Founded by Broadway producer [ Arielle Tepper Madover ], the Summer Play Festival (SPF) stages original new plays and musicals by emerging writers during the summer months in New York City. Since its inception in 2004, SPF has produced 450 performances and has provided an opportunity for 65 emerging writers as well as hundreds of directors, designers, actors, stage managers, and interns to present their work in a protected environment.
SPF is the Only Festival of Its Kind
- SPF provides full financial and production support at no cost to the artist
- SPF supplies guidance by established Broadway professionals
- SPF does not charge application or artist participation fees
- SPF accepts unsolicited manuscripts
- SPF does not control or profit from future productions.
- SPF engages leading artistic directors to act as mentors to its productions
The Summer Play Festival is also committed to providing a low ticket price of only $10 in order to bring in new audience members and give as many people as possible the opportunity to experience theatre in New York City As a result, the Festival has sold out its four-week performance schedule for each of the past four years by attracting a diverse audience of over 9,000 theatre patrons, many under the age of 35!
Our History
The first Summer Play Festival was presented in 2004. A year later in 2005, The Living Room for Artists, Inc. was formed as a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization to ensure that the Festival perpetuates its mission and whose central goal is to both fuel the growth of emerging theatre artists and encourage people to create, attend and work in the theatre.
While the principal activity of The Living Room for Artists is the Summer Play Festival, the organization has developed [ other programs ] to further advance its mission. These include an intensive internship program that attracts university students from across the country to work during the Festival; a Careers in Theatre series of panels that are hosted throughout the year in conjunction with the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting; the Donmar Warehouse Residency Program, which provides an opportunity for Festival writers to spend three weeks in residence at London's famed developmental theatre, where their plays are given a reading/workshop; and a Salon series, moderated by Time Out New York theatre critics, which provides a forum to discuss ideas and concerns relevant to today's theatre.
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