The Lark Theatre

What The Lark Theatre does

The Lark Theatre is a nonprofit international theater laboratory and playwriting development organization founded in 1994 and headquartered in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood. The organization provides comprehensive creative support to playwrights — funding, rehearsal space, collaborators, audiences, professional industry connections, and freedom from commercial pressures — and serves as a peer community for writers developing new work. Its service portfolio spans approximately 20+ initiatives, including the signature annual Playwrights' Week (a seven-day festival of staged readings), the Winter Writers' Retreat, Playground workshops, Roundtables, and a structured fellowship slate (Van Lier New Voices at $35,000 plus a $5,000 Opportunity Fund; Jerome New York Fellowship at $40,000 plus a $5,000 Opportunity Fund; Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship at $40,000 plus a $5,000 Opportunity Fund and $10,000 Production Enhancement Fund; and the Venturous Playwright Fellowship). The Lark also operates international exchange programs linking U.S. playwrights with counterparts in Mexico, the Middle East, Romania, and Russia.

The organization's business model is structurally donation-dependent: 98% of revenue is sourced from contributed funds (individual donors, family and institutional foundations, and select corporate funders), with no reliance on ticket sales or service fees, and 100% of programs are delivered free of charge to both artists and audiences. Primary funder support comes from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Howard Gilman Foundation, FJC, the Morris and Alma Shapiro Fund, Jerome Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the New York Community Trust, alongside individual leadership donors. On the program side, The Lark served 631 artists (including 79 playwrights) and reviewed 1,245 plays through its open access program in a single season, hosting 31 public events attended by over 2,000 audience members; cumulatively, 155 Lark-developed plays have moved to 261 productions reaching over 765,319 audience members over a three-year window.

The Lark's governance is led by an Executive Director (Stacy Waring), Artistic Director (May Adrales, appointed 2020), Founder & Artistic Director Emeritus (John Clinton Eisner), a Director of Development, Finance Manager, Communications Manager, Director of Scouting & Submissions, and a Board of Trustees that includes active playwrights of national prominence (Katori Hall, David Henry Hwang, Rajiv Joseph). A staff of approximately 10–12 supports the full operations. The organization has no parent, no subsidiaries, and no venture or equity ownership — it operates as an independent 501(c)(3). (Note: scraped web content from larktheatre.org contained unrelated third-party content about online casinos that does not pertain to The Lark's operations and is disregarded for this analysis.)

Name

The Lark Theatre

Legal name

Lark Theatre

Website

https://larktheatre.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Lark Theatre is an OBIE-winning nonprofit international theater laboratory founded in 1994 in New York City that provides free fellowships, workshops, and global exchange programs to playwrights across career stages, funded almost entirely by philanthropic contributions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Theater / Performing Arts Nonprofit

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (71111), Fine Arts Schools (61161)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Theater & Drama Education (Acting, Improvisation, Musical Theater) (EDAMAAAG)

Keywords

• Playwriting development
• Theater laboratory programs
• Nonprofit performing arts
• Playwright fellowships
• Global theater exchanges

Headquarters

HQ city

New York City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributed Revenue: The Lark depends on donors for 98% of their revenue. They receive contributions from individual donors, foundation support, and corporate funders. They do not rely on ticket sales or service fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Lark is an OBIE-winning international theater laboratory that provides playwrights with free play development services including funding, rehearsal space, collaborators, audiences, professional connections, and creative freedom. Its portfolio spans fellowships ($35,000–$40,000 awards), core programs (Playwrights' Week, Winter Writers' Retreat, Playground, Roundtables), and international exchanges with playwrights from Mexico, the Middle East, Russia, and Romania. All programs are provided at no charge to artists and all public readings are free to audiences.

Product overview

The Lark is an OBIE-winning international theater laboratory based in New York City that operates as a platform-plus-programs model for playwright development. The organization provides a portfolio of 20+ fellowships, global exchange initiatives, and core programs including Playwrights' Week, the Winter Writers' Retreat, Playground, Roundtables, and the New Black Fest at The Lark. All programs are offered free of charge to artists, with approximately 50 free public events annually for audiences. The fellowship portfolio includes the Van Lier New Voices Fellowship ($35,000), Jerome New York Fellowship ($40,000), Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship ($40,000 + $10,000 Production Fund), and the Venturous Playwright Fellowship. Global Exchanges connect U.S. playwrights with counterparts in Mexico, the Middle East, Romania, and Russia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Playwrights' Week
• Van Lier New Voices Fellowship
• Jerome New York Fellowship
• Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship
• Venturous Playwright Fellowship
• México/U.S. Playwright Exchange
• Middle East/U.S. Playwright Exchange
• Russia/U.S. Playwright Exchange
• Winter Writers' Retreat
• New Black Fest at The Lark
• Apothetae and Lark Initiative
• Apprentice Program
• Free Public Events

Quantifiable outcome

• 155 plays developed moved to 261 productions reaching 765,319+ audience members in 3 years
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The New Black FestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2015, The Lark has partnered with The New Black Fest in its week-long event celebrating and showcasing diverse and provocative work in a festival of Black theater artists from throughout the Diaspora. The program includes talkbacks, panel events, a 10-hour rehearsal process, and public staged readings of plays in progress.
• The ApothetaecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2015, The Lark has partnered with The Apothetae and its Founding Artistic Director Gregg Mozgala to provide an unprecedented platform of support and advocacy for Disabled artists. The Initiative includes The Apothetae and Lark Playwriting Fellowship, annual national convenings, and a workshop for Disabled writers.
• Over a dozen theaters and universitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Lark partnered with over a dozen theaters and universities for play development and production opportunities.

Scale indicators7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Second Stage Theater: Off-Broadway Tony-winning NYC theater producing new works and overlooked classics; significantly larger scale than the Lark but operates in adjacent new-play development terrain.
• Roundabout Theatre Company: Major NYC nonprofit producing on multiple Broadway and off-Broadway stages; broader institutional scope than the Lark but a regular production home for playwrights who pass through NYC development labs.
• Manhattan Theatre Club: Established NYC nonprofit theater presenting new work and classics across multiple stages; broader programming umbrella but overlapping on world-premiere playwright development.

Direct peers

• Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Chicago-based ensemble theater renowned for developing and premiering new plays with a strong artist-driven development culture and alumni playwrights who move work to Broadway—comparable new-play pipeline model in a different market.
• New York Theatre Workshop: Off-Broadway NYC theater that originated Rent and Hadestown; known for developing new plays through workshops and readings with a similar artist-driven, development-first model.
• Playwrights Horizons: NYC theater dedicated to the development and production of new work, with an in-house program for commissioned and incubated playwrights—overlapping new-play pipeline work and Off-Broadway staging.
• Atlantic Theater Company: Off-Broadway NYC theater that produces new plays and develops playwrights through staged readings and workshops; comparable artist-led ethos and off-Broadway scale.
• New Dramatists: NYC-based nonprofit play development organization providing long-term residencies, resources, and staged readings to member playwrights—directly overlapping the Lark's playwright-development mission with comparable fellowship/residency economics.
• Ma-Yi Theater Company: NYC AAPI-focused theater developing and producing new work by Asian American playwrights—comparable equity-driven fellowship/community-development orientation within NYC's new play ecosystem.
• Signature Theatre: New York theater company dedicated exclusively to producing new work and shining a spotlight on a single playwright's body of work per season—comparable focus on new play production and playwright-centered programming, also NYC-based.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/LarkTheatre
• Facebookfacebook.com/TheLark1
• Instagraminstagram.com/explore/locations/37812056/the-lark
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lark-play-development-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Lark Theatre