mission, vision, & Values

Boston Playwrights’ Theatre is dedicated to the voice and vision of the playwright.
We focus on first and second productions of new plays by living writers, and on processes designed to support both the playwright and the play. We have a deep investment in Boston and Boston-adjacent artists; we look for projects that center vital questions in the lives of those in our region and seek the amplification of voices in our communities that have been historically silenced or ignored. In this time of great uncertainty and great possibility, we believe that playwrights are necessary to the project of reflecting on our past, engaging with our present challenges, and shaping our future.

We put playwrights at the center. 
We produce first and second productions of new plays by living writers, in processes designed to support both the playwright and the play. We are most interested in projects where the writer(s) and other generative artists are present and involved throughout the process, and where we feel we can make a meaningful contribution to the project’s development and future life. 

We are the home of new plays in Boston.
We have a deep investment in Boston and Boston-adjacent artists, especially alumni and current students of Boston University’s graduate Playwriting Program, whose plays will be found in each and every BPT season. We look for projects that center vital questions in the lives of those who live, work, and play in our region. We look for ways to amplify voices in our communities that have been historically silenced or ignored. 

We produce work that is uniquely suited to our spaces and resources.
We have two wonderful, scrappy black box theater spaces that are a perfect home for some plays, but not for all plays. We can be most successful in producing text-focused, technically simple projects that benefit from rigorous dramaturgy and the resources of a university—most significantly, access to academic subject matter experts and to excellent young actors in a BFA training program. We only commit to projects that we feel we are uniquely suited to produce at a high level given our spaces, resources, and values.

We believe that playwrights are necessary.
We live in a time of great uncertainty and great possibility. We seek to develop and produce plays that deepen our collective understanding as we reflect on our past, take on the challenges of our present moment, and plan for our future.