Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Fine Art (M.F.A.)
Department
Theater
Language
English
First Advisor
Michael Page
Abstract
American Theater is hostile to the American playwright. I often fantasize about the great playwrights of the past and how they wrote plays. Chekhov had the actors of the Moscow Art Theatre. Molière wrote for his own company. Shakespeare had a home at the Globe Theater. Eugene O’Neill was discovered by an experimental theater company in Massachusetts spearheaded by young writers and painters (Gelb). I struggle to find a modern-day equivalent, but it must be out there. I believe that's how great plays and art, for that matter, are made, and I seldom see that model in theater right now. In “Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play,” it states that “the average playwright earns between $25,000 and $39,000 annually.” The writers of this same book also state that it is “uncommon for a working professional playwright in America to earn even $20,000” (London 51). This figure is almost at the federal poverty level at $15,650 as of 2025 for an individual (Federal Poverty Level (FPL) - Glossary). No wonder why playwrights have other jobs to supplement their income outside of their artistic practice. These financial hardships are real, and although some people might view this as a prerequisite for being a good writer, it suggests that, for these playwrights, theater creates a scarcity mindset that impacts how they work within a collaborative art form that would not exist without them. In the book “Life as a Playwright: A Survival Guide,” Jon Klein recommends emerging playwrights to submit to new play festivals and workshops. But, as of writing this, many of those new play programs that he mentions in his book, such as SPACE on Ryder Farm, Sundance Theatre Program, The Lark, and the Humana Festival of New American Plays have ceased operations due to funding cuts after the COVID-19 pandemic. The play development programs that remain, such as the Eugene O'Neill Center, which is described as an “indispensable theater incubator,” now face increased demand for the same number of spots while facing fiscal hardship of their own (Soloski). This dearth in opportunities is detrimental to the new work sector who have contributed to works such as “John Procter is The Villain” and “Other Desert Cities.”
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Bailey, Michael, "Playwright as Producer: Revolutionizing the New Play Development Process for the Modern Era" (2026). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/bc_etds/16
