History
The founding members of Playwrights 6
In the beginning was the word.
It began simply enough, back in 1999, when six Los Angeles playwrights banded together under an unusual and innovative conceit: the playwright as producer.
With equal parts respect for the written word and for the actors embodying it, the newly-formed company set out to redefine the theatrical landscape with its first group show, aptly titled Mayhem. Hilarity ensued.
Sold out group shows of one-acts (Do You Want to Know a Secret?, re: LAX – Stories from an Airport) led to successful forays into full-length productions (Bible Stories, Vacation, Seven Days, Like an Old Song, Dead Girl’s Diary, Cold).
As P6 amassed critical praise from the L.A. Times, L.A. Weekly and Backstage West, (including L.A. Weekly Theatre Award nominations, Garland Award honorary mentions and Critics Top 10 “Best of the Year” postings), the founders began an ambitious plan for growth.
The next stage.
First, P6 became a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization and joined the Los Angeles Stage Alliance. The company then launched its own Writers/Actors Workshop and a companion “Play Night with the Playwright” series of staged readings featuring new works developed in the workshop.
The Playwrights then set out to become a resource to other LA theatre companies. Soon, they were partnering with theatres like The Ark, Celebration Theatre and Ruskin Theatre Group on wildly successful co-productions (The Big Ever After, The Mitchells, Christmastime is Queer I, II and III).
Projects developed through the workshop took flight, finding their way to other stages in Los Angeles and New York, as well as on film.
