento)
FreeFall Stage (Folsom)
Geffen Playhouse (Los Angeles)
La Jolla Playhouse (La Jolla)*
La Mirada Theatre (La Mirada)
Lucky Penny Productions (Napa)**
Magic Theatre (San Francisco)
Old Globe (San Diego)
San Francisco Playhouse (San Francisco)
Town Hall Theatre Company (Lafayette)***

*To make a ticket reservation at La Jolla, please email Nikki Cooper at ncooper@ljp.org.
**To make a ticket reservation at Lucky Penny Productions, please email Barry Martin at info@luckypennynapa.comor by calling the box office at 707-266-6305.
***Eligible Playwrights may email the Town Hall box office to request their ticket(s) at leah.mckibbin@townhalltheatre.com.Limited to two tickets per Playwright; Playwrights present Dramatists Guild card to claim their ticket(s). Subject to availability.

Hawaii

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Idaho

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Illinois

Goodman Theatre (Chicago)
Paramount Theatre (Aurora)
Rivendell Theatre Ensemble (Chicago)
Rockford University Performing Arts (Rockford)
Victory Gardens Theater (Chicago)

Indiana

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Iowa

Theatre Cedar Rapids (Cedar Rapids)

Kansas

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Kentucky

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Louisiana

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Maine

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Maryland

Baltimore Center Stage (Baltimore)
Center Stage (Baltimore)
Community College of Baltimore County (Baltimore)
Iron Crow Theatre (Baltimore)

Massachusetts

Barrington Stage Company (Pittsfield)*
Boston Playwrights' Theatre (Boston)
Huntington Theatre Company (Boston)
Martha's Vineyard Playhouse (Vineyard Haven)

*Tickets are available in advance in person or by calling the box office; an additional ticket for a non-Dramatists Guild member may be purchased at a discount.

Michigan

JET (West Bloomfield)

Minnesota

Children's Theatre Company (Minneapolis)
Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis)
Theatre Elision (Minneapolis)

Mississippi

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Missouri

Coterie Theatre (Kansas City)

Montana

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Nebraska

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Nevada

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

New Hampshire

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

New Jersey

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre (Summit)
McCarter Theatre (Princeton)
Passage Theatre (Trenton)
Premiere Stages at Kean University (Union)
Two River Theater Company (Red Bank)

New Mexico

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

New York

American Repertory Theater of WNY (Buffalo)
Atlantic Theater Company (New York)*
Axis Theater Company (New York)
Harry Clarke at Minetta Lane Theatre (New York)
Irish Repertory Theatre (New York)
Paul Robeson Theatre at the African American Cultural Center (Buffalo)
Queens Theatre (Flushing Meadows Corona)**
Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (New York)
Road Less Traveled Productions (Buffalo)
Roundabout Theatre Company (New York)***
Shadowland Stages (Ellenville)
Theatre for a New Audience (New York)
Urban Stages (New York)
Vineyard Theatre (New York)

*Playwrights Welcome tickets only available for preview performances.
**Up to two tickets may be reserved day-of; please click on link for more information.
***Please click on link for specific Playwrights Welcome ticket offers.

North Carolina

The Drama Center (Greensboro)
Stephen D Hyers Theater Studio Theatre (Greensboro)
StreetSigns (Pittsboro)

North Dakota

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Ohio

Cleveland Public Theatre (Cleveland)
Playwrights Local (Cleveland)

Oklahoma

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Oregon

Artists Repertory Theatre (Portland)
Barnstormers (Grants Pass)
CoHo Productions (Portland)
Portland Center Stage (Portland)

Pennsylvania

The Idiopathic Ridiculopathy Consortium (Philadelphia)

Rhode Island

The Wilbury Theatre Group (Providence)

South Carolina

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

South Dakota

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Tennessee

The Circuit Playhouse (Memphis)
Nashville Repertory Theatre (Nashville)
NewWorks@TheWorks (Memphis)
Playhouse on the Square (Memphis)

Texas

Amphibian Stage Productions (Fort Worth)
Bishop Arts Theatre Center (Dallas)
Camp Death Productions (Dallas)
Dallas Theater Center (Dallas)
North Texas Performing Arts - Plano Children's Theatre (Plano)
Ritz Community Theatre (Snyder)
Stage West (Fort Worth)
Theatre Three (Dallas)
Theatre Under the Stars (Houston)

Utah

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.

Vermont

Dorset Theatre Festival (Dorset)

Virginia

American Shakespeare Center (Staunton)
Selah Theatre Project (Front Royal)
Signature Theatre (Arlington)

Washington

Intiman Theatre (Seattle)
Seattle Repertory Theatre (Seattle)
Village Theatre (Issaquah)

Washington D.C.

Ford's Theatre
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Spooky Action Theater
The Welders

West Virginia

The Indie on Main (Keyser)

Wisconsin

Forward Theater Company (Madison)
Renaissance Theaterworks (Milwaukee)

Wyoming

There are currently no theaters in this state that are participating in Playwrights Welcome. If your theater would like to sign up, please click here and fill out the form.