CHERRY LANE PLAYWRIGHTS COLLECTIVE
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APPLICATIONS FOR THE FIRST-EVER PLAYWRIGHT PROGRAM UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT ANNIE BAKER OPEN FEBRUARY 2 THROUGH MARCH 2

January 26, 2026—The newly reopened historic Cherry Lane Theatre and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and director Annie Baker (The Flick, Janet Planet, John) will open applications for the Cherry Lane Playwrights Collective on February 2.

The Cherry Lane Playwrights Collective is a nine-month developmental program under the direction of Baker, designed to support rising playwrights through community and without the barriers of formal graduate programs. A cohort of six selected playwrights will meet over ten Sunday evenings at Cherry Lane Theatre from September 2026 through June 2027 to share work, read pages aloud and develop brand-new plays over the course of the year.

Applications will open on February 2 at 10am ET and the submission deadline is March 2 at 5pm ET. They are free and open to writers who have not had a Broadway or Off-Broadway production in NYC and who will not be in an undergraduate or graduate program in the 2026/2027 academic year. Finalists will be notified on June 1 and final decisions will be made on July 1 ahead of the program’s start date on September 13. Further details can be found at playwrights.cherrylanetheatre.org.

The Cherry Lane Playwrights Collective will operate under Cherry Lane Development Group, a new non-profit with a mission to foster bold, innovative voices in the theatrical arts by cultivating a dynamic space where artists can take risks, deepen their craft, and shape new worlds for the stage.

The new collaboration between Baker and Cherry Lane continues the theatre’s celebrated history of fostering up-and-coming NYC playwrights. As the city’s oldest Off-Broadway theatre, Cherry Lane has hosted early and experimental works from legendary artists, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Eugene O'Neill, Samuel Beckett, Pablo Picasso, T. S. Eliot, Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard and many more.

About CHERRY LANE THEATRE

As the oldest Off-Broadway theatre in New York City, the century-old Cherry Lane Theatre has long been a staple in New York’s cultural landscape. Acquired by A24 in 2023, the theatre has undergone a multi-year renovation and reopened in September 2025. Its programming includes theater, as well as comedy, music and film. A new addition to the theater is Wild Cherry, the latest bar restaurant from Lee Hanson and Riad Nasr, the team behind Frenchette, Le Rock, and Le Veau d’Or.

CherryLaneTheatre.org

For additional information on Cherry Lane Theatre Contact: Carla Sacks, Sacks & Co. and Noah Ginsberg, Sacks & Co.