Six New York City theatre companies have each been awarded a $75,000 grant to support a selected playwright as the 2016-2017 Tow Playwright-in-Residence. The program includes a full-time salary, integrates playwrights into the theatre's day-to-day organizations and culminates in a full production of their plays.

The goal of the residency is to allow each playwright to gain experience and insight into all aspects of the running of a non-profit theatre.

“Our primary goal is to provide a transformational opportunity to spend a year focused on their writing," said Emily Tow Jackson, executive director and president of The Tow Foundation, in an online statement. “Promising playwrights need time and space to create their work, the support and mentorship of a professional theater company, and ultimately to see their work produced. We hope this residency will enhance their ability to navigate with confidence the multi-faceted, highly competitive world of professional theater.”

“We are interested in actively supporting the next generation of talented playwrights and excited that these theaters are committed to nurturing them as individual artists and as fully participating members of a larger cultural enterprise,” added Leonard Tow, chairman and founder of The Tow Foundation.

The theatre organizations and selected playwrights are:

Ars Nova, Rachel Bonds
Atlantic Theater Company, Paola Lazaro-Muñoz
Clubbed Thumb, Jaclyn Backhaus
Roundabout Theater Company, Jenny Rachel Weiner
Page 73 Productions, Caroline V. McGraw
2econd Stage Theatre, Chisa Hutchinson

For more information on The Tow Foundation and its initiatives, visit towfoundation.org.