Bespoke Plays is a non-profit new play development series, now in our seventh season in Los Angeles and second season in London!
Our mission is to create international opportunities for writers with diverse stories and worldviews, through a process customized to the goals of the writer and needs of the play. We specialize in staged readings, but have expanded our offerings over the years to invest in a play’s evolution from reading to production. Our scripts run the genre gamut, but we have a particularly good track record with grounded sci-fi, magical realism, and political satire.
We work hard to reduce the monetary barrier that is so often present in mounting new work, in the hopes of allowing for a greater variety of stories to be told, and provide access to the stage for those who wouldn't traditionally have it. We consider the audience a vital part of our ecosystem and thus keep our ticket prices accessible across our spectrum of offerings. We believe theater is a community first, and a vital living art form where future diverse content and talent can still be discovered.
Funds from this campaign will go towards production costs for our 2025 season in Los Angeles and London. The more we raise, the more we can do - and we have a LOT of exciting plans! Some of the costs we're looking to cover include venue and rehearsal space rental, printing costs, digital encores, and, of course, stipends for our brilliant artists. And some of our plans include a London workshop, a Hollywood Fringe production, and more international crossover for staged readings between our two branches.
We know that there's a lot going on in the world right now. We appreciate that many people are struggling in a myriad of ways. But we believe strongly that making art is crucial to offering resistance to and respite from the world's injustices. While Bespoke does not solely focus on political pieces, many of our pieces do comment on the state of the world, and the act of creating art in today's climate is in itself inherently political.
Through art, we create community. And with community, we find strength. Any contribution that you can offer will allow us to expand our reach and keep doing this important work.
With gratitude,
Ellie, Mimi, and Christine
The Bespoke Plays Team
To hear about upcoming shows in Los Angeles and London, sign up for our mailing list:
To request plays we've read for further development or production, please email us at BespokePlays@gmail.com with "Inquiry" and the title of the play you are inquiring about in the subject line and we will put you in touch with the playwright.
The best way to get involved in a future Bespoke Plays reading as an actor or director is to come to a reading and introduce yourself afterwards.
We are not accepting script submissions at this time, but stay tuned!