We are a non-profit organization that promotes new plays and musicals through our statewide festival in Wisconsin. Anyone (self-produced, community, educational, semi-professional, or professional theater) who is interested in participating can!

You can find shows that are affiliated with WPW all across the state – from Door County, to Eau Claire, to Milwaukee! We are a statewide initiative; there is no one location that is our “hub”!

WPW runs statewide January-December 2026. If you are interested in participating at any point in the year, contact the WPW team at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com.

Yes, World Premiere Wisconsin became a 501c3 non-profit organization in the summer of 2025. It started as a coalition of theaters working together under the leadership of Forward Theater, Milwaukee Rep, and Northern Sky in order to amplify new work across the state. Learn more about the WPW Team.

Initial capital for World Premiere Wisconsin was provided by our 2023 Lead Producing Theaters: Forward Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Northern Sky; 2023 Festival Theaters: Capital City Theatre, First Stage, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act Theatre, Peninsula Players, Renaissance Theaterworks, Skylight Music Theatre, and Third Avenue Playworks. Additional funding was provided by 2023 Participating Theaters: American Players Theatre and Door Shakespeare, as well as the 2023 Festival Sponsor: Ten Chimneys Foundation. After the success of the festival in 2023, theaters across the state pledged 1/10th of 1% of their annual budget to sustain the festival longterm. View a full list of our sponsors from 2023, the current 2026 WPW Festival funders, and learn how you can support WPW.

All tickets to performances or readings must be purchased directly with the theater company. We are an affiliate organization. We do not sell tickets to any productions.

Sign up for the WPW newsletter! It’s the best way to be in the know for upcoming shows, events, and opportunities to see new works!

You can find us @worldpremierewi on Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to follow and tag us on social media. We’d love to see and share your posts!

WPW encourages you to volunteer by offering to assist your favorite local theater and by spreading the word to patrons and theatermakers you know around Wisconsin.

It’s not too late! There’s still time to join the festival! Fill out this form, and a member of our team will get in touch with you!

Not at all! WPW welcomes all theaters: community, academic, semi-professional, professional, and more! If you have more questions, email the WPW team at info@worldpremierewisconsin.com.

Festival Theaters are theater companies that have contributed 1/10th of 1% of their annual budget to financially support the longterm sustainability of the festival. Participating Theaters are any theater-making organizations (professional, semi-professional, community, academic, or self-produced) who wish to participate during the festival. You can become a participating theater at any time.

Both festival and participating theaters can present a production, workshop, or reading of new work during the span of the festival dates.

Participating and festival theaters receive access to all digital marketing collateral from the WPW Team. World Premiere Wisconsin encourages you to use the WPW logo for your season collateral. You can also find some of our collateral by checking out our MEDIA KIT.

No, there is no cost to joining our festival. Please note that World Premiere Wisconsin does not financially support individual productions and readings. All costs are the responsibility of the producer.

To be an official part of the WPW Festival, the presentation dates of your new work must overlap with the Festival dates of January-December 2026. We made WPW a full year long, spanning across three seasons, so it could be a part of a 25/26 (spring) or 26/27 (fall) season as well as opportunities to join us in the summer of 2026.

To inquire about further specifics such as interviews, timelines, and more, please email the WPW Team (Samantha and Allie) at marketing@worldpremierewisconsin.com.

Please download directly from our online MEDIA KIT. For photos or other information about specific productions, please inquire directly with the producing theaters.

We do not provide tickets to any of the festival productions. Please inquire directly with individual theaters’ marketing or leadership teams.

Sign up for the WPW newsletter and follow-us on social media: Facebook and Instagram.

WPW is not a producing house, nor do we pair playwrights with producers, venues, etc. World Premiere Wisconsin’s role is to support all entities producing under the WPW umbrella from a promotional and amplification standpoint.

As a playwright, there are two potential entry points to have your work included as part of the festival: 1). Having it produced by a theater in WI or 2). Self-producing in WI.

If you’re interested in pitching your work to a participating theater, you will need to reach out to those theaters directly. WPW does not pair playwrights with potential theaters for production.

We have compiled some resources for you to learn more about opportunities from some of the leading industry experts in new play development. Visit our INDUSTRY RESOURCES page for more details.