Hot on the heels of receiving the Independence Award for Outstanding Production of a New Play (The Gap by Emma Goidel) at The Barrymore Awards, Azuka Theatre announces a new writers’ program designed to develop new works by Philadelphia playwrights. Azuka has long been a champion for local voices and this new writer’s group represents the next level of support. New Pages gives local playwrights a unique writer-centric space to develop their work. Based on the needs and processes of the individuals in the group, New Pages seeks to support Philadelphia playwrights from the spark of an idea to a production-ready script. Azuka Theatre has committed to producing one play per season by a writer from this group for the next three years, beginning in its 2019-2020 season. This is the first writers group in Philadelphia to make a commitment for full productions, and Azuka hopes to not only foster playwrights as they build full bodies of work, but to help them deepen their roots in the Philadelphia theatre community.