NEW YORK CITY: The Dramatists Guild of America is thrilled to announce that Amanda Green has been elected to be their next council president, succeeding outgoing president Doug Wright. She will be the first woman president in the Guild’s 100-year history. Amanda will serve with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins as vice president, Kristoffer Diaz as secretary, and Christine Toy Johnson as treasurer.
“As we endeavor to move forward from the challenges of the past year, both as an organization and as an essential part of the industry, we aim to refresh the ways in which we communicate member to member, within the council, with staff, and with the industry at large, so that we can best understand the work that lies ahead and tackle it in proactive and productive ways,” wrote the new officers in a shared statement. “History is remembered by the stories we tell. The guild exists to protect the rights and livelihoods of playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists, so that we can tell our stories, no matter who we are, where we live, or what stories we are compelled to write. Theatre writers give up much for the right to retain ownership of our work. The past 100 years have taught us to never take our rights for granted.”
“I am beyond thrilled that Amanda Green will be succeeding me as president,” said outgoing president Doug Wright in a statement. “If you know her already, then you’ll agree with me when I cite her boundless good humor, keen wit, affability, and innate leadership skills. She is well-schooled in guild service, with the necessary bona fides to run the organization. She’s well-known to our membership, and as luck would have it, along with her stellar qualifications, she happens to be our first woman president in our 100-year history.”
All four newly elected board officers have been active leads on Council committees for the past few years. Green currently serves as chair of The Dramatist committee and board member of the Lillys; Jacobs-Jenkins serves as co-chair of the publishing committee and board member of the Dramatists Guild Foundation; Diaz as chair of the new media committee, and Johnson as chair of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee.
According to a press release, the four newly elected DG council officers are “resolved to help to expose and eliminate the systemic biases that exist in all aspects of our field…They take on this commitment on behalf of the plurality of membership, whose career paths are made demonstrably steeper by an unequal distribution of resources, mentorships, recognition, and productions.”
Green is a Tony-nominated lyricist, composer, writer, and performer. She wrote the lyrics and co-composed Hands on a Hardbody in the same season she co-wrote lyrics for Bring It On. Also on Broadway, she wrote lyrics for High Fidelity, added book revision and new lyrics for a revival of Kiss Me Kate, and additional lyrics for a revival of On The Twentieth Century. Off-Broadway lyric credits include the musicals Bob Carol Ted & Alice and For the Love of Tiffany, and for TV, Peter Pan Live, The Kennedy Center Honors, and Wonder Pets! She’s currently working on Mister Saturday Night with Billy Crystal and on an original musical comedy called Female Troubles, a Regency romp about women’s reproductive justice.
The Dramatists Guild of America is the national professional membership trade association of theatre writers, including playwrights, composers, lyricists, and librettists. Established to aid dramatists in protecting both the artistic and economic integrity of their work, the guild is an artist-run organization, formed by writers for writers. It is governed by a board of directors elected from its membership. These writers, in various stages of their theatrical careers, meet monthly to decide upon policy for the guild, and head committees dedicated to specific issues faced by dramatists.
