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 50 commissioned artists as well as the world premieres and subsequent productions of 24 new American plays and musicals at Yale Rep and theatres across the country—including this season’s Scenes from Court Life by Sarah Ruhl, Imogen Says Nothing by Aditi Brennan Kapil, and Mary Jane by Amy Herzog.
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 and supported by additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 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.
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.
Yale Institute for Music Theatre
The Institute (Mark Brokaw, Artistic Director) bridges the gap between training and the professional world for early-career composers, playwrights, and lyricists by providing them with an annual, intensive two-week summer lab at Yale School of Drama.
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