Theatre Communications Group, in New York, is dedicated to strengthening and nurturing professional nonprofit theater in the U.S. Its publishing arm, TCG Books, aids that mission by publishing (and keeping in print) a range of contemporary playwrights, anthologies of culturally diverse plays, and resource materials for theater professionals. It has published more than 235 playwrights and other theater professionals, and sold more than three million books since its debut in 1984. Its list features winners of Pulitzer Prizes and Tony Awards, and one Nobel Prize for Literature, in addition to countless Obies, Drama Desk Awards, and other national and international prizes.
“Our philosophy is to publish the writer, not the play. We commit to the writer over their career,” says Terry Nemeth, TCG Books publisher. “We’ll publish anthologies and new ones as they come along. No book has ever gone out of print because we want these plays preserved.”
TCG Books differs from Samuel French, another New York publisher of drama, because its books are trade editions, printed on good quality paper, featuring top-quality cover design, and, according to Nemeth, edited a lot more closely with the writer. Each book looks different, and the authors have complete control over that look. “It’s all individualized,” Nemeth adds. “Our model is what Grove and New Directions were doing in the ’60s; they were author-based publishing companies.” In contrast, Samuel French sells production rights and produces pamphletlike versions for actors.
This year’s list—featuring Sweat; Dear Evan Hansen; Oslo; and Indecent—includes a Pulitzer and three other plays that have together garnered 21 Tony nominations. And several of the playwrights are here at BookExpo today and tomorrow signing their works.
They include Lynn Nottage, whose Sweat won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for drama. The first female playwright to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, she was called “a justly acclaimed dramatist of ambitious scope and fierce focus” by the New York Times.
Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul sign their musical, Dear Evan Hansen, which has been nominated for nine Tony Awards. The arm cast worn by Ben Platt and signed by the show’s cast will be raffled to booksellers. J.T. Rogers signs copies of the hit Broadway play Oslo, nominated for seven Tonys. Oslo will be adapted into a film, from one of the producers of La La Land. And Annie Baker, who won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play The Flick, is here to sign copies of her latest published play, John.
Today, 11:30–12:30 p.m. Lynn Nottage will sign Sweat at the TCG booth (2456A).
Today, 1–2 p.m. Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul will sign Dear Evan Hansen at the TCG booth.
Tomorrow, 11:30–12:30 p.m. Annie Baker will sign John at the TCG booth.
Tomorrow, 1–2 p.m. J.T. Rogers will sign Oslo at the TCG booth.
