Murray Mednick founded the Padua Hills Playwrights Workshop/Festival in 1978 on the ground of the Padua Hills theatre in Claremont, outside of Los Angeles. The festival ran annually until 1995 at Padua Hills, and then at a variety of college campuses and other venues across LA County. Featuring 8 playwrights staging new work in site-specific venues, the Festival had a powerful impact on American theatre, through the work of celebrated playwrights such as, in addition to Murray Mednick, Sam Shepard, Maria Irene Fornes, John Steppling, John O’Keefe, Kelly Stuart, David Henry Hwang, Martin Epstein, Marlane Meyer, Julie Hebert, Susan Mossakowski, Susan Champagne, Jon Robin Baitz, and Neena Beber. Included here in this initial archive are a variety of images from different summers at the Festival.
