Tag: playwright

New Dramatists! Class of 2026

Honored and thrilled to be included with these wonderful colleagues, and welcomed into the New Dramatists family.

Press release HERE.

New Dramatists, an artistic home and developmental laboratory for professional playwrights, is proud to announce the addition of seven writers to its illustrious, dynamic resident playwright company: Will Arbery, Kevin Artigue, Gracie Gardner, Dipika Guha, Mary Elizabeth Hamilton, Madhuri Shekar, and Ariel Stess. They will be in-residence through June, 2026. These adventurous theatre artists were selected by a seven-person committee of New Dramatists current residents, alumni, and outside theatre professionals from 398 applicants after undergoing a highly competitive, nine-month review and consensus-based decision-making process. New Dramatists kicks off their seven-year residencies with an evening of readings and celebration at the annual New Playwright Welcome in the fall.

Irons in the fire

I’ve been in a long six-month period of development with many projects. Here’s what I’ve been up to.

-an original TV pilot that puts a revisionist supernatural spin on the California Gold Rush

-an adaptation of a sci-fi book into a feature

-a new play called SHEEPDOG (just finished) about a police officer shooting

To write this play I’ve been talking with police officers – primarily officers of color – conducting interviews and diving deep into the complex issue of police violence in this country. I’ve been truly fortunate to speak with Officer Nakia Jones, whose brave testimony after the Alton Sterling shooting struck a chord with me and millions across the country.

National New Play Network – Showcase of New Plays

My play THE MOST DANGEROUS HIGHWAY IN THE WORLD, set along a treacherous highway in Afghanistan, is one of six scripts selected for the NNPN’s annual National Showcase of New Plays. The NNPN holds a unique and necessary place in the universe of new play development in this country. I’m honored to be a part.

About the Showcase:  The National Showcase of New Plays is a traveling new-play festival that presents the country’s best unproduced plays in staged reading format to an intimate gathering of theater professionals. With artistic leadership from most of our 29 Core Member and 45 Associate Member Theaters in attendance, the Showcase creates a unique, invaluable opportunity for production-ready scripts to be heard by the people most willing to produce them. In addition to artistic and managing directors, we invite a group of 100 playwrights, literary managers, playwright agents, and other colleagues from around the country to network with us on behalf of the plays and playwrights we present. All scripts are read blind. The vast majority of the scripts read at the Showcase go on to professional productions within and outside the Network.