Artist Party: Philadelphia Dramatist, Director, Dramaturg Mixer

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PlayPenn invites directors, dramaturgs, and playwrights to a speed-dating-style networking mixer designed to foster new artistic collaborations, and expand your professional network!

What is speed dating for theater artists?

It’s a structured mixer where you’ll engage in timed, focused conversations with multiple artists. This is your chance to explore mutual artistic interests, discuss your work, and spark potential collaborations.

How does it work?

Each participant will have two minutes to introduce themselves and share their work before rotating to the next conversation. Come prepared to discuss your work.

Why attend?

This event is designed to help you connect with potential collaborators, discover new voices, and build relationships for future projects.

Will food and drinks be provided?

Yes! Light snacks and beverages will be provided. Don’t miss this chance to expand your network and find your next creative partner!

About the 2026 New Play Development Conference

PlayPenn’s nationally recognized New Play Development Conference brings together readings of new plays alongside a citywide series of civic gatherings, workshops, artist exchanges, and public conversations focusing on art, democracy, historical memory, belonging, and collective imagination. This community-focused approach to new play development reflects a broader vision of theatre in a shared civic life that illuminates what theatre can do, who participates in it, how it unfolds, and why it matters. 

The 19-event Conference brings together 22 playwrights participating across workshops, conversations, and five new work presentations while expanding its scope to include an interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Eboni Booth (Primary Trust), free playwriting workshops for adults, teens, and women over 50, and a public conversation examining constitutional history and civic identity.

Additional programming includes a community workshop for queer theatre makers; a convening on innovation in theatre-making with leaders from Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Cannonball Festival, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Lemonade Stand, and Tiny Dynamite; and an acting lab focused on approaches to new play development and cross-community exchanges among theatre artists.