THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY was founded in 1970 by Crystal Field to realize the following clear purpose and goals:
• To embody the vision of a center for new and innovative theater arts that would be truly accessible to the community and its experimental theater artists;
• To discover relevant new writing and to nurture new playwrights;
• To be a bridge between playwright, experimental theater artist, and the ever-growing audiences in the community;
• To create spaces where a new vision can breathe and be nourished by a working process not subject to commercial constraints and pressures;
• To create events and ways to bring theater into the community and to bring the community into the theater.

Description and/or History:
For 38 years, TNC has maintained its mission through offering audiences an eclectic, innovative mix of theatrical visions embracing drama, poetry, music, dance and the visual arts. One of New York’s most prolific theatrical organizations, TNC produces 25-30 premieres of new American plays per year.

TNC is committed to developing and presenting emerging writers, female writers, minority writers, and writers from around the world, who are not known in commercial American theater. TNC has been instrumental in the careers of many celebrated actors, directors, designers, and playwrights, including Sam Shepard, Maria Irene Fornes, Jean Claude van Itallie, Charles Busch, Moises Kaufman, Basil Twist, Miguel Piñero and Academy Award winners Tim Robbins and Adrien Brodey. TNC is also a staunch supporter of the theatrical community, presenting at least three plays a year by alternative theater companies who have no permanent home.

TNC is unique in its commitment to both high artistic standards and community service. In an effort to make theater accessible to all, TNC sponsors several free, multi-ethnic events a year, including the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which celebrates the artistic and cultural diversity of TNC’s Lower East Side community, and the Annual Summer Street Theater, which travels to thirteen neighborhoods in all five boroughs. TNC has consistently been the most inexpensive theater of its caliber, with ticket prices currently $10-$15 for most productions. TNC also has a large free ticket program that distributes tickets to over 100 senior citizen centers, youth groups and community organizations throughout the five boroughs. As the cultural hub of its Lower East Side community, TNC develops new artists and inspires future audiences.

Awards for past productions include the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 43 Village Voice OBIE Awards for excellence in every theatrical discipline, 5 ASCAP Awards and 10 Rockefeller Playwrights Fellowships. TNC is the only cultural center to have been awarded The Mayors Stop the Violence Award for community service. It has also been honored with the Manhattan Borough President's Award for Public Service and Artistic Excellence in Theater.

Contact people:

Crystal Field, Executive Director, (212) 254-1109, (email) Jerry Jaffe, (212) 254-1109, (email) Jonathan Weber, Marketing Director, (212) 475-0108, (email)

Address:

155 1st Avenue New York, NY 10003 (See a map)

Directions:

Nearest Metro/Subway Stop: 6, Astor Place or L, 1st Avenue (at 14th St),   Walk distance (in minutes): 10   Nearest Bus Stop: M15, St. Marks Place, 5 minute walk