Founded in 1993, Z Space has become one of the nation’s leading laboratories for the development of new voices, new works, and new opportunities in American theater.  Z Space was created by visionary founder David Dower to support a large and evolving community of theater artists working together to develop Bay Area theater and theater audiences.  

Z Space has been recognized with many local awards as well as such national awards as the Helen Hayes Award, the Kesselring Prize, the MacArthur Award, and two Pulitzer nominations.  From June 2001 through December 2005, fifteen different Z-developed productions earned Critics Circle nominations.  In 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2005, Z-produced projects have landed in the San Francisco Chronicle’s “10 Best Theater Events of the Year” list. 

In 2005, The People’s Temple, developed over four years at the Z Space and premiered at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre was awarded the Will Glickman Award for “Best New Play.”  Lastly, in 2007, American $uicide, by Mark Jackson, was nominated by the American Theatre Critics Association for the annual ATCA/Steinberg New Play Award, honoring new scripts produced outside New York City.  

We pursue our mission in several ways:

-Z Plays, a new-plays development program that commissions new works of theatre and supports artists and ensembles through the process of development.

-Word for Word, an in-house theatre company that transforms works of literature verbatim to the stage.  Aside from its productions, through its YouthArts program Word for Word uses its proven method to teach in schools, reaching over 10,000 youth each year through workshops or residencies that promote literacy and engage students’ creativity.

Executive Artistic Director Lisa Steindler has lead the organization since 2007, bringing Z Space to exciting new heights.  This year, for the first time in our 16-year history, Z space moved into our own 286-seat theater (the iconic Theater Artaud) in the Mission.  Here we have established a hub for artists of all stripes to rehearse, perform and exhibit their work.  We plan to curate a multidisciplinary presenting program featuring theatre, dance, visual and multimedia arts, engaging our audiences with the best of Bay Area and national artistry.