When I produced my first New York City play, I booked the theatre before I had even written one word of the play.  I knew that if I put the money down and had a deadline, I would write the play, cast it and get it up somehow.  And I did.  And remarkably, it was a huge success.

I knew if I didn’t have leverage on myself, my other life, my survival job would simply fill up my time with urgent and ridiculous things, and I would never fulfill my dream of putting up my work in New York City.

Since then I have produced countless plays, had crazy fun experiences in the theatre and I have learned so so much.  Even today I will commit without really knowing how it will turn out, but that commitment calls forth my creativity and simply makes it happen, often in ways I could never have imagined.

I trust my creativity.  I honestly have no fear now when I connect to my creative part. The worst thing that can happen is people don’t like my play.  And ultimately, that is just an opinion.  So what is the downside?

There is no down side.

If you have been thinking about writing and producing a play, I invite you to go for it.

It is an exhilarating experience which will expand your abilities and bring you great joy.

One of my favorite things at Manhattan Rep is to see new playwrights present their first work here.  It is like the birth of a first child, utterly amazing, enchanting, crazy fun! And then, when I see that spark ignited in their eyes, the one that says “Wow, I can really do this.”  that is when I know that what we are doing at Manhattan Rep supporting new work is so good and so cool, and like a proud parent I am beaming at the birth of this new play and more importantly, the birth of a new playwright.

If you have been holed up at home thinking about it, procrastinating, perplexed by fear….

It is time to step our of your womb.

With best regards,

Ken Wolf

Artistic Director

Manhattan Rep