Founded in 1979 by four aspiring playwrights, Chicago Dramatists has grown to a company serving over 500 playwrights annually. It is the only theatre organization in the country that is both a playwrights development center and a producing theatre. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the theatre has experienced continual growth on all fronts: artistic, financial, accomplishments of playwrights, numbers of playwrights and patrons served, and national reputation. Chicago Dramatists offers a depth of play development that is unduplicated by any other theatre in Chicago and is recognized nationally as one of the countrys most important incubators for new plays and playwrights. The impact of Chicago Dramatists programming is felt far beyond the walls of our theatre, sas our development work is an engine for the Chicago theatre scene. Our playwrights earned more than 50 productions, readings, and other honors this past year at theatres as diverse as the Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, Stage Left, Steppenwolf, Black Ensmble Theatre, The Gift Theatre, Route 66, Teatro Vista, Teatro Luna, the side project, MPAACT, and The 16th Street Theatre in Berwyn, to name a few. Chicago Dramatists hires over 600 actors, directors and designers annually, making it one of the largest employers of theatre artists in the state. For 32 years,. Chicago Dramatists has helped launch the careers of some of this countrys most prolific theatrical voices, writers like Rebecca Gilman, Sarah Ruhl, Tina Fey, Rick Cleveland, Lydia R. Diamond, Roger Rueff, and Keith Huff, to name a few.

Chicago Dramatists is a professional non-profit theatre, dedicated to the development and advancement of playwrights and new plays. The primary goal is to discover, develop and promote the new plays and playwrights that will contribute to the established theatre repertory, and enrich the lives of theatre audiences.

Last season, Chicago Dramatists playwrights earned over 500 productions, awards, readings, and honors, enriching the lives of thousands of theatre patrons in Chicago and across the country. Through the Resident Playwright Program, Chicago Dramatists nurtures the work and careers of a diverse mix of 40 professional dramatists who are beneficiaries of the theatre's fullest and longest-term support. The Playwrights Network program is the only one of its kind in the country and serves 180 playwrights residing in Chicago and across in the nation. It provides writers who are geographically isolated with a range of play development services. In 2010/2011, Chicago Dramatists will produce two world premiere plays, the fall Jeff Recommended, The Invasion of Skokie by Mia McCullough Bordello by Aline Lathrop, and Hickorydickory by Marisa Wegrzyn, for which she won the prestigious Wendy Wasserstein Prize. The cornerstone program is the Saturday Series of staged readings of plays-in-progress, performed by professional actors and followed by moderated discussions and audience feedback, providing playwrights the insight they need to further develop their plays. Other developmental programs include: the public quarterly 10-Minute Workshop, table readings that allow playwrights to hear an early draft of their play in a safe, nurturing environment,and Instant Theatre, which challenges playwrights to create short plays based on a theme within one week. Through its programs, Chicago Dramatists partners with many area theatres both large and small, to further enhance opportunities for readings and productions at theatres throughout Chicago. A natural extension of its mission to develop new voices, since 1992, Chicago Dramatists has conducted its Educational Outreach Program, teaching playwriting to at-risk teenagers in economically challenged Chicago public high schools. In 19 programs, Chicago Dramatists served a total of 366 students last year, an increase of 52 students from the previous year. During the playwrights residency, each student writes his or her own short play and selected scripts are rehearsed with professional directors and actors and scenes are presented for student, faculty and community/family audiences at the high schools. Last year, the audiences at these festival performances totaled 1,500 individuals. The support of the Chicago Community Trust has enabled us to grow as an organization. We aim to build our national presence as a thriving center for cutting edge, provocative new plays and Chicagos reputation as a major force in American theatre.