During a significant expansion of the Off Broadway Signature Theater Company, five highly regarded playwrights Annie Baker, Will Eno, Katori Hall, Kenneth Lonergan, and Regina Taylor are going to be charter members of a program to develop and stage their new works.

The plan, known as Residency Five, guarantees 3 full productions of new plays by each writer over the next five years. Each will also receive a $50,000 cash award, stipends to attend theater, and health insurance bonuses. Additional playwrights will probably be added to the mix in the coming years as writers rotate out of the program.

Signature will create as much as 9 productions a year starting in 2012 compared to the usual 4 or five annual productions in previous years. The theater company is going through the expansion to fill Signature Center, its new home on West 42nd Street, which opens in February.

Designed by Frank Gehry, the theater includes three theaters for full productions along with a smaller studio theater.