 It has helped launch and advance the careers of several playwrights, including Lesyle Headland, Michael Mitnick, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Adam Bock, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph, and Dan O'Brien.Christopher Burney, Curator & Associate Artistic Director of Second Stage Theater, seeks to develop the skills of emerging playwrights, to provide early-career artists with the support of a major artistic institution, and to create new plays for the American Theater.Because of this, Second Stage serves as a gateway for many young American theater artists to step onto the New York scene.