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Productions & Programs

Binger Center for New Theatre

Yale’s Binger Center for New Theatre is an artist-driven initiative that devotes major resources to the commissioning, development, and production of new plays and musicals. Since 2008, the Binger Center has supported the work of more than 60 commissioned artists and underwritten the world premieres and subsequent productions of 35 new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theatres across the country—including this season’s Girls by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, The Plot by Will Eno, Manahatta by Mary Kathryn Nagle, and Testmatch by Kate Attwell.
 

The Binger Center underwrites significant opportunities for the production of new plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theatres across the country. Established in 2008, the Center was permanently endowed in 2012 by a gift from the Robina Foundation with additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Time Warner Foundation Inc. and individual donors. The Center is named in honor of James H. Binger (1916-2004), the noted businessman, theatre impresario, and philanthropist who created the Robina Foundation.

Kiss by Guillermo Calderón 2018
Field Guide, created by Rude Mechs, World Premiere 2018
"The Best New Play So far This Year!" The Wall Street Journal Mary Jane, By Amy Herzog, World Premier, 2017
Feminism, un-whitewashed. Beautiful, funny, and chilling." New Haven Indepent Imogen Says Nothing by Aditi Brennan Kapil, world premiere, 2017.
" This is the reason we go to the theater!" The New York Times. The Moors by Jen Silverman, World Pr
" Speldid! Refreshing! Bitingly caustic and Humorous." New Haven Register Peerless
Winner! 2016 Outstanding production of a play, Connecticut Critics Circle. Critics Pick! " A powerfu
" Uniquely witty and poetic language, suspense, complicated sadness, warmth, and dancing, Creates a
" Fiercely funny! Probes with subtlety and smarts the subject of immigration and assimilation." The
Critics Pick! " A sharp drama about forgiveness, generosity, and family." Time out New York
" One of 10 reasons for Theaters to leave New York in 2014! Time Magazine. The House that will not S
Winner! 2014 Outstanding production of a play Connecticut Critics Circle. These Paper Bullets! by Ro
"Riotous! A Genuine Public Service to the American Theater." New Haven Independent
" An ecstacy of Theatrical Surprises!" New Haven Advocate. In a year with 13 moons, adapted by Bill
" Mesmerizing in every way!" New Haven Register. Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl, World Premier, 2012
Winner 2013 Outstanding Production of a play, Connecticut Critics Circle. Marie Antoinette by David
" The best broadway play of 2014!" USA Today. The Realistic Jonesses by Will Eno, World Premier, 201
" Excellent! The poetry and unsung lives unfolding in places barely drawn on any map." Bloomberg New
Top 10 plays of 2011 and 2013 - The New York Times. Belleville by Amy Herzog, world premiere, 2011.
" Quietly Affecting seeps into your soul." New Haven Register. Bossa Nova by Kirsten Greenidge, Worl
"Wonderful not to be missed!" Connecticut Post. We have always lived in the castle by Todd Almond
" Majestic a work of brilliant and compelling art" Hartford Courant. Compulsion by Rinne Groff world
Winner! 2010 Outstanding production of a musical. Connecticut Critics Circle. Pop! by Maggie-Kate Co
" Brutal, Funny, Agonizing, and profound. A brilliantly original work of art!" The Boston Globe. Not

Selected Binger Center Programs

Commissions

Yale Rep commissions artists with a diverse range of voices and theatrical aesthetics—including playwrights, directors, composers, performers, and ensembles—to create new work for the stage. These artists can be at any point in their creative lives: from early and mid-career writers to veterans of the American theatre.

Residencies

The Center brings its artists to New Haven for residencies. Like development activities, each residency is created in response to the artist’s unique process and can include independent, unstructured work time; dramaturgical support from Yale Rep’s staff; and access to Yale University’s vast resources. 

Readings and Workshops

Each development process is tailor-made to the artist’s needs and can include small, private readings and large-scale, multi-day workshops.

New Play Production

The Center underwrites significant opportunities for production of new plays and musicals at Yale Rep.

Production Fund

The Center’s production fund provides financial support for productions at other theatres of works commissioned by and/or first produced at Yale Rep.

Partnerships

Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould were commissioned by Yale Rep in partnership with Full Stage USA at New Dramatists, a program made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Paula Vogel and Rebecca Taichman were commissioned by Yale Rep and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as part of OSF’s American Revolutions: the United States History Cycle. Naomi Iizuka was commissioned by Yale Rep and the Huntington Theatre Company.

Submissions

All playwrights who submit their work to Yale Rep are considered for participation in Binger Center for New Theatre activities. Learn more about our submission guidelines.

Contact

For more information about the Center and its programs, please contact Jennifer Kiger, Associate Artistic Director of Yale Rep and Director of New Play Programs.

Commissioned Artists 

David Adjmi
Todd Almond
Christina Anderson
Hilary Bell
Adam Bock 
Sheila Callaghan 
Bill Camp
Lucinda Coxon 
Lear deBessonet
Will Eno
Dorothy Fortenberry 
Marcus Gardley
Matt Gould 
Kirsten Greenidge
Danai Gurira
Noah Haidle 

Karen Hartman
Ann Marie Healy
Amy Herzog
Naomi Iizuka
Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Rolin Jones 
Aditi Brennan Kapil 
Howard Korder
Carson Kreitzer 
Dan LeFranc
Caroline V. McGraw
Elizabeth Meriwether
Meg Miroshnik
Scott Murphy
Julie Marie Myatt
David Lefort Nugent

Lina Patel
christopher oscar peña
Jay Reiss
Amelia Roper
Rude Mechs 
Sarah Ruhl
Octavio Solis
Rebecca Taichman
Lucy Thurber
Alice Tuan
Paula Vogel
Kathryn Walat
Anne Washburn
Marisa Wegrzyn
Robert Woodruff