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New Play Development
Trenton Makes
Passage creates and develops new work in order to advance and diversify the art-form and our collective culture, affording emerging and established playwrights a platform for sharing diverse perspectives on complex and important issues that the people of Trenton think about every day. Passage’s Trenton Makes Cycle has two main components:
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Devised Works
Passage is committed to creating mainstage theatre productions that reflect the true stories of our community. In devised work, we are working with a team of artists to create a script from scratch.
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New Play Development
Sometimes when we develop new work, a playwright brings us a script that already has a completed first draft. We then help to further develop the piece.
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​Through our work, Passage patrons have had the opportunity to see the world premiere productions of 23 plays and counting!
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Chapter 3
Coming in 2025-2026
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Passage Theatre is collaborating with one or more local universities to develop a work that tackles the harsh realities of race, class, poverty, and our fractured education system. More to come later this season!
Chapter 2
Ghetto Gods in Divineland
Written by Richard Bradford & Anthony Martinez-Briggs
Directed by Ozzie Jones
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Set to the vibe, energy, and music of Trenton's own
Poor Righteous Teachers, Ghetto Gods in Divineland
tells the story of the unheard community of Divineland
and how far its residents will go for representation and
reclamation of their resources.
Original Artwork by Leon Rainbow
Illustration by Jonathan "Lank" Conner
Chapter 1
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The OK Trenton Project
Written by David Lee White, Richard Bradford &
the members of The OK Trenton Ensemble
Directed by C. Ryanne Domingues
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The OK Trenton Project is a documentary-style play about the reaction to a sculpture entitled “Helping Hands,” which was installed in August of 2017 on a vacant city-owned lot at the corner of Perry and Montgomery streets in Trenton, NJ. The sculpture was designed and built by 17 students from a summer camp run by the nonprofit group HomeFront, in collaboration with Isles, Inc., and artist Eric Schultz of Grounds for Sculpture. Following concerns that the sculpture too closely resembled a gang symbol and could send the wrong message to residents, the piece was removed and placed back in the artist’s studio. Told through the words of Trenton’s law enforcement, city officials, artists, residents, and students, this play tells the story of what one piece of art can mean to a community.
Help Us Produce New Work
Each professional artist involved in Trenton Makes is paid for their time in helping to create new and innovative work. Creating and producing this work takes an enormous amount of time and resources. Often, these plays take years to develop before they sell even one ticket.
If you would like to sponsor a specific Trenton Makes show in development, please contact Brishen Miller at brishen@passagetheatre.org.
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Submission Policy
​Passage Theatre does not accept unsolicited submissions. As a small regional theatre, we believe that this policy will best serve our mission to collaborate with a diverse group of artists within our community and maximize the support we are able to provide.
Through our Trenton Makes cycle, we are actively exploring ways to cultivate relationships with new playwrights connected to the greater Trenton area motivated to create social impact-driven plays related to the issues and interests of our city. If you have a play that qualifies, please send the following to admin@passagetheatre.org, with the subject line "TrentonMAKES: (Your Play Title)"
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Character Breakdown
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Brief plot summary
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A 5-page sample of your play that makes sense out of context.
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Please understand that Passage is a small regional theatre with limited staff and resources. We are not able to accept unsolicited submissions that do not follow these guidelines.