The Z Space Studio

Mission

The Z Space Studio strives to fuel the development of American theater on a national level by nurturing new voices, new works, and new opportunities in the San Francisco Bay Area. We fulfill the function by: - Serving as an artistic and creative home to over 300 local theater artists and organizations. - Commissioning, developing, and producing new works from local and national playwrights, writers, artists, and directors through our Z Plays Development Program and Word for Word Performing Arts Company. - Creating and overseeing development and touring initiatives, such as the Western Presenters Commissioning Initiative, with other presenters in California and beyond designed to bring these newly created San Francisco theater pieces to audiences across the country. - Administering the Z/Word Youth Arts Program, which reaches over 20,000 school-aged children and adults per year through youth-targeted tours, workshops, and residencies, as well as student matinees and talkbacks with resident artists.

Programs

The Studio has cultivated a reputation for supporting a culturally and aesthetically diverse community of artists and new works. We pursue our mission through three core programs, which provide a comprehensive, integrated approach to the development of theater: § Z Plays, creating new works written for the stage; § Word for Word, transforming works of literature to the stage--verbatim; and our § Youth Arts, an arts education program that engages and empowers young people through experiences with professional theater and great literature.