Playwrights' Producing Company

The Playwrights' Producing Company, a theatrical production company also know as the Playwrights' Company, was founded in New York in 1938. The original group of partners were playwrights Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman (withdrew in 1946), Elmer Rice, Robert Sherwood, and Sidney Howard (d. 1939). John R. Wharton supplied legal and management advice. Kurt Weill joined the Company in 1946 and Robert Anderson joined in 1953. The group produced plays written by its members and other playwrights. The Company ceased operations in 1960.

The Playwrights' Producing Company (also known simply as the Playwrights' Company) was incorporated in July of 1938. According to an agreement made between Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood, and John F. Wharton on the 12th of April, 1938, the company was formed to produce plays by members and other authors. Wharton, the only member not active as a playwright, was retained to act as counsel and financial supervisor for the corporation. The composer Kurt Weill (1900-1950) was associated with the company from the year of its founding, becoming a member in 1946. Works he composed in association with the company include, but are not limited to: Knickerbocker Holiday (with Maxwell Anderson, 1938), Madam, will you walk? (music for the Night Court scene in the play by Sidney Howard, 1939), Street scene (with Elmer Rice, 1946), and Lost in the stars (with Maxwell Anderson, 1949). The company was formally dissolved in June 1960.

The Playwrights' Producing Company (also known as the Playwrights' Company), was a theatrical production organization founded in 1938 by Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood, and John F. Wharton.

The group produced plays written by its members and other playwrights. The company was dissolved in 1960.