WPW is a statewide festival celebrating new plays and musicals in Wisconsin!

WPW was conceived with three primary goals in mind: 1.) to build relationships between theater-makers across our state; 2.) to raise awareness nation-wide that Wisconsin has a thriving and diverse theater ecosystem, which includes the frequent creation of new work; and 3.) to encourage and facilitate the production of new plays, by providing marketing and logistical support to participating companies. An additional goal was added in light of the challenges posed by COVID-19: 4.) to communicate a positive story about Wisconsin’s theaters that will engage and excite statewide audiences during our recovery and rebuilding.

Throughout the state! So far, Festival and Participating Theaters stretch from Madison to Door County to Milwaukee. You can find a theater near you by tracking the list of theaters here on the website now and, soon, via an interactive map and calendar.

WPW runs statewide March 1 – June 30, 2023.

No, WPW is not an organization but a coalition of theaters working together under the leadership of Forward Theater, Northern Sky, and the Milwaukee Rep in order to amplify new work across the state.

Initial capital for the WPW project was provided by Lead and Festival Theaters, as well as Ten Chimneys Foundation (WPW’s fiscal receiver). WPW welcomes designated donations via Ten Chimneys from individuals, foundations, and corporations. Please inquire with WPW at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com if you wish to show your support.

Check the website periodically as the year progresses. Participating companies will be added as they come aboard, and later this Fall the website will feature an interactive calendar.

Purchase tickets to performances and readings directly from the theater at which they are held. WPW will offer links to organizations’ websites.

Sign up for the WPW newsletter! Register your email under the “Get in Touch” portion of the website, and you’ll be the first to hear about new companies and titles.

Feel free to send an email to info@worldpremierewisconsin.com with the subject line “Patron Adventures.” We’d love to hear about your theater travels in Wisconsin! You can also tag us on social media: our accounts are Facebook (World Premiere Wisconsin), and Twitter (@WorldPremiereWI).

Ten Chimneys, summer home of Broadway actors Lynn Fontanne and Alfred Lunt, graciously operates as the fiscal receiver for World Premiere Wisconsin. You may make your gift directly to WPW by visiting Ten Chimneys here

WPW encourages you to volunteer by offering to assist your favorite local theater and by spreading the word to patrons and theater-makers you know around Wisconsin.

Check out the website’s “Get in touch” page to sign up. You’ll shortly receive further information from WPW administration. You may also inquire at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com.

Festival Theaters are the professional companies around the state who have committed to a full production as part of WPW and who have been involved in long-term festival planning. (For these purposes, ‘professional’ has been defined as companies who operate under season-long agreements with Actors Equity Association.) Participating Theaters are any theater-making organizations (semi-professional, community, and academic) who wish to participate by presenting a production, workshop, or reading of a world premiere work during the span of the festival dates.

Not at all! WPW welcomes all theaters: community, academic, semi-professional, professional, and more!

Festival and Participating Theaters receive access to all digital marketing collateral upon sign-up. WPW encourages you to use the WPW logo for your season collateral!

No, there is no cost to joining the Festival. Please note that WPW does not financially support individual productions and readings; costs for every event fall upon the producer.

WPW’s inception rose out of a desire to connect producers and artists around the state more intimately. In addition to a wider connection to colleagues, your production (and thereby organization) will receive amplification via WPW website, newsletter, social media, and any other group collateral produced.

Watch for “Ask Me Anything” sessions held by NNPN and WPW coming up throughout this year to get you started. Questions may involve steps for producing, how to find a play without getting lost in the wealth of material available, how to work with a playwright on their new work, and more.

The short answer is as long as your time and budget allow! To workshop a new play, a short process may look like a week of rehearsal and discussion
which allows the playwright to process what they hear and revise as they need. A longer process may mean ongoing discussions over the course of months among the producer, director, and playwright; the presence of the playwright at rehearsals; and/or the presence of a dramaturg to hear and care for the integrity of the story and the playwright and producer’s progress.

WPW has partnered with the National New Play Network to offer resources and guidance for producers looking for the right match for their theater. One rich resource is the New Play Exchange, a massive library of new work waiting to be discovered. (If you’d like help in how to narrow down your
search, see below!)

To be an official part of the WPW Festival, the presentation dates of your new work must overlap with the Festival dates of March 1-June 30, 2023. However, we hope that WPW accounts will in the future be used to celebrate new work whenever it might take place!

Watch for “Ask Me Anything” sessions held by NNPN and WPW coming up throughout this year to get you started. Questions may involve steps for producing, how to find a play without getting lost in the wealth of material available, how to work with a playwright on their new work, and more.

The short answer is as long as your time and budget allow! To workshop a new play, a short process may look like a week of rehearsal and discussion
which allows the playwright to process what they hear and revise as they need. A longer process may mean ongoing discussions over the course of months among the producer, director, and playwright; the presence of the playwright at rehearsals; and/or the presence of a dramaturg to hear and care for the integrity of the story and the playwright and producer’s progress.

WPW has partnered with the National New Play Network to offer resources and guidance for producers looking for the right match for their theater. One rich resource is the New Play Exchange, a massive library of new work waiting to be discovered. (If you’d like help in how to narrow down your
search, see below!)

To be an official part of the WPW Festival, the presentation dates of your new work must overlap with the Festival dates of March 1-June 30, 2023. However, we hope that WPW accounts will in the future be used to celebrate new work whenever it might take place!

For general information, sign up to receive newsletters and notifications at the “Get in touch” page of the WPW website. To inquire about further specifics such as interviews, timelines, and more, please email WPW at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com.

For WPW collateral, please inquire at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com. For photos or other information about specific productions, please inquire directly with theaters.

Please inquire directly with individual theaters’ marketing or leadership teams.

At this time, sign up to receive newsletters and notifications at the “Get in touch” page of the WPW website. Digital newsletters will be produced periodically; please add info@worldpremierewisconsin.com to your safe senders list so that mailings don’t end up in spam/junk folders.

For individual theaters, please inquire with their literary or artistic departments about whether they are accepting submissions of new work. (Some theaters accept work on a rolling basis. Others have designated periods of reviewing new work.)

WPW welcomes self-produced new plays as part of the Festival! Simply register on our website as a Participating Theater (you can use your own name to do so). Please note that you will be responsible for all arrangements to produce your work.

WPW has a presence online via our website, Facebook (World Premiere Wisconsin), and Twitter (@WorldPremiereWI). Follow WPW, and share via your socials to encourage your fellow artists and patrons. If you live in an area with a theater (from community to academic to professional) and you don’t see them on the website as a Festival or Participating Theater, please feel free to reach out to them to let them know about the Festival. Word of mouth is always the strongest way to build awareness!

Inquire with the theater producing your work or write to info@worldpremierewisconsin.com for more information.

Encourage any and all to see your work! “Join me for the world premiere of my play at [theater], a [Festival/Participating] Theater in World Premiere Wisconsin, a state-wide festival celebrating new plays and musicals.” Make certain to share dates and how to attend. Tag @WorldPremiereWI when you share!

Inquire with the theater producing your work or write to info@worldpremierewisconsin.com for more information.

Encourage any and all to see your work! “Join me for the world premiere of my play at [theater], a [Festival/Participating] Theater in World Premiere Wisconsin, a state-wide festival celebrating new plays and musicals.” Make certain to share dates and how to attend. Tag @WorldPremiereWI when you share!

Look for open calls to audition or inquire with Festival and Participating Theaters in your area. WPW itself will not hold or monitor auditions for individual participants’ productions.

Check out the list of participants here on the website, and inquire with a theater near you directly!

WPW has a presence online via our website, Facebook (World Premiere Wisconsin), and Twitter (@WorldPremiereWI). Follow WPW, and share via your socials to encourage your fellow artists and patrons. If you live in an area with a theater (from community to academic to professional) and you don’t see them on the website as a Festival or Participating Theater, please feel free to reach out to them to let them know about the Festival. Word of mouth is always the strongest way to build awareness!

WPW welcomes self-produced new plays as part of the Festival! Simply register on our website as a Participating Theater (you can use your own name to do so). Please note that you will be responsible for all arrangements to produce your work.

Share via your socials. Let your board and patrons know! Inquire with WPW about how to offer space for a reading or production in your area or support of your sibling theaters via marketing or other trades. Have ideas about how to do so? Share them with us, and we’ll pass ideas along to marketing team leadership at participating organizations!

Marketing trades, opening your spaces for readings or productions, stocking individual theaters’ collateral, and sharing with your constituents may help WPW, but it helps your local theaters even more. See the list of participating theaters on the website, and inquire with theaters directly about ways to work that may be of mutual benefit.