PlayGround Announces Call For 7TH INNOVATOR INCUBATOR: Supporting the Launch of New Theatre Companies

SAN FRANCISCO – PlayGround has announced the call for the 7th annual cohort for the Innovator Incubator program. The Innovator Incubator was launched in 2019 to foster new innovative theatre companies and productions with a strong commitment to historically marginalized or excluded communities. The multi-year intensive incubation program provides access and opportunity for emerging theatre companies, by offering financial support, fiscal sponsorship, free rehearsal and performance space, hands-on mentorship, and free workshops with industry leaders in specialized areas of theatre management and production. This comprehensive program has and will bolster the diverse voices of the participating companies for the 2025-26 season and beyond.

To date, 16 companies have been launched through the Innovator Incubator, helping to employ more than 400 local theatre artists and fostering the development of more than 30 new works for the stage. Last year’s initiative supported four production companies and provided more than $50,000 in tools and resources including fiscal sponsorship, one-on-one mentoring, free and discounted performance and rehearsal space, and co-marketing.

Past participants include Analog Theatre, The Chikahan Company, Latinx Mafia, Network Effects Theater, Oakland Public Theater, and Poltergeist Theatre Project based in the San Francisco Bay Area; and The American Jewish Theatre and House Theater, both based in Los Angeles. New for this year, companies based in New York and Chicago with at least one member of the leadership team having a PlayGround affiliation, will be invited to apply.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must:

– Be a rising theatre company with 0-3 years of producing history with a Leadership Team consisting of at least three members. Leadership team need not be full-time nor paid, just committed to the success of the company.
– In the San Francisco Bay Area and Greater Los Angeles Area, all rising theatre companies are invited to apply.
– In New York City and the Greater Chicago Area, theatre companies must have at least one PlayGround-affiliated artist (Company Member, Writers Pool Member, Writers Pool Alum, Monday Night PlayGround Actor/Director, Board Member) on their leadership team in order to apply.
– Have at least one theatrical project in mind to produce or develop as a part of the July 2026 Innovator Incubator Showcase at Potrero Stage in San Francisco OR at another venue of the applicant’s choice. If not taking place at Potrero Stage, the applicant will be responsible for securing their own presentation venue. This performance can be a reading, workshop, development production or other sort of public presentation as determined by the individual Incubator company.
– Commitment to taking full advantage of the opportunities for peer learning and 1-on-1 mentorship to advance the development and growth of your new company, including monthly subject-specific workshops (marketing, public relations, financial management, production management, crowd-funding and grant writing, etc.), access to PlayGround professional staff, etc. (August, 2025-July, 2026).

Selected companies will work to refine their organizational structure, learn the strategies of fundraising and budgeting, and hone their mission and vision statements to enter the wider regional theatre scenes prepared to continue on as full fledged production organizations. PlayGround will continue to support and sponsor these companies on an ongoing basis, culminating in the season-ending Innovators Showcase in July. The 7th annual Innovators Showcase is scheduled July 6-26, 2026.

Theatre companies can submit here.

For more information on last year’s teams, and upcoming information on this year’s, visit playground-sf.org/incubator/ or call (415) 992-6677.