Monti and Andrew met at the now extinct University of the Arts in Center City right in Philadelphia. Shoutout Ira Brind. There they worked alongside TBD’s future Production Manager, Lindsey Silver, and consistently lent hands in creating new work.

The first piece these artists collaborated on was a satirical dark comedy based on the Manson Family Cult for a new play festival in 2019. The first professional piece they collaborated on was a satirical dark comedy based on the kidnapping of Patty Hearst for a Philadelphia play festival in 2023.

With the insatiable hunger to create and collaborate, it only felt natural progression to provide a platform for other artists, produce more work, and officialize our partnership.

THEATRE BY DEVELOPMENT is a haven where artists can cultivate new concepts and works, while providing a platform to showcase their skills & talent.

We believe that in championing new voices and work, we will also be able to reward new audience members with new experiences. Experiences that oddly resonate with our shared uncertainty & ambition in a cruelly ridiculous world. Ridiculous and arbitrary, postmodern and surreal: we interrogate the absurdity in life, uniquely making the individual universal.

THEATER BY DEVELOPMENT uplifts artists in various ways.

We support this mission through biweekly private readings of new plays; public reading events; Clippings, our annual new play festival; and producing world premiers of new work every year, with the Philly Fringe serving as our marquee event. We want to carve out space for new artists in a city whose theatre scene has become insular and old. We want to bring new audience members to theater through work that is different, challenging but also more relatable and true to their own lives.

All of our endeavors are supported by generous donations, fundraisers, and a pay what you decide ticket model.

TO open the doors for early career professionals in the Philadelphia theater scene.

TO offer young voices an opportunity to reach a larger audience to realize the potential and scope of their work.

TO create cross-collaborative work.

TO offer affordable theater with a an accessible entry barrier.

TO build a creative community that makes evocative, experimental but overall entertaining art!