Expanding the Canon.
Reimagining the Classics.

New York Classical Theatre is proud to continue New Visions, our first-ever new play development program, with the upcoming launch of Cycle 2.

As an AEA Off-Broadway company known for producing free, site-specific productions of classic plays across New York City, NY Classical is committed to making theatre accessible to all. At the heart of New Visions is a bold goal: to confront the exclusion of People of Color, Women, Non-Binary People, and People with Disabilities from the traditional theatrical canon—and from our own company’s history.

Through New Visions, we are expanding our artistic scope by supporting living playwrights whose work redefines what a “classic” can be and reimagines the canon on their own terms.

Our vision affirms that everyone—regardless of social, economic, or educational background—deserves the opportunity to experience live, professional theatre as a shared community. At the same time, we recognize that the so-called “classics” have long upheld systems of oppression and erasure. This program is our response and our invitation: to build a more inclusive and representative theatrical future.

New Visions champions new works that:

• Engage with or reinterpret the classical tradition,

• Expand our collective idea of what a “classic” can be, and

• Challenge the power structures that have historically shaped the canon.

Join the Vision!
Cycle 2 Program Details & Application Info

Help shape the future of classical theatre. Find out how New Visions works—and how your play could be part of it.

Applications for Cycle 2 are being accepted
May 12th–June 6th, 2025.

1. Adaptation/Translation.
2. Response/Subversion. Examples include: Branden Jacobs Jenkins’s An Octoroon and Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
3. Prequel/Sequel. Examples include: Lucas Hnath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2 and Taylor Mac’s Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus
4. Plays that engage with history and bring forgotten events to life. Examples include: John Guare’s A Free Man of Color and August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean
5. Plays that engage with written stories beyond the stage, including novels, poems and poetry collections, and journals that exists in the public domain. Examples include: Kate Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice
6. Plays that derive from oral histories, rituals, and other forms of creating, knowing, remembering, and documenting the world beyond the written word. Examples include: Ondinnok’s Rabinal Achiiption text goes here
*We are especially interested in plays that engage histories and traditions from outside the Western European and American canons and historical traditions.*
*We are especially interested in works that challenge and contest the classical canon.*
1. A full, public staged reading under Equity’s 29 hour reading guidelines, including:
  - A professional director and cast
  - 12 hours of rehearsal
  - One hour of guided discussion and feedback with the cast and director
  - One hour of guided discussion and feedback with the audience
2. Up to ten hours of further engagement and develop with NY Classical’s Literary Director.
3. A $300 stipend
Each selected play will also be considered for further development and production with NY Classical.
We invite and encourage playwrights of all backgrounds, experience, and training to apply.
1. USA Based Playwrights Only.
2. Play must be primarily in English. Bilingual plays, including ASL, are encouraged.
3. Only plays that have not had a professional, AEA production are eligible. Scripts that have had readings, workshops, and non-AEA or university productions are welcome.
4. Plays must have an estimated run time between 70 and 150 minutes.
5. Plays must include a minimum of 50% characters from historically excluded groups.
6. We are not looking to commission a new play. We are looking to develop existing original works.
Please submit the following as one .pdf to literary@nyclassical.org including:
1. Your name
2. A 100-200 word synopsis of the play
3. A character breakdown that describes the minimum 50% characters that are from historically excluded groups as defined in the opening paragraphs of this call.
4. A brief statement (as short as one sentence) of how this play is in conversation with an idea of “classics.”
5. The first ten pages of dialogue from the play you would like considered.
Playwrights selected from the initial review of applications will be invited to submit a full script for consideration. NY Classical may also request to have a conversation with the playwright regarding the work.
Please do not send complete scripts unless requested.
We look forward to reading your work.

Cycle 1 Highlights

The plays featured below were selected as part of New Visions: Cycle 1. Each playwright was invited to create a new work that pushes the boundaries of what is traditionally considered a “classic”—not based on the terms of the established Western canon, but on their own terms.

These pieces received public readings and developmental feedback from our Literary Director, Dr. Matthieu Chapman, with support throughout the revision process.

Click the images below to learn more about the playwrights, their plays, and the development journey.