Playwrights' Company

The Playwrights' Company, also known as the Playwrights' Production Company, was a New York City theater company formed by a group of playwrights to produce and promote their plays. Founding contributors included Maxwell Anderson, S.N. Behrman, Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, and Robert Sherwood. Robert W. Anderson, Roger L. Stevens, and Kurt Weil later became contributing members. William Fields was the company's press representative and John R. Wharton provided legal and financial advice.

In the early years, the company only produced plays written by its members. By the 1950s, however, the bulk of the productions were by outside playwrights. Many of the shows ran on Broadway and the most successful of these had regional and national tours. Of the Playwright Company's 68 productions, some of the most notable include Abe Lincoln of Illinois (1938), There Shall Be No Night (1940), The Patriots (1943), Miss Liberty (1949) Tea and Sympathy (1953), and The Gazebo (1958). The Company disbanded in 1960.

From the guide to the Playwrights' Company records, 1938-1960, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)