A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit ยท Founded in New York
Commissioned plays developed in public, at HBCU campuses, regional theaters, and culturally-focused museums — not behind closed doors.
New Day Theatricals produces new plays, musicals, operas, and immersive events about real Black American heroes. Right now, our flagship program tours new plays only — musicals, operas, and immersive events are produced separately by the wider company.
The Dramaturgy
New Day Theatricals, Inc. commissions new work and takes it to the campuses, theaters, and museums that hold those stories, so the communities a play belongs to shape it before it is finished.
Most new plays are developed behind closed doors and arrive finished. New Pages! Heritage Tours™ does the opposite. Each commissioned play goes out on a ten-stop first leg through the Southeast and Deep South — to HBCU campuses, regional theaters, and culturally-focused museums — with a talkback after every performance and a residency or listening session built into every stop.
What the audience says in those rooms goes back into the script. A play about a Black American hero should be developed in front of the communities that hero came from.
Every stop ends with a talkback. The response is not marketing — it is part of the writing.
The Map
A national map of the places where these stories already live.
What We Do
We commission full-length plays about real Black American figures — historical or living, nationally known or locally revered — from experienced emerging playwrights who have the production history but have not yet had the national platform.
A touring company of four to eight brings each play to ten communities across four states in a single academic year, with talkbacks, campus residencies, and community listening sessions feeding directly back into the script.
Founder Ann James advises theaters and institutions on cultural and intimacy safety in productions of culturally specific work, through the Cultural Intelligence Process for the Arts (CIP).
The Call
Submissions for the first leg of New Pages! Heritage Tours™ open Sunday, November 1, 2026 and close Friday, January 15, 2027. Selections are announced in March 2027. The first leg tours in fall 2027.
No fee to submit. No exclusivity required. Playwrights retain their work.
If your institution belongs on this map, or if you want the essays as they publish, write to us directly.