PROVINCETOWN (AP) – Award-winning playwright Sinan Unel of Provincetown is stretching his parameters far beyond Cape Cod.

Several of his 18 plays have been produced in New York, Boston, L.A. or Europe. In 1998, “Pera Palas,” debuted off-Broadway at the Lark Theater and earned rave reviews from the New York critics. His play, “Single Lives,” was staged by the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre.

Recently, Unel was one of four Boston-area playwrights awarded the Stanford Calderwood Commission from the Huntington Theatre Company. It’s a project aimed at developing new plays in Boston.

“It was a total surprise and a great acknowledgment,” Unel says.

Unel immediately came to mind when the theater was choosing Huntington Playwriting Fellows, says literary manager Ilana Brownstein.

“Our goal was to get writers from different backgrounds,” she says, and Unel, who was born in San Francisco and raised in Turkey, fit the bill.

Unel, 45, is a vital addition to the diverse group “because he has a different take on the world and a very unique voice,” Brownstein adds. “He also writes incredibly good plays and has a very theatrical style.”

The commissioning of a group of writers is an unusual undertaking, Brownstein says, adding that “it’s rare to have a program that gives writers the artistic freedom to stretch and grow as artists.”

Over the course of the season, Unel and the other writers will become an active part of the life of the theater, which will support them artistically with workshops and readings of their plays.

The commission came at an opportune time for Unel, who admits he was feeling isolated by spending too much time alone writing in his home office.

“It’s a good outlet to be around people who are going through the same writing issues,” he says. “We are all different writers, but we are there to help each other.”

Unel and the other playwrights – John Kuntz, Melinda Lopez and Ronan Noone – meet every two weeks to discuss their work and read each other’s plays.

“I like it when people who know what they are talking about are honest and give good feedback,” he says.

Unel has another vehicle for developing his craft: teaching playwriting. Currently he’s giving a workshop, “The Craft of Dramatic Structure,” at The Schoolhouse Center for Art and Design in Provincetown.

“Teaching helps me understand more about structure,” he says.

But he learns more about his craft during those solitary hours of writing every day.

“Every time you sit down and write a play, you learn the whole process all over again,” he says. “Most playwrights struggle and the work is a struggle.”

Unel admits he’s driven to write.

“It keeps me sane and it makes me crazy,” he says with a laugh. “It’s the only thing that has grabbed my imagination.”

Unel planned to become an architect when he was attending the University of Kansas. But an English professor, who was also a playwright, inspired him to try writing plays.

“The first time I sat down to write a play, I knew this was what I wanted to do,” he says. “It was one of those magical moments. Writing dialogue came naturally.”

After college, he moved to New York City hoping to break into theater. Instead, he discovered the harsh reality of trying to make a living while working at his art. He moved to Provincetown a year later. Unel’s “The Three of Cups” was produced in New York in 1986. Other plays followed, including “Tolstoy’s Den,” “Blue Marilyn,” and “Thalassa, My Heart.”

Unel credits living in the Cape-tip town for boosting his career. Several of his plays were staged by the Provincetown Theatre Company.

“Provincetown is a real art community that has been very open to my plays,” he says. “That was a good learning experience.”

“Provincetown is a good place when you want to be quiet and write, especially for young playwrights to grow,” he adds. “The community is very supportive and there are lots of opportunities open to them. But at one point you have to move beyond Provincetown.”

Eight of his plays and his screenplay “Race Point,” which won first place in the 2001 New Century Screenwriting Contest, are based in Provincetown.

Unel has no special agenda as a playwright. Instead, he says, his job is primarily to entertain. His dramas contain an element of humor.

“I like it when people laugh,” he says. “That’s a great reaction. It’s an affirmation.”

Beyond inspiration Identity, mortality, death and the afterlife are common themes in his work. His plays often deal with how experiences and time change people.

Some of his plays contain an autobiographical element, including the subjects of AIDS and homosexuality. Unel, who is gay, is a longtime AIDS survivor.

“But I’m healthy now,” he says. “It’s always easier to write plays you are close to, but it’s also dangerous.”

Currently, Unel leans toward writing plays that don’t involve himself.

“As you mature as a writer, you write not so much out of inspiration. It’s not enough,” he says. “You also run out of things to write about your own immediate life.”

Although Unel’s made a name for himself by winning various awards, he acknowledges that his success has been “spotty.”

“I’m not very big on selling myself,” he says. “The work should speak for itself. But in this age you have to be able to promote yourself.”

Yet, Unel is driven more by the desire to grow as an artist than by the need for public recognition.

“It’s a very competitive field and I’m very lucky with the amount of acknowledgment I have had. People enjoy my work and I do it whether I have success or not. You can’t plan your life around whether you are going to be famous. This is a gift.”