An artistic home for new work
San Francisco Playhouse develops new plays and musicals through commissions, readings, workshops, and World Premiere productions. We bring playwrights, directors, actors, and designers together to give ambitious new work the time, resources, and artistic support it needs to reach the stage.
World Premieres produced
New works commissioned
Will Glickman Awards
How new works come to life
Our New Works Program is not a single event or series. It is an ongoing process of finding distinctive voices, giving artists room to experiment, and helping exceptional new work move toward full production.
Start with a bold idea.
We commission playwrights and musical theatre artists whose voices offer distinctive ways of seeing ourselves and the world around us.
Give the work room to grow.
Readings, workshops, rehearsal time, and collaboration with professional artists allow writers to hear their work, experiment, revise, and deepen it.
Bring it fully to the stage.
Our commitment extends to fully realized World Premiere productions, bringing new work to audiences as part of the San Francisco Playhouse season.
Current commissions
Our newest commissions bring together writers with a range of artistic voices, experiences, and forms, including the first musical commissioned by San Francisco Playhouse.
Fantasy Now!
Some Freak Miracle
Dead Best Friend
This Time
In the Fold
Untitled Commission
Additional works in development: San Francisco Playhouse also has open commissions with Octavio Solis, Ruben Grijalva, Geetha Reddy, Candrice Jones, Lee Cataluna, and Melissa Ross.
From development to production
Our commitment to new work extends from its earliest development to fully realized productions. Recent and upcoming projects show how writers and plays can grow with San Francisco Playhouse and continue their lives beyond our stages.
R.O.I. (Return on Investment)
Aaron Loeb’s Silicon Valley thriller was commissioned by San Francisco Playhouse and received its World Premiere at the Creativity Theater as part of the Playhouse’s 2026/27 season.
Perfect Daughter
Chloé Hung’s high-tech dramedy comes to the Creativity Theater after receiving Theatre Bay Area’s 2026 Rella Lossy Award honoring the best new script of a full-length play by an emerging Bay Area playwright.
Home?
San Francisco Playhouse commissioned, developed, and produced Hend Ayoub’s Home? A Palestinian Woman’s Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness, which went on from a sold-out San Francisco run to a sold-out Off-Broadway engagement at 59E59 Theaters.
My Home on the Moon
Minna Lee’s imaginative comedy received its World Premiere at San Francisco Playhouse and was honored with the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best New Script.
Cashed Out
Claude Jackson, Jr.’s play began as a ten-minute work presented through our Zoomlet series. San Francisco Playhouse commissioned Jackson to develop it into a full-length play, supporting the work through readings, workshops, and numerous drafts before presenting its World Premiere on our Mainstage.
The Great Khan
Michael Gene Sullivan’s provocative comedy received a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at San Francisco Playhouse, co-produced with the San Francisco Mime Troupe.
Readings & workshops
New plays change when artists can hear them aloud. Throughout the development process, San Francisco Playhouse brings writers together with professional actors, directors, and other collaborators for readings and workshops that help new work evolve.
Public readings and other opportunities to experience works in development will be announced as they are scheduled.
Join our email list for New Works announcements, readings, and upcoming World Premieres.
A legacy of taking chances
New work has been part of San Francisco Playhouse’s identity throughout its history. Plays born and developed here have earned major Bay Area awards, traveled beyond San Francisco, and introduced audiences to distinctive voices in contemporary theatre.
Will Glickman Award winner and later produced Off-Broadway.
Recipient of the Will Glickman Award for Best New Bay Area Play.
Recipient of the Will Glickman Award for Best New Bay Area Play.
Recipient of the SFBATCC Award for Best New Script.
The foundation for our next chapter
For more than fifteen years, the San Francisco Playhouse Sandbox Series gave new plays an opportunity to move beyond staged readings and onto their feet in intimate productions with professional artists.
As our New Works Program enters its next chapter, we are building on that legacy by bringing more new work into fully realized World Premiere productions as part of our regular seasons.
Help new stories reach the stage.
Your support gives playwrights the resources to write, experiment, collaborate, revise, and ultimately see bold new work brought to life in front of an audience.
San Francisco Playhouse
450 Post St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 677-9596
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A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Tax ID: 86-1089699
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