Founded in 2003 to stage fully realized productions, rather than mere readings, 13P (13 Playwrights) is comprised of Sheila Callaghan, Erin Courtney, Madeleine George, Rob Handel, Ann Marie Healy, Julia Jarcho, Young Jean Lee, Winter Miller, Sarah Ruhl, Katherine Ryan, Lucy Thurber, Anne Washburn and Gary Winter.

For its final two seasons, 13P will produce plays by Madeleine George and Young Jean Lee in 2010, with Sarah Ruhl and Erin Courtney to follow in 2011.

Each playwright rotates as artistic director of the company during the dates of production for their respective play. Once all of the assembled playwrights in 13P have had their works staged, the group will disband.

Playwright George said in a statement, "When I first met Rob Handel in 2002 and signed on to his ambitious plan to create a playwright-driven play production model, I believed, as most of us did, that the project was pure idealism — a great idea, desperately needed, but probably impossible to realize in its entirety. The fact that, eight years later, we have nine fully mounted shows under our belts and the last four productions in our sights on the horizon is a testament to the dedication of the thirteen playwrights and the volunteer staff of 13P; to have the Mellon Foundation recognize our efforts in this extraordinary way is a testament to the triumph of idealism over resignation in the American theatre."

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