Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company
Encyclopedia
Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company is a professional theatre company located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 2003 by artistic director Mark Clayton Southers, the company originally held productions at the Penn Theater in Garfield
and moved to a new space on Penn Avenue
in Pittsburgh's Cultural District
. It now holds productions in a space on Liberty Avenue in the same building used by Bricolage Production Company
, as well as the August Wilson Center for African American Culture
, where Southers is artistic director of theatre initiatives. The theatre's mission is to develop and showcase works by Pittsburgh playwrights, ranging from August Wilson
and George Kaufman to new unknown playwrights, and to "nurture a racially and culturally diverse community of playwrights, directors, actors and technical specialists to hone their craft and to network creative opportunities."
The company has had premiere productions of works by such Pittsburgh playwrights as Tammy Ryan, Brendon Bates, F.J. Hartland, Wali Jamal, and Amy Hartman. The theatre company is also well-known for its annual Theatre Festival in Black & White, in which white directors direct one-act plays by black playwrights and black directors direct one-act plays by white playwrights. The company has also sponsored series of readings by local playwrights.
Garfield (Pittsburgh)
Garfield is a neighborhood in the east end of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Garfield lies about three miles as the crow flies from the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers at the City's heart. It sits on a bluff above the Allegheny River...
and moved to a new space on Penn Avenue
Penn Avenue
Penn Avenue is a major arterial street in Pittsburgh. Its western terminus lies at Gateway Center in downtown Pittsburgh. For its westernmost ten blocks it serves as the core of the Cultural District with such attractions as Heinz Hall, the Benedum Center and the Byham Theater as well as the...
in Pittsburgh's Cultural District
Cultural District, Pittsburgh
The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in Downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south....
. It now holds productions in a space on Liberty Avenue in the same building used by Bricolage Production Company
Bricolage Production Company
Bricolage Production Company is a professional theatre company based in downtown Pittsburgh. Established in 2001 by Jeffrey Carpenter, it is located on Liberty Avenue in Pittsburgh's Cultural District in a space that was formerly a Turkish bathhouse...
, as well as the August Wilson Center for African American Culture
August Wilson Center for African American Culture
August Wilson Center for African American Culture is a U.S. nonprofit arts organization that presents performing and visual arts programs that celebrate the contributions of African Americans in Western Pennsylvania....
, where Southers is artistic director of theatre initiatives. The theatre's mission is to develop and showcase works by Pittsburgh playwrights, ranging from August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
and George Kaufman to new unknown playwrights, and to "nurture a racially and culturally diverse community of playwrights, directors, actors and technical specialists to hone their craft and to network creative opportunities."
The company has had premiere productions of works by such Pittsburgh playwrights as Tammy Ryan, Brendon Bates, F.J. Hartland, Wali Jamal, and Amy Hartman. The theatre company is also well-known for its annual Theatre Festival in Black & White, in which white directors direct one-act plays by black playwrights and black directors direct one-act plays by white playwrights. The company has also sponsored series of readings by local playwrights.